When Night Falls In

When night falls in around me

I, alone sitting in the middle of the dark room

Legs crossed

Waiting for the emptiness

In the quiet

The silence hurls itself into my ears

And what I was

Finds me like a serpent

Through the darkened brush

“look for the one meditating”

That’s what he heard

Couldn’t have been difficult after that

Everyone else is asleep

 

Like an untrained dog

The body just won’t obey

Each twitch a symphony

Of attention dragging

Sensation

Calling me out

To fight without fighting

The feelings hurl themselves into my mind

And what I resist

Finds me like a hawk

I could run

But where would I go inside

“he’s in the meditation hall again, can’t miss it”

That’s what she heard

Wasn’t too difficult after that

Everyone else is asleep

 

Stay a little longer

Just a few minutes more

It will have effect

And all the light and chaotic intention

That will be thrust

Tomorrow

Will find little soil

To bury its offspring

 

I will stay a little longer

Just a few minutes more

Moving under the affect

And all the resentment and self-denial

That will be thrust

Tomorrow

Will find no charge

For the battalion will be disbanded

 

When night falls in around me

All I have is the light

Not the overt sun

Seen in the common day

But the subtle

Sustainer of the unchanging

Fire light that feeds itself

And this gives me hope

Against the constancy of time

And the delirium of trying put together

This shattered heart

Reviews

[Heather]

I found this to be powerful, how hard it is to sit in silence and let go of the day and try to shut out the demons that are inside. That ability to sit in silence and let it go, very hard to accomplish. Hope you find peace and can heal your heart Poet. Good piece, strong imagery, sad, and dark. I look forward to reading more..

[Tymothy L Smith]

So fast! Thank you for your review...i appreciate it.

[Rebecca A Kinman]

Gives a feel of quiet solitude, that feeling when you're meditating and every fiber of you would give anything to not be meditating. I feel a deep disapproval of this silence, this alone-ness, combined with a calm recognition of it, a surrender to it, eventhough it's not what's wanted. I am especially curious about your use of the word effect/affect. At first I though it a typo, but then noticed that you had cleverly provided repetition and melody in the poem with these similar words and elobarated very well on "moving under the affect" in the following lines after. I found the line "this shattered heart" to be a little cliche, but doesn't pull away from the rest of the poem.