Is darkness the absence of light? yes, but even if the light isn't there, it will be somewhere else, as the sun always shines.
Light on the lake
Once I invited the darkness in
I wasn’t aware back then how
Its tarry tentacles molded my thoughts
No, I was feeding it, befriending it
I disappeared into the night
Till one day, I felt how this black
cloth made me gasp for breath
In despair I stood up to it, cut through it.
A small ray of light squirmed through
the rip and invited me to its world
A world where I had to learn to
navigate around the servants of
darkness and ward off their bait
I went on a quest for knowledge
to conquer the black beast
One day I took a break from my journey
and set down at the lake, listening
to the water lapping at the shore
and set down at the lake, listening
to the water lapping at the shore
Admiring the snow caps painted on it's
surface with brush strokes from the sun
surface with brush strokes from the sun
This beauty made me dance with bliss
on the silvery soothing sound
on the silvery soothing sound
I found wealth in sparkles on the
waves, which reflected in my eyes
I found the amulet I was looking for
That day I invited the light in
I wasn't aware than how it's antennas
could receive love and laughter
and be transmitted elsewhere
I appeared into the light
waves, which reflected in my eyes
I found the amulet I was looking for
That day I invited the light in
I wasn't aware than how it's antennas
could receive love and laughter
and be transmitted elsewhere
I appeared into the light
"No, I was feeding it, befriending it / I disappeared into the night"...Love the play of darkness here.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sumana
DeleteBeautiful
DeleteHopeful
True
Thank you.
It is we who invite light or darkness is... absolutely!
ReplyDeleteYes I think so We are more in control then we tend to believe
DeleteAnd yet some people are absolutely terrified of issuing the invitation to Light.
DeleteWow! I resonate with the birth imagery here, and what it takes to embrace life.
ReplyDeleteThanks I love your use of birth imagery. I hadn't thought of that before
DeleteHi Marja - excellent poem ... I can quite easily see sitting down at the lake, listening as the water lapped the shore, then admiring the snow caps painted on its surface with brush strokes from the sun ... it does look as though its painted on - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThanks Yes nothing better than such a beautiful place :)
DeleteEmerging from darkness into light....the journey all humankind must make. Beautiful, Marja. The photo is gorgeous, the play of light on water is spectacular.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherry I agree a lot of people go through a transformation when they get older. In real life that lake is even more beautiful.
DeleteDarkness can devour us alive if we allow it.. love this beautiful and evocative write, Marja!❤️
ReplyDeleteThanks Saana and it surely can
Delete"No, I was feeding it, befriending it
ReplyDeleteI disappeared into the night"
These lines carry an intriguing sci fi quality. A nice expose of the courtship of darkness
Much💟love
Haha I love how you say courtship. Thanks
DeleteA wonderful write about the journey from darkness!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Annel :)
DeleteWhat a beautiful read I really enjoyed it with a great picture to illustrate it. (PS I just wonder whether in the second line of the first verse it should read "...back then how")
ReplyDeleteThanks and thanks for the tip. I changed it. English is my second language and I often get these kind of things wrong :)
DeleteIt comes down to a choice.It's darkness verses light.Darkness is a formidable opponent and it's a continual struggle to stay in the light.
ReplyDeleteYes I know but sometimes you just find the light and you can learn how to tap into or at least I could :)
DeleteI like the way the poem and reader follow the steps towards the light, Marja. I also like the effective use of alliteration in ‘tarry tentacles’ and the honesty of the lines:
ReplyDelete‘I was feeding it, befriending it
I disappeared into the night’.
You’ve also evoked that feeling of being smothered by darkness in ‘black cloth made me gasp for breath’.
Thanks for that Kim :)
DeleteWOW Marja what a powerful poem and beautiful photo!
ReplyDeleteThe quest for light has always been important to me. Mine is not a search for literal light - more, the search for direction, a message, a cleaning away of uncertainty and the recognition of inner spirit and authenticity.
Occasionally, life seems to be a chasm - a pit I slip and slide into. There is sometimes a sense of overwhelming darkness and no light ahead. What I have learned is that there is always light, I'm just not looking for it in the right place.
That special light can come from any direction. A chance remark, a line in a magazine which starts me thinking, the sound of children playing, the words of a song, a comment overheard on the bus - all and any can give insight and a way through. When times are tough I have now learnt to keep my ears and heart open.
Namaste dear friend
Peggy xxxxxx
"the search for direction, a message, a cleaning away of uncertainty and the recognition of inner spirit and authenticity." Great words poetic Thanks I feel aligned with that, I think we all look for direction but just get some signs that we are in the right road. We don't get to know all the secrets. It's easy in this world to get lost in the dark but we are getting better and better in to pickup and channel the light. Namaste xxx
DeleteI relate. We have to stand up to it, otherwise we'll live in misery.
ReplyDeleteYes we have to fight to find the way again
DeleteYour photo beautifully signifies purity. The prose can be viewed as a "ringing of the bells" in the way that it shows how lightness breaks through attachments to darkness. It reminded me of words by Leonard Cohen who wrote: “There is a crack, a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything). That's how the light gets in.”
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly right " how light breaks through attachments to darkness" Love that I know that song from Cohen He was a brilliant poet and singer song writer
DeleteWonderful Marja, it isn't until we sit and realise all that we have carried within and cut through that dark cloth that have cloaked us in its many layers, that we truly begin to see the light as we begin to shine once more.
ReplyDeletebeautiful words in your poetry Marja.. So impressed by your words and the Image.
Much love my friend <3
Thanks so much Sue and yes you are totally right
DeleteBeautifully descriptive, Marja. The photo is fab too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen
DeleteSuch a sensitive and beautiful poem. Looking at that awesome landscape would be inspiring and invite the light within. One of my friends’ mother in France went into terrible darkness after her husband passed away, she never was whole again. I felt total grief when my husband passed away 3 months ago but I also refused to have the darkness take hold of me. I do get sad but I fight to see life and light around me. As you, I invite the light in – a moving poem. Thanks for coming to my blog when I was unable to visit blogs, I am starting again.
ReplyDeleteThanks dear yes the darkness gets all of us when we go through hard times We can only conquer the dark with light
DeleteI love your poem and how you speak of a landscape that so many have to go through on their journey in life. Beautifully rendered, Marja. I hope you and your family are well. Sorry not to have been by in recent months but the changes of life have caught me up and held me fast. Be well.
ReplyDeleteThank you Renee Nice to see you We are well We are in the middle of summer with high temperatures and have had a great time with many visitors from oversees
DeleteThe eternal theme of light and darkness, and what goes between the two. The lake in your picture looks like an intermediate factor, it has both light and darkness: white snow caps on its surface, but surrounded by dark greenery.This kind of duality is almost everywhere in our life.
ReplyDeleteYes very good observation and I agree duality is part of life
ReplyDeleteIk was je een tijdje kwijt, maar dankzij je reactie of mijn blog weer teruggevonden. Fijn dat het goed met je gaat en dat je mooie gedichten schrijft.
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely and serene place. Your words go with it so well.
ReplyDelete