Inspired by the poem “and the days are not full enough,” by Ezra Pound
If ever the sky above is grey, and memory
along with wisteria
compels our understanding, then
it must be December.
Hardly
do I await the rising sun
hardly
do I remember
the last time my heart had sung
when daily chores finish
and a welcoming fire begins to burn,
what good is time
that trembles at mere arrival of dusk?
At first you coalesce with guile
plunging my soul
with yours
deep into the abyss of lawlessness
and lust
if only I could persuade you
to catch hold of inner light,
of each moment
as it tiptoes around us and flies–
You
with your bowl of perjury and
world of lies,
what good is time
when lips are sautéed with long despair?
And the days are not full enough
nor nights sufficient, beloved
mine
yet I sought to hear the voice of conscience
knowing
outside it’s dark and the snow
is falling.
Photo credits: Annie Spratt, Unsplash
Posted for Weekend Mini-Challenge @ Real Toads
And Posted on the Poetry Pantry @ Poets United
50 Responses
A “bowl of perjury”… I wonder what that might look like. I bet it stinks like destruction.
Definitely 🙂 thanks for stopping by, Magaly ❤️
I love your title, and the reference to wisteria……such a lovely bloom. “When lips are sauteed with long despair” is an amazing line. A great write, Sanaa.
Thank you so much, Sherry 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Wow!
You
with your bowl of perjury and
world of lies,
what good is time
Such a quintessential question. I love the final stanza, and the poem as a whole.. Great piece of writing.
Awww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Kerry 😍 so glad you liked it! ❤️
Your title has given me an idea for a new poem – thank you Sanaa! I love the way your poem starts with memory and wisteria, which always triggers memories for me. I especially love the question:
‘what good is time
that trembles at mere arrival of dusk?’
I also love the lines:
‘if only I could persuade you
to catch hold of inner light’;
‘what good is time
when lips are sautéed with long despair’
and
the way the poem ends with
‘outside it’s dark and the snow
is falling’
a real tinge of sadness.
Thank you so much, Kim 😍 so glad you liked it ❤️
(and thank you for the lovely prompt)
what good is time
that trembles at mere arrival of dusk? – lovely!
Thank you so much, Rajani 😀 so good to see you ❤️
As always, I love your beautiful phrases and startling metaphors. And in particular:
if only I could persuade you
to catch hold of inner light,
of each moment
as it tiptoes around us and flies–
Thank you so much, Rosemary 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Lawlessness and lust? Well now, that sounds like a grand adventure! 🙂
Thank you so much, MMT 😀 so good to see you ❤️
I love this… and actually i think this is the only way to live through December… illegal or not
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
I love this- ‘at first you coalesce with guile…and the all the words following. Yes, we’ve all experience that indeed.
Thank you so much, Linda 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
I love this from the title to the very end….and oh that ‘bowl of perjury ‘…..what a thing to behold.
Thank you so much, Donna 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
“lips are sautéed with long despair?”
OMG! You have outdone your bad poet self with this image Sanaa
Thanks for dropping by my sumie Sunday today
Much🖤love
Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Much🌻🌷Love
Love the title and love how you’ve woven some beautiful images here in this winter song.
Thank you so much, Myrna 😀 so good to see you ❤️
I loved the bowl of perjury! What a great line in a piece full of great lines!
Thank you so much, Audrey 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
The images you weave into this plea are gripping. I could its gentile urgency.
Thank you so much, Barry 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Another brilliant poem, Sanaa.
‘if only I could persuade you
to catch hold of inner light,’
what a stunning and insightful line. If only wishing made it so. But that, of course, is the agony of loving someone, who does not love themselves enough ‘to catch hold of inner light’.
Thank you so much, Wendy 😀 so good to see you ❤️
How is it so many poems about love are sad? Love can hurt so much can’t it? I that noticed particularly in the line: “when lips are sautéed with long despair?”. Yes, I have to agree this is a brilliant poem Sanaa.
Thank you so much, Robin 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Thank God I’m way past that kind of let down… certainly hope so. This poem is quite dramatic!
Thank you so much, Margaret 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Ah, it’s so wonderfully rendered — I am wondering over these metaphors and how they create and craft personalities — this is like undoing a love poem and doing it in a fresh way. First, I loved the beginning with the grey sky and wisteria, setting the stage for this song of melancholy, almost like a prayer or exhortation.
These lines made me take a pause because this is the kind of thing that hurts so much: “At first you coalesce with guile/plunging my soul/with yours /deep into the abyss of lawlessness/and lust”.
Awwww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Anmol 😀 so glad you liked it! ❤️
i loved the title!
and the poem, it is simply brilliant. i liked the rich imagery and the tinge of melancholy in the poem.
Thank you so much, Lee San 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Cold yet warm at the same time. Bowl of perjury really stopped me.
Thank you so much, Colleen 🙂 so glad you liked it ❤️
I loved the bowl of perjury! Such fabulous phrasing in this one, Sanaa! 💙
Thank you so much, Kimberly 😀 so good to see you ❤️
“what good is time when lips are sautéed with long despair?” WOW!
Thank you so much, Shoaib 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️
Beautiful piece! I loved it from the title till the very end 😊
Thank you so much, Clayton 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Lovely
Thank you so much, KB 😀 so good to see you ❤️
Oh that last stanza is simply stunning! 💕 Loved the rich imagery and the tinge of melancholy in this poem.
Thank you so much, Priya 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️