Soft Hollow

From An Owl on the moon

  Up in her room, Lady Ember lies upon her bed, pale and fragile. Even in her mortality there rests a graying grace.  “Listen...Do you hear the spider weaving her webs?  Can you feel the joy of the Lark, or smell the fragrance of drifting pollen, or view the cresting waters on every earthly shore?  These things endure every day as we wander.  Even now their sounds and scents fill the earth.  Every moment...” she coughs and pauses to take a breath.  “Every moment of an ordinary day is full of wonderment, for the common is only a cloaked disguise of the divine.”  She lays back in a temporary taste of torment, then continues as her body shakes.

     “We live as emotional transients in a world of isolation.  Oh, if I could only borrow back so many wasted moments, but only the arrogant have no regrets; so much is paid for with borrowed time.

 

The infant road,

the child’s path,

in the rising tide of the day,

is the aged road

the dying path,

in the dusk where mortals play.”

 

     Lady Ember stops, then rises painfully and deliberately.  “I hope you have listened well to the learning words of a dying lady.”

     I step toward her feeble frame with anxious anger.  “May I say with no disrespect that I am my own tutor and mentor.  I am my own critic and judge.  I’ll weigh your words on my spirit’s scales.”

     “Beware that you don’t become self-infested, my dear one.  The bleating self is the soul’s demise; more a hindrance than an emancipator,” she says. “Your iconoclastic thunders may one day ring hollow.”

     Stinging fumes of wind breathe through her window and burn my throat, as I turn from her musty presence.

 

Reviews

[Moonie]

I must say you have an excellent vocabulary and know how to get your message across in the most poetic way possible.
" Oh, if I could only borrow back so many wasted moments, but only the arrogant have no regrets; so much is paid for with borrowed time," is definitely one of the prettiest lines i read today.

[An owl on the moon]

What a joy to find your words here, dear poet. Writing this piece nearly brought the end of me, so I'm glad the winter soil could produce some summer beauty for you. :)

[Rye]

Even in her mortality there rests a graying grace. “Listen...Do you hear the spider weaving her webs

Oh SO EXCELLENT.... You words are simply amazing, you have a unique poetic style. I really enjoyed this.

[barleygirl]

This is an intriguing way to convey philosophical ideas without it becoming a snooze fest. I love the way you set your philosophical ramblings into a make-believe storyline. Your storytelling is so strong, it feels like reality, kinda mesmerizing us into believing your described imaginary scene. I'm reminded of how much I dislike writers who are very full of themselves, thinking they've already found all the answers (not that YOU are such a writer, but that your message seems to bash such egotists a little). We each have to find our answers in our own ways, which is why sermonizing can be offensive (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[An owl on the moon]

So thankful to have you here again, dear Margie. I appreciate your insightful reading into my thoughts. Yes, we all stand in places of light and shadow, knowing and needing to know. And hopefully, in a place like the cafe, we can encounter other worlds through poets who can enlighten our world a bit more. A happy weekend to you... (((HUGS)))

[Neville]

I leave this page so very hungry for more of your fine words....and true...... N

[An owl on the moon]

I deeply appreciate your words, my friend. May you find such peace in this coming weekend.

[Neville]

always a pleasure....

[Mari' Emeraude]

This just burns with an intrigue of a woman full of wisdom, that perhaps is too painful to hear? That's such a good analogy about the infant road and child's path.. It really does take the person all the way through to the end, that ends in death.

[An owl on the moon]

I so deeply appreciate your kindness and your insights shared, dear poet. Yes, it seems so often our paths darken as we let go of the child in us.

[Ardra]

Somehow when i look at her pic, it kind of reminds me of a mom who has lost her child ...that kind of emptiness... very apt with the title.... i guess the words can be wise..but then i agree the lines
I’ll weigh your words on my spirit’s scales.” .. :)
you have written this so much thought process...very beautiful Craig.. but June chapter has been my favorite :)

[An owl on the moon]

Thank you for leaving your encouragement and presence here, dear poet. Yes, she does carry that haunted look in her eyes... the sea and sky can do that. Grateful June has been your favorite so far. Appreciate you reading each month. :)

[Ardra]

You know June is my Fav. Heheh... :)
I look forward to reading the remaining months too.. read moreYou know June is my Fav. Heheh... :)
I look forward to reading the remaining months too..
Very special ones...

[Crowley]

So many things to be learned from the deathbed, not things that we didn't already know but things we never really listened to. This is an amazing final scene played out to the end with grace and a bit of disrespect. Wonderfully written and very full. Loved it.

[An owl on the moon]

Thank you so much, dear friend. They say that if you contemplate the end, actually think of death, that your life will be more enriched. May it be. :)

[Crowley]

I know that if you sit with someone who is dying and dies, your life is certainly enriched 10 fold. You cannot come out of it the same person, that is for certain.

[An owl on the moon]

There is a deeper life found when life lets go. So true.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

Lessons of life that only the shadows of death can reveal. Very well done my friend.

[An owl on the moon]

Ah, my friend! Thank you for your kind visit.