deepundergroundpoetry.com
Chasm
concluding forgiveness
the only remedy for divide,
the chasm stretches
between us;
you, searching for a place
to be wholly yourself
and me, trying to find
solid ground
beneath the turgid flow
of fluid identity
built of the blocks
of my heredity,
...I forgive
a thousand times yet,
I forgive
raindrops sharp and heavy
begin washing over the plains,
sounding the guard
on dull, wheat-covered drums;
a warning
snow is coming
to wipe the slate clean;
decision lay at knife’s edge,
one foot over the abyss ~
it’s time to clear the path
of summer’s wild growth
and lay down the salt
so that you remain free
of its soft, icy layers
or else risk it all
and be buried alive,
making way for rebirth
the choice is yours
connection
from one to another
unquantifiable, limitless
yet we invent ways
by which to determine
how we measure up,
using our calculations
to imagine our worth;
somehow,
we are always found wanting
I threw away my graded cups;
we had quite the collection
between us,
each using them to
scoop out pieces of the other,
trying to fill ourselves solid
of something we’d lacked
for far too long
but we, ourselves
had what we needed
this whole time
I am enough, as you are
I am enough, as you are
I am enough, as you are
when they return,
these vessels of my comparison
~and they will~
I will smile and remember
their shape and texture,
how I came by them each
before discarding the whole lot
~again~
a thousand times yet
I will
the only remedy for divide,
the chasm stretches
between us;
you, searching for a place
to be wholly yourself
and me, trying to find
solid ground
beneath the turgid flow
of fluid identity
built of the blocks
of my heredity,
...I forgive
a thousand times yet,
I forgive
raindrops sharp and heavy
begin washing over the plains,
sounding the guard
on dull, wheat-covered drums;
a warning
snow is coming
to wipe the slate clean;
decision lay at knife’s edge,
one foot over the abyss ~
it’s time to clear the path
of summer’s wild growth
and lay down the salt
so that you remain free
of its soft, icy layers
or else risk it all
and be buried alive,
making way for rebirth
the choice is yours
connection
from one to another
unquantifiable, limitless
yet we invent ways
by which to determine
how we measure up,
using our calculations
to imagine our worth;
somehow,
we are always found wanting
I threw away my graded cups;
we had quite the collection
between us,
each using them to
scoop out pieces of the other,
trying to fill ourselves solid
of something we’d lacked
for far too long
but we, ourselves
had what we needed
this whole time
I am enough, as you are
I am enough, as you are
I am enough, as you are
when they return,
these vessels of my comparison
~and they will~
I will smile and remember
their shape and texture,
how I came by them each
before discarding the whole lot
~again~
a thousand times yet
I will
Published 8th Nov 2020
| Edited 10th Nov 2020
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Anonymous
9th Nov 2020 1:04am
All I have to say is, intense.
Except, you are enough, and maybe you need to hear that more often from others not on either side of the chasm.
And lastly, you have an extra "the" in your 3rd stanza.
Except, you are enough, and maybe you need to hear that more often from others not on either side of the chasm.
And lastly, you have an extra "the" in your 3rd stanza.
9th Nov 2020 1:12am
I swear, it doesn’t matter how many times you proofread, your eyes refuse to cooperate sometimes. Fixed it; thank you so much, Johnny 💜
9th Nov 2020 9:03pm
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
This is one of many way markers by which I have sifted the wheat from the tares in my personal associations. Rumi, Tagore, Osho, Watts and sometimes the friends we meet and know in our intimate circles, all have held the same spirit of compassion and abundance from which all arises.
Your writing holds the calm presence of true awareness, beautifully rendered natural metaphor and exquisite emotion. Namaste.
This is one of many way markers by which I have sifted the wheat from the tares in my personal associations. Rumi, Tagore, Osho, Watts and sometimes the friends we meet and know in our intimate circles, all have held the same spirit of compassion and abundance from which all arises.
Your writing holds the calm presence of true awareness, beautifully rendered natural metaphor and exquisite emotion. Namaste.
9th Nov 2020 10:19pm
