As cold black darkness deepens the unlit sky
fire idles, stilling, while a dream stumbles forth
to think the world no longer cast your spark.
In the junk shop of life
you crazy paved a path through life
no prismed rainbows colours remain
Stood at the cusp of morning
I walk on clouds, I write about love
– Poetry is sadness
Oh but the birds they would not hush
today as I walked – feeling alone
fantasies of you, real – full blown
Remember then no one’s seen eternity
everything is ephemeral
The way ahead, bowing on one knee, facing north
We all have endurance limits
– with these words of sad regret
peace wraps itself around me
Before the hours to be shouldered
– my resting place
I take it as a purpose of existence
Never lending ourselves to thinking that sadness is poetry
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Written for Melissa Lemay in Uncategorized over at dVerse Poets Pub, but unfortunately, I missed the boat for Mr Linky and so I am posting it on OpenLinkNight hosted by Mish… Melissa’s challenge was to write a Cento poem made up from lines of other pub-goers in the month of April which I misread and chose lines from the May “Magic 9” – Es la Vida…
This Cento draws lines from fellow poets at dVerse Poets Pub – Punam, Sunra Rainz, Laura Bloomsbury, Kim M. Russel, Jane Dougherty, Gillena Cox, Mary Grace Guevara, Melissa Lemay, Helen, Robbie Eaton Cheadle, Judy Dykstra- Brown, Reena Saxena, Paul Vincent Canon
A seamlessly woven cento, Andrew, and thank you for drawing on my Magic 9 poem. These lines went together especially well:
‘you crazy paved a path through life
no prismed rainbows colours remain’
and
‘…with these words of sad regret
peace wraps itself around me’.
Thanks Kim – Tuesday to Thursday I still work so I only got to mine this rich seam of talent this morning…
A wonderful cento… your found the lines that mattered… though I do think that sadness is poetry, but poetry is not sadness.
Thank you Björn – this borrowed poetry is still strange to me but I was happy with this one…
What a beautiful poem! It does not feel like a compilation.
I love the seemingly effortless way you included my lines …. though I know this form is anything but effortless. Cheers and Bravo, Andrew … a great mish-mash.
Thank you Helen, and you’re right – it took far longer to examine, select lines and re-order them as a coherent whole than I imagined or usually take to write “off the bat” – glad you enjoyed it…
Andrew, the lines do work well together. Beautiful compilation.
Thanks Lisa…
You stitched together patchwork quilt of disparate verses that themselves made their own new meaning. I really like how you have threaded the needle on the borders between melancholy and hope.
Thanks Kim, yes, I managed to turn the mood around at the end…
Hi Andrew, this is a beautiful and atmospheric poem. Thank you for making me part of it.
Thank you Robbie, thank you for your contribution…
Lovely! I would never have guessed it to be borrowed lines as it flows so smoothly, like a stream of consciousness.
I was trying to produce “Found” poems working with The Waterbabies as my source (https://how-would-you-know.com/2024/01/evolution-found-poetry-9-violence.html) but it was so lyrical, it felt like I was merely reformatting in a more modern voice, or precising the work – this Cento felt like creating something mine form other sources…
“Remember then no one’s seen eternity
everything is ephemeral
The way ahead, bowing on one knee, facing north”
Outstanding poem, Andrew!
Thank you Sara – I had outstanding lines to work with…
Andrew, this flows effortlessly, though I know putting together disparate lines takes effort and time. I love how all the lines came together to form an altogether new verse. Honoured to be a part of it.
Thank you Punam, yours and all the other great lines are what made it possible…