by Steve King
© 2012
All rights reserved
Death shall punctuate our lines,
granting prospect of new song
to a readied empty space
waiting to enfold new life.
But new life is isolate,
only briefly in its place:
inconstant, unmemoried,
just a sketch wrought all too quick,
no right of rhythm or rhyme
inhering in its leavings;
no entrée to high design
save by good fortune, perhaps,
or if that final hard mark
should fall on a random grace,
sanctifying that last trace.
Punctuation without care
to how that next waiting space
might serve then to rectify
forgone lines of yesterdays—
so many acts left undone,
and so much nearly complete,
all so suddenly effaced,
silent in unfinished lines.
'Unfinished Lines' to be shared Tuesday at dVersepoets Open Link Night. Come Join!
http://dversepoets.com/
a sketch wrought all too quick,...life is but a taper you know...smiles.we never know when death will come...and i wonder at times at the things i have left undone.....i think it is the things i leave unsaid that really scare me the most...
ReplyDeleteso many acts left undone,
ReplyDeleteand so much nearly complete...I think this sums it up for all of us . There is so much left to do and so many things that are halfway done. Like Brian I think it would be hard to leave things unsaid...
Life is a poem, death is an elegy - understanding always lies in the punctuation. A careful exploration of being and possibilities that left one with an awareness and the need for self examination.
ReplyDeleteI can really feel that ache of what could have been and all that has been left undone. That last stanza was my favorite :)
ReplyDeleteNice take on punctuation ... so much is left unsaid and undone ...
ReplyDeleteLife renews but you nail the empty consolation in the fact: it isn't us,renewed, reborn, second-chanced but something else, unmemoried, isolate, and very much random. Your words are woven especially tightly through your ideas here Steve--I like that, makes always for a stronger fabric, where the pattern is clear, though sometimes its fun to wander and batik, too. In this case I think the close symbiosis works well.
ReplyDelete..this will stick with me as I am all too aware of the 'punctuation without care' or lack of diligence that I consider, as well as an extra space or two between words..nicely done ;)
ReplyDelete"so many acts left undone,
ReplyDeleteand so much nearly complete,"
The older I get it seems, the more I tend to focus on that which is undone, rather than all that is "nearly complete." This piece encompasses a wonderful pondering and reflection on both. A pleasure to read as always, Steve.