Looking for life in graveyards
finding reasons for living among the dead;
a journey to uncovering.
Pieces of ourselves scattered across time and landscapes
and thoughts reaching from the wants of lives past,
a place where nothing dies.
And the caretakers observed
sunken rows of hallowed ground,
amid lofty views of the seats of power
over crested hills, gilded domes and statues,
standing all the while in the old slave burial ground.
Promising nothing, set down to a task of remembering
writing the lives that led to me,
of wagons rolling and native names,
from ages that tolerated the heat of man made purgatory;
now in freedom they made,
giving voice to echoes that have visited my dreams.
Unworthy in these moments, but accepting;
such sacrifice taken by history
memories of great gratitude for so little
and so much as life itself,
seems it was all they really had.
And as cobbling and crafting
a song of unborn wishes
sometimes the ground reaches up to me
and whispers love and kindness;
from emptiness comes dancing.
A contest entry
- EMPTINESS DANCING by maa.
543 points, ended August 20, 2007, 15 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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Oh the ancestry in the write just make my heart flutter. You just reminded me of my families past and the history of their lives.....excellent read & write................novy
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Remembering who you are and the place and time where you came from can flood memories of both the past and present. Salvery is nothing to be proud of in this nation, not at all or in any. People should never have to live their lives like that ever again. But least, never forget who they were. Strong, prideful full of love and hope - gospel beliefs and much more! Shame its taken this long to remember those voices of the past. ~Sie
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while reading your poem, I had so many visions coming up ... your words and imagery touched my soul deeply and provoked some strong emotions and a deep sigh ... you have masterfully guided us to the darkest places and times of history, inviting us to gratitude and humility ... the last two lines have truly moved me, transmitting a message of acceptance of what is and has been and cannot be changed, together with the promise of renewal and rebirth of that which is considered dead, but has just changed form ...
"from emptiness comes dancing" - or "the void of pure consciousness contains infinite possibilities" ...
masterful ...
maa
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Speaks the drums beating in rememberance of histories painful road. Love, C
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