Leave me whole
as vibrant, as full of potential as English plums
placed under the darkening sky,
where pain is audible—
I have witnessed the ushering cries of newborns
and hopes
of estranged lovers a thousand times,
each more harrowing than the last;
why do we hide behind the skin of clouds
knowing
subconscious is but quiet fragments that move
with the whisper of rain?
The answers discovered at long last liberate me,
so much
so that I run out of excuses
to run
from my own limbs and bones—
do we ever truly escape all that lies in waiting for us?
The wind continues to blow blurry and soft.
Photo credits: Elena Klimenko art, Pinterest
Sarah hosts at dVerse and invites us to write a poem
in response to something we have read over the last year. 💝
I chose Rainer Maria Rilke and his poem ‘At The Brink Of Night.‘ Come join us! 🙂
Posted for Poetics: “A conversation,” @ dVerse Poets Pub
28 Responses
Just beautiful as always, Sanaa. That final question and sentence just burn into my soul at the end of reading this. Stunning!
Thank you so much, Lillian 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Oh, Sanaa, this shimmers and shines. That second stanza is amazing.
Thank you so much, Sarah 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
(and thank you for the glorious prompt) 🌹
I so love that vibrant color of plums. That last line moves delicately:
The wind continues to blow blurry and soft.
Thank you so much, Grace 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Such fantastical meanderings through fantasy. You chose a good one to speak to, Sanaa.
Thank you so much, Lisa 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
The age-old question — is it choice or destiny! I enjoyed your journey to the culmination of that question. Well written.,
Thank you so much, Beverly 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
I like your choice and the liberation is specially appealing.
Thank you so much, Ricardo 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Rilke rules, and so do you. Your night time contemplation is smooth as ten year old bourbon, and it warms the heart and gut. I liked,” Why do we hide behind the skin of clouds..”
Thank you so much, Glenn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
The last 2 lines are especially poignant, and hold the feeling of Rilke’s poem stretched between them.
Thank you so much, Kerfe 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Yes❣️
Lovely.
-David
Thank you so much, David 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Rilke is one of my favourite poets – I wrote a prize-winning project on his poetry, which I also translated, when I was in sixth form. I’m so glad that you chose his poem with which to have a conversation. I love the plum simile in the opening lines and the cloud metaphor is so delicate. Questions on the brink of being answered – but not quite.
Thank you so much, my dearest Kim 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
This is wonderfully imagined, particularly “hide behind the skin of clouds”. Nicely done.
Thank you so much, Misky 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
I love that you’ve gone from violins to plums with your reply. And the Rilke makes me wish I knew German!
Thank you so much, Jane 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
this is so zen, a koan, a nebulous philosopher … posing questions with no right answer! Life unfolds as it’s meant to …
Thank you so much, Kate 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Love your response to Rilke’s poem! You capture his beautiful tone of reverie and connection to the immediacy of the world.
Thank you so much, Dora 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️