The Book of Eternity

The quill is waiting: chronicler of days

The rain soaked shadows form my deep blue ink

Inward I glance in my heart’s gleaming haze

To find the stars on Inspiration’s brink

 

Like Janus spying the Boulevard of Time

And ripples in its fabric infinite

Some notes in conflict, yet some lines that rhyme

As sunrays claim their share, so does the Night

 

What tale may flow from this scribe’s humble quill?

A plethora of shades: love, pain and glee

Page after page of gushing streams to fill

And bind in one Book of Eternity

 

Elusive Peace! How I wish man’s spirit

In your arms lay, and this Book be not writ!

Author's Note

Janus was a two headed Roman God, with one head looking into the Past and the other into the future.

Reviews

[joshua deathdealer]

This is inspiring. Epic even. I've read that the past, present and future are three different dimensions and we, as beings, are experiencing the present but touch into or delve, if you will, into the past and the future with memories and various gifts of foresight. Perhaps Janus is the gift. Excellent thought provoking write. "As sunrays claim their share, so does the Night"...brilliant.

[Augustus]

Thank you so much for your kind words!

[asdarkeyesclose]

what a beautiful closing couplet, i would echo that sentiment. i liked the way you used shadows as a theme in this firstly 'the rain soaked shadows' and then the pages of the book 'a plethora of shades' these images worked well. I also liked the idea of inspiration being stars in the heart which is quite poetic. I think you include a lot (and i mean a lot) of details and different ideas in your poems, i had to spend some time deciphering it but i think this adds to the sense of vision and writing can be too obvious but maybe this is something to think about, trying to make the ideas and images more instantly clear, just teasing out the thought patterns a little. My favourite line was 6, quite delightful. I am not in favour of strict pentameter as long as key lines are written correctly, this read smoothly. A pleasure to read.

[Derek S.Keck]

"Elusive Peace! How I wish man’s spirit/In your arms lay, and this Book be not writ!"
Beautifully put! What a wonderful reflection on the poet/artist-sage, like the mariner of the storm, the artist sees the rage and the calm, both of which have leaked into his very existence and has bled through his art. The ocean is both the external that he draws inspiration from and something more to him that he cradles within, existing in two universes at one time and drawing inspiration from both. Your last two line stanza is really beautiful. Have you ever noticed that some of the most profound poetry deals with some of the deepest grief, especially when looking at external troubles like world wars, violence, etc; or even with personal struggles with accepting death, struggle with spirituality and god or lack there of. This poem carries that romantic air of mysticism. Beautifully written!

[An owl on the moon]

As we walk through January now, this vision, glancing back and looking ahead is the perfect river of thought and feeling. You create a sense of purpose, making some sense of the pain and longing for peace, and we breathe in the hope for the days to come.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Elusive peace, I understand. Yet, if there were no past and no future, there would be no beginning and no end. And just think of the innumerable poems that would have never been written, including your own, were it not for the waves of sadness, melanchology, love, sorrow, etc., that wash over us during our lifetime.

The flow and tonality of your poem is beautiful, representing a wish that can never be fulfilled; for, if it were, we would never be.

Lovely.

Linda Marie