Thursday, April 26, 2007

Susurration

Listen: into each life the rains must come.
Death waits for all. Do you not hear
the soft, incessant beating of the drum?

Make something of your time. Not a simulacrum
of conspicuous consumption but a truth to revere.
Listen. Into each life the rains must come

to sprout the seed. May we become
essential as we age – distilled, austere.
The soft, incessant beating of the drum

a call to heart, to action. Returning to some
source of strength, we see: the stories are here.
Listen into each life. The rains must come

and go again, and so shall we. Struck dumb
by death? Perhaps, and yet it is sincere,
this soft, incessant beating. The drum

may stop, but echoes shake the sphere
if you’ve lived well. So do not fear
the soft, incessant beating of the drum.
Listen: into each life the rains must come.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So much honesty here...I noticed there were some similiarities of how we should not waste our time before we die..hmmm...some sychronicity. Tell your dad, that I loved the lighthouse! Thanks for your comment too.

Ramesh Gandhi said...

I think the villanelle form worked very well for this -- it's a lesson worth repeating; and it reads naturally, which is the toughest part.

rel said...

Sasha,
Bravo, this is fabulous...you've really found the villanelle groove.
I really like the way you change punctuation to get the most out of the same words!
Kudos!!!
rel

gautami tripathy said...

Whem somethings need to be reinforced, villanelles work great. This one has taken that task very well.

Crafty Green Poet said...

it reads so beautifully the reader can almost forget its a villanelle. Well written!