Our Direst Strait

Some Sisyphus now struggles up the hill,
And still not see his grueling torture end;
Some Jack now falls from having failed his Jill;
Some Simon turns to call the darkness friend.
A flower ere in bloom is on the wane;
A tree in silence falls, and left to die;
A shadow blankly wanders in the rain;
A shimmer flickers with a stifled sigh.
A pilgrim walks a road he had not built,
From lacking means to frame and form his own.
He bears the burden of another’s guilt,
For which he by his will cannot atone.
The world but colours what it wants to show,
And leaves the rest without the hope to glow.

-EDP

Reviews

[H L Rose]

Could totally be interpreting it wrong, but I derived this as a powerful depiction of feeling hopeless in struggles.

I like how you began with depicting hopelessness in persons before moving on to nature and then the abstract before returning to persons. It seemed to embed hopelessness in the very fabric of ones mind, relating it to every aspect of reality.

I think you’ve illustrated this concept very effectively and I enjoyed reading it!

[emipoemi]

Part of it IS a depiction of hopelessness in struggles; it's those who strive for the light, but only find more shadows. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

[H L Rose]

Of course!

[Rachel Richardson]

I have a feeling that I am interpreting this not at all how you originally intended for it to be interpreted but I am going to give it a stab anyways and I would love to hear what your original intention was. I took from this, a depiction of basic human struggle. We are hit by our boulders (or struggles) over and over again and are doomed to always in some way struggle for the rest of our existence. We disappoint and fail our loved ones from time to time. We make decisions to please others and in the process end up displeasing ourselves. It is easy when you consider all of the despondant sides of living as a human on planet earth to lose hope and courage. I only hope that you, yourself have not lost faith. "Rage, rage against the dying sun"

[emipoemi]

The best thing about my poetry is that it can be interpreted like an inkblot test. There are no wrong answers necessarily; how readers interpret it would define how you see the poem. But you asked, and I shall answer, I do leave hidden clues to my true intentions upon writing my poems. In this one, it lies in the last couplet: "The world but colours what it wants to show/And leaves the rest without the hope to glow". All those struggles and wittily placed references define the struggles of all those who are striving for success in life but who end up constantly cast in shadows. My intent with this poem is to attempt to have people look to the shadows and help their fallen comrades, and not only look and accept what the world shines its light on. (Nice reference to Dylan Thomas there, lol). Glad you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading.

[Rachel Richardson]

As one might say, it was my pleasure. (: