Standing on the Shoulders of Time

Poetry was always what happened

when we had no words left.

It was the language we spoke

between cultures

to bring down tyrants, honor our dead,

elevate the living,

and make sense of waking nightmares.

It is courage drawn in charcoal

on the pages of each other’s journals.

 

All voices need an audience;

all acts of courage require

a platform. We are:

tin men and aluminum women,

with aspirations to silver.

In your space, in this decade,

women learned the art of swordplay

and men learned to cry.

 

You tried to count all the kisses

given by lovers through the history

of world; and to feel the whole

of human history in a single

perfect kiss. I watch you take

off your capes here, and sometimes

find you are superheroes without

them. Some of you stand naked

 

and shout from the rooftops,

and the rest just nod and say,

“yes… that our friend, being

himself again.” Prejudices got

burned away in columns of

purifying fire; and the most

nascent desires are cast in marble

for the next generation.

 

We come together to commune

with our limitations and stand

on the shoulders of Time.

At the end of the day, when ink

of what we wrote, has dried;

we realize:

the view is always better when

it is shared with another open heart.

 

Author's Note

Translated from the original in Spanish. Written as an exercise to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our poetry club, Casa los Altos. The reference ot tin and aluminum are related to the traditional gifts for a 10th anniversary.

Reviews

[R.E. Ray]

Marie, thank you for sharing this piece. I'd never read this one. It's exceptional. So much truth. Reminds me a bit of Longfellow's The Builders, specifically:

"We are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme."

So grateful I checked out your page. Thanks again!

[Mari' Emeraude]

Wow! This is one of those poems I like to tuck away and bring out to read again and again. I like the use of the heavy metals and their parallels. Good job!

[AlinaTheCacti]

It's obviously written by someone who has done a ton of writing and has experience with it. Written with much emotion even though the verses sometimes don't go along together (Since it's translated from Spanish most presumably).

[BlackPrince]

This is such a wonderful poem.
It's like a discourse on life from an experience voice which is yours.
Your writing shines with love and truth.
From beginning, middle and end, it is wonderfully written.


well done