A poem that I composed this morning walking the dog while the wind blew cold showers and it didn’t feel like August at all. It’s full of allusions to other poems, plays, songs, the words we treasure now, but which will not prevent the end.
For dverse open link night.
Painting ©Anders Osterlind
Into this darkness, will light break from any window?
He said it glowed, this planet, blue as an orange,
now squeezed in a mad ape’s fist,
until the last drops of recorded time fall into the sooty veils of morning,
where no birds sing.
Is there anybody there? they ask, the travellers,
but there are no ghosts in the stairwell to answer,
no moon in the sky to remember.
Words in the wind, blowing,
mean as little as the blaze of a missile’s tail,
when there are no ears to hear, no tongues to sing.
In the end are no words, just the faintest sigh,
as the ash tree’s last leaf drifts into the dust.
Jane Dougherty Writes 
“In the end are no words, just the faintest sigh, as the ash tree’s last leaf drifts into the dust.” Such a sad ending to a heavy poem. this brings about the end of the summer light and intros the autumn cool. Excellent.
Thanks Toni. Maybe it is the lack of a summer that makes me feel so apocalyptic.
or maybe it is the times in which we live…
That doesn’t help.
nope but we have to continue to have hope and share our light
Just carry on carrying on…
“In the end are no words, just the faintest sigh, as the ash tree’s last leaf drifts into the dust” .. such an incredibly poignant close..!
The world ash dying. Can’t get much more final than that.
Must, Must be read aloud!
With all the lights on 🙂
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
Cheers, Michael 🙂
Sadness dripping through the lines, specially the last couple of lines.
We had a long summer, sometimes too much.
Things seem to accumulate that turn the autumnal feeling into one of finality.
Love your closing lines too Jane ~ Very poignant and drips with melancholy ~
It feels like that sometimes, often. Thanks Grace 🙂
Squeezed into mad apes’ fist. The feeling of Unearthly being and loneliness give it an apocalyptic outlook..
I’m glad you saw that too. It isn’t just the end of summer that’s hurtling towards us.
The expression were clear for pointing out the predicament.. And the title of What’s light, left anything but darkness on the conveying thoughts.
I’m glad 🙂
Reblogged this on MorgEn Bailey – Editor, Comp Columnist/Judge, Writing Guru and commented:
A poem for leaving the dull weather behind (hopefully!).
Thanks Morgen 🙂
comfortingly uncomfortable poem, made me think…
I hope the thoughts were not too grim. It’s easy to see the black lining in the the clouds.
That ending packs a bit of an emotional punch. Such strange times, these, on every level.
Thanks Sue. We are living in very frightening times. Maybe because we know so much. Ignorance was bliss.
I liked the phrase: “squeezed in a mad ape’s fist”.
The ‘mad ape’ seemed to flow directly from ‘orange’…
Words in the wind, blowing, mean as little as the blaze of a missile’s tail…what imagery! A perfect metaphor for when words alone cannot capture an essence or reality. Beautiful!
Thank you 🙂 I hope that words will save us, but I have a horrible feeling that they won’t be enough faced with the missiles and the idiots who have the power to let them loose.
The ending evokes many emotions. So many feelings here, that strike a chord. Definitely hits home.
I’m glad it said something to you. Mixed emotions certainly, but mainly fear about this slippery slope we seem to be engaged upon.
A beautiful post….most especially love these words
“until the last drops of recorded time fall into the sooty veils of morning,” and the last two lines.
Thank you 🙂 Allusions to all sorts of sources in this one. I’m glad you like the result.