Then

Then

I can't overcome

the ashes that will rest

in the cool lake water

there is an intimacy 

associated with the end

almost a comfortable silence

approaching

it feels imminent

I smile and laugh

as if I live nothing

but whims

desperate tears

hidden in a dark room

of despair mixed with indignant

rebuff

I won't go quietly

until I do go quietly

kicking up a fuss

means little when then

is now

and it is time to reserve a cloud

on which to float silently away

I smile and laugh

and will

even after my last breath

tastes that cool water.

erin-cilberto

2/9/25

Reviews

[KWP]

Hello after a long while Jacob, I hope you are doing well.
So glad I swung by to read you. This was a treasure to read and a gentle reminder to live right now as now is all we have. I often wonder how much time I have wasted and it is not until it is too late do we realise we can;t get it back. Live fully, Laugh loud, Cry a river and Love with every sinew of your beating heart as nothing lasts forever.... Thanks for this and best wishes to you X

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your kind review and it is so good to see you here again...I am hanging in there, and you?

[KWP]

Well, it's great to know you are hanging in there. I am doing much of the same. Summer this side, so lots of ocean and outdoors. Spending a lot of time meditating these days ... great place to get to know myself better ... Take Care You X

[Dylan Macadham]

... although Christians tell us our End is the Beginning, I doubt it ...wishful thinking.
Nature prepares us for the end, as I think you're saying ... so beautifully.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, Dylan,
j.

[Lorry]

Do not go gently into that goodnight Jacob. If anyone tells you different then tell them something very loudly and angrily in return and bite, kick and punch them into wishing they'd kept their mouth shut!
😃

[jacob erin-cilberto]

ha ha...thanks, Lorry,
j.

[Desert Knave]

There is an acceptance here that pervades the whole write ... quietly or not, we all go into that good night. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, Jim,
j.

[andrew mitchell]

We are quite fixated by the end being mortal. We become our own time keepers. Another gem J.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and maybe time doesn't even matter a bit...
thanks, andrew
j.

[andrew mitchell]

Yes how true

[John the Baptist]

Death provokes both despair and outrage within us. In the end, though, the best strategy comes at the end of the poem. You can't go against it, so you may as well go with it.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, may as well, as you say....
thanks, John,
j.

[keith]

whether we want to or not
at some time in our lives we all make our peace
me? i do it every fukin day!

you hit the nail on the head jacob
sometimes the wait is worth the discovery
you got good ink

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, keith.
j.

[redzone]

human beings are the only creatures who are conscious of our deaths and our lives, and yet have no choice in where or when we are born or die. It is the in-between stuff that matters. It is the way we live our lives and what we live our lives for that has meaning.

Jacob, I hope I am invited to the celebration of your life. I will come with loud compassion and joy since this is how I have come to know you. I will sit under an old oak near where you rest and read from your many books of poetry, while in the background the music of your life will be playing. Jacob, you may desire that 'soft cloud' and 'quiet', but the finger snaps will reverberate around the world.

Jacob, know that you are and will be loved! Your life and poetry has a great effect! Perhaps what is written on your grave stone might be, "Death, you b*****d, I still have my pen!"
-Curt

[jacob erin-cilberto]

What did Emily D. say? "we have the power to kill but not the power to die"?
I like those words on the gravestone...thanks, Curt.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Your pending travels must have inspired this piece and I can imagine all sort of thoughts will be streaming through your mind when you get there. You have chosen your resting place, all of us must contemplate our endings at some point. You are prepared, but not ready yet. There is still plenty of living to do. It will be the end of one journey and the start of another. In some ways exciting because, we have no idea what comes next. The time goes faster as we age, and we see the hour glass emptying of sand. That cool lake is one beautiful place to go. Serene, quiet and full of memories. Your friends reading this will have a tear in their eye. Beautiful piece j.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, being prepared is not quite the same as being ready....
thank you, Chris,
j.

[Ookpik]

One day I will be in the same position you are in, jacob, as will we all. I can only hope that when the time comes to round that corner, I can reconcile it with the grace you've evidenced here.

Though I appreciate your lines on laughter, I sympathize equally with the lines on the dark room - there isn't much I can offer by way of reassurance, I'm in no position to, nor does it seem you've written this to ask for any.

In fact, I get the feeling you've provided this as a means of reassurance for your readers, and your friends, as opposed to the other way around.

I hope we can all appreciate the courage it takes, to do that.

One of your best Jacob.

-Ook

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your very kind review, Ook,
j.