I’ve discovered a thick bell
inside of me
that elegiac poetry rings
a terribly deep booming
knell
It has always been there, I can tell
but I had forgotten
I think it is in all of us
a human ache, a fathomless
well
Being dead while alive mutes its swell
wraps the bell in fog and distance
and it must be one of the Mysteries
that you have to be alive to feel
its peal
that resounding shake of loss in your core
that throws all semblance to hell
Depression… could its fog be protection?
from all we have lost and are losing?
But a quelling that keeps us dead
In the face of death
And life
A society that does not realize it is in mourning
that grief is appropriate
that an elegy is going unsung
yet still death is
come
Your use of rhyme and internal rhyme is really delicate and subtle in this poem, it carries the emotion along so that it hits at exactly the right point. Fantastic work.
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Thank you. That means a lot, coming from one of Brighid’s own.
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I was really distressed by that last word. I mean – WTF? How depressing can that be? The word itself has got a dead thump to it. Yuck!
But clearly it was a conscious choice, so it turned me around, forcing me to unhook myself from the unusual meter, and actually think about what you were saying. Which turns out to be really, really profound.
Good job.
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Thank you. I’m glad it caused you to reflect. Did you come to see that the last word can be both part of the statement before it, and an invitation? 🙂
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Yes, but the ambiguous identity of the guest was part of the WTF.
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The title alone of this poem is fascinating particularly alongside that evocative picture of the approaching mist. I also liked the tolling rhyme. It made me think of the bell inside a person as the passing bell before a funeral, the bells of the dead rung from the sea, muffled by the mists of the past, the weight of time, depression, unrung, they ring on.
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Yes. Thank you for the poetic response.
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When I saw the title, I thought, “Bell unrung, song unsung”. I really love your words.
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Thank you for taking the time to tell me so.
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Wonderful poem truly captivating. Loved the use of rhyme and the message painted out.
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