poem: A Moment of Silence

poem: A Moment of Silence

A Chapter by Marie Anzalone
"

for the survivors- Sendai, March 15, 2011

"

This is a burden too heavy for all the world to bear-

Too close, Death's steed has shaken its bridle's sonorous bell

and we are bound by grief as together, we pause to stare.

 

A beast has emerged again from its resting plaintive lair

we see the rider is something vast, incomprehenisble, and fell-

This is a burden too heavy for all the world to bear.

 

The souls interred by its passing are the survivor's collective fare,

our sentinels bring us brazen images of each new unfolding hell-

and we are bound by grief as together, we pause to stare.

 

Ice melts in human hearts as fire rends the very air,

Eyes behold such destruction as human voices can never tell-

This is a burden too heavy for all the world to bear.

 

Wishing only for something to remember growing green and fair,

we supplicate for intervention, actions or words to ease this evil spell-

and we are bound by grief as together, we pause to stare.

 

With costs so exalted, even atheists search for belief to serve as prayer,

There comes a deadly silence unbroken by any save Death's final knell-

and we are bound by grief as together, we pause to stare.

This is a burden too heavy for all the world to bear.

 



© 2012 Marie Anzalone


Author's Note

Marie Anzalone
We live in an age when the images on our tv screen bring the horrors endured by the human psyche into our living rooms. What we once imagined through written word, we now watch unfolding in real time in front of our eyes, disasters both natural and manmade. We need a new kind of compassion, the kind that comes from knowing that the world is both smaller and vaster than we think. The kind that lets us acknowedlge collective terror and grief, and moves us to act with generosity and courage in the face of our own uncertainty. I wrote this for the surivors of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, but it could easily apply to any of a number of other events we have watched unfold in the last decade. And, there will be more to come.

My Review

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Featured Review

The world is too much, sometimes. CNN, the internet. They and all their corespondents, resources, and contacts are having a hard time defining for us all these swirling events. I think we as a society might be driving ourselves mad. Technology and its outward exponential expansion is making it real hard, for humanity and its slow spiritual growth to keep up. A good piece Raquelita. Thought provoking. Thank you for featuring this


Posted 11 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

Thank you, Diego. I wonder sometimes if our minds are capabale of keeping up the pace? I reda two pi.. read more
Larry Dyson

11 Years Ago

Yes!
Tree

11 Years Ago

Great points you bring up. Hard to tell if we can handle in the long run this deluge of information .. read more



Reviews

Hello, Marie! :)
This is a lovely villanelle. It makes sense to me to use this form of repeating lines to write about tragedy, and you did it well. Thanks for sharing.

Posted 2 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

indeed..more seem emphatically to come, be coming, came, went and all the rest...well done piece...good rhyme and structure

Posted 11 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

thanks gombeggar... the villanelle is a tough form but one of the few rhyming schemes I like to work.. read more
The world is too much, sometimes. CNN, the internet. They and all their corespondents, resources, and contacts are having a hard time defining for us all these swirling events. I think we as a society might be driving ourselves mad. Technology and its outward exponential expansion is making it real hard, for humanity and its slow spiritual growth to keep up. A good piece Raquelita. Thought provoking. Thank you for featuring this


Posted 11 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Marie Anzalone

11 Years Ago

Thank you, Diego. I wonder sometimes if our minds are capabale of keeping up the pace? I reda two pi.. read more
Larry Dyson

11 Years Ago

Yes!
Tree

11 Years Ago

Great points you bring up. Hard to tell if we can handle in the long run this deluge of information .. read more
This is a poem the flows well and is smooth on the tongue. The wording is well phrased allowing pictures to form in the mind.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

The things we see on TV seem so far away. I went to some recovery missions in the nineties. Seeing the damage done to the land is amazing. I will never understand why man's don't understand. We best learn to live with nature in peace. Her strength had no limit. Your poem is true and honest. Years ago we laugh at Al Gore. Today he stand for the right things. Thank you for your strong poetry and thoughts. I will come back Friday and read some more.
Coyote

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Damn solid villanelle with the added bonus of keeping a strong thematic string flowing through the piece, which is very difficult to do with such a restrictive form. Strong mix of technical aptitude with effective imagery and thematic content.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

very very good. i love this

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Knowing how difficult the villenille form is to do well ,makes me appreciate this poem all the more.
I am amazed that it has been read 43 times, and has only gotten 3 reviews, in over a month, especially considering the story line and topic.
Even considering the size of WC, I am still puzzled?
Anyway, the poem is right on subject, well said, and timely..and I enjoyed reading it. I could feel the presence of Dylan Thomas, and Theodore Roethke in the room as I read..

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Sometimes I am amazed when I find a poem this incredible on WC, and only see a few reviews? Writing in villanelle form, and staying within its complex rules is in itself, congratulatory, let alone your obvious ability to stay on subject so well. Poems like this keep poetry interesting, and alive...at least in my mind..
Excellent work, I enjoyed reading this poem.

Posted 12 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.


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Added on March 14, 2011
Last Updated on August 25, 2012

A Pilgrimage in Epistles: Poems as Letters and Observations


Author

Marie Anzalone
Marie Anzalone

Xecaracoj, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala



About
Bilingual (English and Spanish) poet, essayist, novelist, grant writer, editor, and technical writer working in Central America. "A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to ta.. more..

Writing