In a Dark Time by Theodore Roethke
In a dark time, the eye begins to see,
I meet my shadow in the deepening shade;
I hear my echo in the echoing wood—
A lord of nature weeping to a tree.
I live between the heron and the wren,
Beasts of the hill and serpents of the den.
What’s madness but nobility of soul
At odds with circumstance? The day’s on fire!
I know the purity of pure despair,
My shadow pinned against a sweating wall.
That place among the rocks—is it a cave,
Or winding path? The edge is what I have.
A steady storm of correspondences!
A night flowing with birds, a ragged moon,
And in broad day the midnight come again!
A man goes far to find out what he is—
Death of the self in a long, tearless night,
All natural shapes blazing unnatural light.
Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.
My soul, like some heat-maddened summer fly,
Keeps buzzing at the sill. Which I is I?
A fallen man, I climb out of my fear.
The mind enters itself, and God the mind,
And one is One, free in the tearing wind.
(I found this poem in House Of Small Mammals by Thomas Pierce. The short story collection is an exceptional read, as is this poem) Art by Thomas Danthony Recommended listening: Burning Love - Elvis Presley
Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes
Let's Make A Memory - Roy Orbison
I'll Fight - Wilco Something Good This Way Comes - Jakob Dylan Links of the Day: The Museum of Endangered Sounds The Atlas of Beauty NASA’s Giving Away Brilliant Space Travel Posters For Free Intimate Young Celebrity Pictures Before 10 A.M Why Teaching Poetry Is So Important The Skin Deep (Youtube Channel) Preet Nagar: The Village of Love
(It's day #400 of The Alipore Post, and I should be jumping in joy. But I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. So...Here's hoping today gets better. *raises imaginary beer can*
I hope you enjoy today's selection. There's some lovely songs and links in there. Also, thank you all for letting me spam you with the wonders of the Internet every morning.
Anyhoo, have a lovely day.
Over. And out.)