listening in the dust

listening in the dust

 

 

 

relative life,

relative death,

eyes perched on the ceiling

there is no heaven

in this mourning room,

but a morning sun will rise

above,

 

and you will find a way

to draw us to your soul

the body debates with worms

or ashes scatter on the streets of afterlife

 

but hearts only burn with regret

that there had not been

a single prayer

 

in apparent unison

one we could all hear

with our sorrow.

 

 

erin-cilberto

11/8/2020

Reviews

[zennedpen]

I love the title, "listening in the dust".

The poem has a certain sad melancholyness to it, but it shows us that we do need to listen for truth in our lives, even when our own pages of life are covered over with much dust.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your kind review, zenned...
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

Yes Jacob, we will know sorrow and we shall pray.
"in apparent unison
one we could all hear
with our sorrow."
The sorrow we taste. Teach us. Better to find someone and find equal ground. Thank you my friend for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, sorrow does teach us, and hopefully makes us stronger. Thank you, Coyote,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome Jacob. Sorrow and regret. We must learn to live with.

[The Unknown Sith]

I like this a lot, very well done.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Sith...
j.

[andrew mitchell]

How unprepared was the world for this epidemic and those infected die alone.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, andrew, no it was not prepared.

j.

[adornoscousin]

Missed opportunities. Unheard prayers. Death. Regrets and resentment. The while poem is great but that second stanza is marvelous. Cannot stop nature (like the sun rising). I feel like that all time- struggling against forces of nature that are ordained.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

What is ordained will happen...maybe Sophocles was right when he talked about predestination in Oedipus.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Covid funeral restrictions. Loved ones don't even get a decent send off these days. At the beginning of the pandemic there were cases reported where burials took place with no relatives present. It probably still happens. The sun will rise again, though it probably doesn't feel like it. I am burning another candle. Where there is light there is hope. We need to have hope that this will end soon.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your understanding words, Chris,
j.

[Neville]

these are indeed strange times and many long established routines and rituals have been impacted upon by governments and frightened legislators through ignorance, inadequacy and fear .. today is consequently filled with a series of back on back losses, uncertainty and a morbid sense of isolation that has no foreseeable end ..

a song of our times perhaps ... a shared reality.

N.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and I believe in what you say, Neville. So much fear, warranted as well as unwarranted....
appreciate your visits and comments.
j.

[Patricia Wedel]

When a loved one passed who did not believe in God or Heaven...
I read the verse, "In my Father's House are many Mansions... ".
It would be lovely to hear comforting words as we pass this way but Once.
In the meantime I often buy a dozen Roses at Wegmans for $12.00 to
ensure I enjoy the beauty and colors of Red, Pink, Orange and Yellow while
I am alive. I get lost in their Beauty divine... (cheaper than a Psychiatrist by far.
gently, Pat

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Pat,
j.

[.]

I think this covid situation made everything... The life and the death very volatile. Only mourning, no specific solution but the days are passing as the show must goes on. People are unable to have a proper look of the loved one or a proper prayer... But in this time of grief we are alike in the sorrow, as we are passing through a very dark phase. Your poem has a substantial. Grief that portrays the pain and helplessness so vividly.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your kind and understanding words, Dreamer.
j.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

There is no universal grief unless it is the grief of God. All else is suffered in the confines of flesh and bone; these mortal shells and spirit temples. I know very little of life and nothing at all of death, yet, I strive to learn more from the one while stridently avoiding a greater familiarity with the other. Great writing as always, my friend.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you so much for your words, Fabian...
and Happy Thanksgiving.
j.