I wrote this a couple weeks ago, it still needs revision, let me know what you think. It's not a poem exactly, and its not an essay...I stole a bit from Yates and Shakespeare, but they wont mind.
What is life, tis but pain
Sorrow surrounds every choice we make. Even our purest intentions carry the weight of life's aching burdens: I have felt the wound and sorrow of knowing one who is lost to us, whose journey on this frail earth has ended; The pain of lonliness, whose wounds dig into our heart, and so often seem our only companion there; The agony of fear and doubt, always reminding us of our haunted past and paralyzing our dreams or tomorrow; The anguish of a defiled conscious, returning to us the wounds we have afflicted on those we love and tearing open the scars of yesterday; The hell of innocence lost, a paradise ripped away from us by our own hands, leaving only an intangible memory of what once was.
This is the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.
But let it not be in us to despise life's pains and count them an evil thing, for in so doing we scorn life itself. For I had not known love except I had known loss, and the same arrow which stings our heart with grief has barbs which fill our soul with joy; The same parting that bears the bitter taste of hell offers also to us the eternal scent of heaven; The torment of fear's dark oppression leads to the flowering of hope's glorious light, for one only knows the morning's sun if he has seen her shadow in the night; Those memories which torture our thoughts with the fog of yesterday likewise harbor its joys and its blessings, and the same mist which shades the lily grants to it the morning dew; The guilt of our defiled conscience, while we think it our enemy is in truth our most faithful friend, for how shall the sick be cured except he know his ailment.
It is true, life is pain, but while this pain veils the image of a paradise lost by Sin and announces the death earned thereby, it evermore reveals to us the beauty of Life and the Paradise which is purchased by the sacrifice of everlasting of Love.
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5 comments:
Hey Noah,
Just wanted to drop a note and say that I miss you. You're in our thoughts and we hope all is going well. Be well! We love ya.
Phil
Hey, thanks for your comment.
This is a great post...it almost sounds like a poem!
I think this is my favorite part: "Those memories which torture our thoughts with the fog of yesterday likewise harbor its joys and its blessings, and the same mist which shades the lily grants to it the morning dew;"
Hi Noah Bear,
Mskes me cry........
The first part so rings true with the recent death of my friend Sherill. It is the memory and mind that can torture but thank you for the reminder that it also harbors the joy and sharing which are the lasting blessings on this frail earth.....
I love you
Am going back to read it again.
Mom
I had to print this out so that I could concentrate while reading it. I don't know why, but something about my comprehension fails whenever I read straight from the computer screen. I think it's because I'm on the computer all day and after a while I just stop thinking about what I'm reading.
Anyway, I really enjoyed it. I don't think that I could appreciate the gifts that I have in my life, if I didn't know the pain of where I've been. I could definitely see the influences, but like you said I'm sure they won't mind. There were many sentiments that I connected with, but this one was probably one of my favorite "The torment of fear's dark oppression leads to the flowering of hope's glorious light, for one only knows the morning's sun if he has seen her shadow in the night."
While reading it though my mind kept focusing in on the words "I have felt". If I were revising it I would make those feelings all there own stanza, with those 3 words preceding each line, just to make it more personal and to add an emotional element to it.
Of course it's yours and you can do what you want with it. It's very good. I only put my 2 cents in since, in your opening paragraph, you wanted to know, what your audience thinks.
Hope all is going well over there.
Actually, I like the idea of putting putting the "I have felt" at the outset of each stanza. But I think I'll vary it slightly for each stanza, like "I have experienced" or "I have suffered" or similar expressions. Thanks for the comments guys!
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