Deep is the song that echoes on a winter night

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 thoughts on “Deep is the song that echoes on a winter night

  1. A “bowl of perjury”… I wonder what that might look like. I bet it stinks like destruction.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Definitely 🙂 thanks for stopping by, Magaly ❤️

  2. 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.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Sherry 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

  3. Kerry says:

    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.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Awww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Kerry 😍 so glad you liked it! ❤️

  4. 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.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Kim 😍 so glad you liked it ❤️

      (and thank you for the lovely prompt)

  5. Thotpurge says:

    what good is time
    that trembles at mere arrival of dusk? – lovely!

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Rajani 😀 so good to see you ❤️

  6. 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–

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Rosemary 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️

  7. Magical Mystical Teacher says:

    Lawlessness and lust? Well now, that sounds like a grand adventure! 🙂

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, MMT 😀 so good to see you ❤️

  8. Bjorn Rudberg says:

    I love this… and actually i think this is the only way to live through December… illegal or not

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️

  9. I love this- ‘at first you coalesce with guile…and the all the words following. Yes, we’ve all experience that indeed.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Linda 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

  10. I love this from the title to the very end….and oh that ‘bowl of perjury ‘…..what a thing to behold.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Donna 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️

  11. gillena says:

    “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

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

      Much🌻🌷Love

  12. Myrna says:

    Love the title and love how you’ve woven some beautiful images here in this winter song.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Myrna 😀 so good to see you ❤️

  13. I loved the bowl of perjury! What a great line in a piece full of great lines!

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Audrey 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

  14. Barry says:

    The images you weave into this plea are gripping. I could its gentile urgency.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Barry 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️

  15. Wendy Bourke says:

    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’.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Wendy 😀 so good to see you ❤️

  16. Old Egg says:

    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.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Robin 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️

  17. Margaret says:

    Thank God I’m way past that kind of let down… certainly hope so. This poem is quite dramatic!

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Margaret 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

  18. HA says:

    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”.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Awwww gosh! ❤️ Thank you so much, Anmol 😀 so glad you liked it! ❤️

  19. dsnake1 says:

    i loved the title!
    and the poem, it is simply brilliant. i liked the rich imagery and the tinge of melancholy in the poem.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Lee San 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

  20. Cold yet warm at the same time. Bowl of perjury really stopped me.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Colleen 🙂 so glad you liked it ❤️

  21. Kimberly Scherrer says:

    I loved the bowl of perjury! Such fabulous phrasing in this one, Sanaa! 💙

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Kimberly 😀 so good to see you ❤️

  22. Shoaib says:

    “what good is time when lips are sautéed with long despair?” WOW!

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Shoaib 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️

  23. Clayton Abel says:

    Beautiful piece! I loved it from the title till the very end 😊

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Clayton 😀 so glad you enjoyed it ❤️

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, KB 😀 so good to see you ❤️

  24. Priya Bhaskar says:

    Oh that last stanza is simply stunning! 💕 Loved the rich imagery and the tinge of melancholy in this poem.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Priya 😀 so glad you liked it ❤️

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *