"silentium" poems
As often-times the too resplendent sun
Hurries the pallid and reluctant moon
Back to her sombre cave, ere she hath won
A single ballad from the nightingale,
So doth thy Beauty make my lips to fail,
And all my sweetest singing out of tune.
And as at dawn across the level mead
On wings impetuous some wind will come,
And with its too harsh kisses break the reed
Which was its only instrument of song,
So my too stormy passions work me wrong,
And for excess of Love my Love is dumb.
But surely unto Thee mine eyes did show
Why I am silent, and my lute unstrung;
Else it were better we should part, and go,
Thou to some lips of sweeter melody,
And I to nurse the barren memory
Of unkissed kisses, and songs never sung.
1.7k
I am the daughter of the moon,
And those I love cannot see me,
Because they don't care to look
At what is hard to see.
I am the daughter of the moon,
I come and go with the tide.
The coyote is my brother,
We mourn and howl side by side.
I am the daughter of the moon.
I spend most nights hiding in the shadows,
The new moon can't find me
When I feel so hollow.
I am the daughter of the moon,
I am made up of constellations.
You can't see me because
Everyone else shines so bright in preparation
For all the good things they'd rather
Find
Without the promise
Of the moon in mind.
I am the daughter of moon.
I am made up with Latin words that fill my head,
Like nox, lux, and silentium.
I am the daughter of the moon,
Who had a white worry-stone
With words painted across it
To remind me not to scream.
I am the daughter of the moon,
And you can't see
Me.
Oct 14, 2016
Oct 14, 2016 at 7:21 PM UTC
Moorish bell tower
orange brick or yellow
in a different light
I welcomed on seeing
it in sight,
extra ecclesiam
nulla salus
said Augustine
or so read,
red light
at altar end
and a monk
black robed
walked from cloister
to bell tower
stopping in the aisle
genuflecting
then walked off
to the right
in the half light,
dimidium lux
evening moon shone
through high windows
as bell tolled deep and heavy,
altum et grave
tolled bell out of sight
breaking the still silence
of the abbey where I sat
sensing the chill of evening,
Για όταν είμαι αδύναμος
τότε είναι που είμαι δυνατός
said Paul so read
in the epistle
he is strong when weak,
her two fruits pressed
against my naked chest
there may I rest said I
with a deep sigh,
soupir profond
taking in the chilled breath
in the air silence
of the abbey church,
Hugh said one
had walked
past his cell
making noise
in dawn's light
meaning me
but I ignored
etre comme le Christ
or so tried,
juger les personnes
et les choses dans
la lumière la plus
favorable à tout moment
said Dom James
quoting Vincent de Paul
in the novice's room
after terce,
she opened up
like a bird her wings
there her nest lay
and I engaged her
as she spoke
no laughter
no joke,
I weeded the graves
of the monks at rest
and moles had tunnelled
along side by the stones,
talpe di nuovo
the Italian monk said
pointing at the mounds
come piccole colline,
I knelt in the choir stalls
eyes closed
trying to capture
God's voice
but just silence,
sicut silentium
a pin could drop
and I'd hear
the deadly hush
I fear.
Dec 27, 2016
Dec 27, 2016 at 10:26 AM UTC
And the silence
of the abbey church
overwhelmed me
and that solitary monk
sitting in the choir stalls
alone in semi-dark praying,
Dei silentium coram Deo,
that time in the latrines
in the abbey
late evening
looking out a window
towards the harbour
with lights of ships
and houses and cafes
and me there solitary
looking homewards,
luminaria in mundo,
and Hugh talking about
someone walking past
his door noisily
in morning time
thinking it me
but I went
another way
and told him,
nella preghiera
tocchiamo Dio
the Italian monk
said to me
as we stood
in the cloister
before Vespers,
Dom Leo by the bell ropes
in the cloister
outside the refectory
saying farewell
then off to Rome
and shook hands,
and that French monk said
jamais perdu dans
l'amour de Dieu
and he was tall
and seemed in another world,
I felt the rough brickwork
as I walked past
the statue of the Madonna
my fingers sensed it
at the tips,
she had undressed
and said have me
before my husband comes
so I did,
możesz mieć mnie tutaj
that Polish girl said
*** she meant
but it was an old guy's
bedroom so I declined,
be ready to do battle
under the biddings
of holy obedience
Benedict said
(the saint),
a philosopher
who takes no part
in discussions
is like a boxer
who never goes
into the ring
said Gareth
quoting Wittgenstein,
in silentio et lumen
Dom Joe(dear Bunny) said
God is found
and we walked down
the path from
the shore to the cloister
beneath trees
and that silent
from the shore breeze.
May 19, 2016
May 19, 2016 at 1:53 AM UTC
Orange brick
in evening sun
dull and warm
and I felt with my fingers
as I passed,
il silenzio permette
lo spazio per Dio parli
the Italian monk said
placing two fingers
to his lips,
I hoed between the plants
in the abbey garden
sunlight upon me
like God's blessing,
smelt incense
with body sweat
and baked loaves
as I stood
in the choir stalls
before Vespers,
la oración es
un acto de amor
lasalabras no son
necesarias
St Teresa said
so I read,
I picked up
a handful of earth
and held it
in my palm
and crumbled it
between finger and thumb
like some
ancient conqueror
after battle,
the tall thin monk
tolled the big bell
pulling on the rope
with ease
then releasing it
and grabbing again
pulled,
silenzio e spazio
letting God in
where once
was noise and muddle,
prayer is love
no words needed
a saint said,
amour et prière
Dom Placid said to me
as we walked
in the cloister
before Terce,
interno la pace
as well as outer peace
the monk told me
harder to obtain
too much going on
within,
interius silentium
I stood on the seashore
and watched
the waves come in
trying to empty of self
but the sea could not
drive me from me.
Feb 17, 2017
Feb 17, 2017 at 3:56 AM UTC
It's hard, i'll admit. Or maybe, like you said, I make it hard. But the thing is, my love, how do i really begin to talk about something I know naught of ?How do i describe the numbing sadness, the devastating mental pain?
How do i even describe anything ?
Sometimes I wish I could just end it all, it's so hard being strong and to smile and try. I'm weak, I know. I could have never been like you. I tried so hard. Yeah, I'll admit, those thoughts still cross my mind every now and then. And yes, I might have given in a few times in the past.
There are still days where i eat nothing, and I bleed, and drink and do all those bad things I promised not to.
I guess, today-tonight, is one of those nights.
Jun 1, 2015
Jun 1, 2015 at 1:10 AM UTC
#
*Your soul's movement
is everything..
my sin; when made manifest,
a particulate--
(when breathed in,
there is a certain freedom within it)
Within view of the altar stone
all hidden knives, become fully known
(and, alas, my love--
there's no ram in the thicket)
Beautiful, within the endeavor
though still vastly distant--
(what a fool I make of myself
trying to make this thing, rhyme
by having the audacity
to use the word, Covenant.)
Maybe, I--
your long-lost, supplicant
has been nothing more
than a deeply-embedded, replicant.
(or something)..*
#
Nov 5, 2020
Nov 5, 2020 at 9:49 PM UTC
Is silence modestly the absence of noise?
Or maybe an indifference you pose?
Might be a silent rejection, instead of a „no”..
Or is it more an indecision or so?
I wish I'd knew, since in my heart
It feels a little less than smart..
Jul 14, 2018
Jul 14, 2018 at 4:22 PM UTC