Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Darkness

The light is precisely as bright as always;
Your eyes have grown dim.
Why bother to turn the lights on
It won’t help much
So pull the unseen darkness
Around you like a blanket.
It will not warm you,
It’s more a comfort as you
Do as you have always done,
You could do it with your eyes closed,
As you now prepare to hang the wash,
Wandering the dark corridor
From the pitch black laundry room
To the dusky room with the folding clothesline.

Curtains are not important
You cannot draw them wide
To flood the room with light,
If you could, you’d gladly
Tie back the curtains in your eyes,
Or maybe not, perhaps
Now darkness is your Taj Mahal.

8 comments:

Roger Stevens said...

Phew!

Who's this poem for?

So much poetry on your blog now. You've obviously hit a rich vein of words. Some good stuff, too.

Hope you're well. Glad you've popped by now and again. I've just been so busy lately, as I believe I said. I'm just snatching a few minutes on the blog before we go to bed. Just watched the football - Jill's a Chelsea supporter and we watched her team win convincingly.

Earlier I made a venison casserole.
What exciting lives we lead.

Hope you're well. Cheerybye and sweet dreams.

XXX

Russell Ragsdale said...

Hi Roger! Sounds like you are full of exciting projects at the moment. That's great! Thanks for the nice words, I've been enjoying you new poetry too.

Things are fine with me, just very busy. I was queued up at the copy machine waiting for another teacher to finish, the other day, and there were so many students milling about, I asked her when the next train was going to arrive. Glad to hear Jill's team won and I bet the venison casserole was tasty.

Happy projects and see you again soon I hope.

Lometa said...

What an interesting sentiment. The Taj Mahal at the ending is a surprise and caught me off guard. It’s appropriate because I know that it’s a beautiful mausoleum built by a Mogul emperor (Shah Jahan) in memory of his favorite wife.

Russell CJ Duffy said...

did roger say that you've hit a rich vein?
well you have certainly struck gold with this one.
makes me think of one of my favourite aunt's who i loved dearly and whose sight started to fade towards the end of her life.
you really are an excellent poet russell.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks lometa! I liked the multiple layers of things the
Taj Mahal can represent. Thanks for visiting and feel free to come often.

Russell Ragsdale said...

My old friend is 84 and has really faded this year. So sad to see! Thanks CJ for the awsome coments. Glad it brought a favorite someone to mind for you.

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

This is really beautiful, often when some one is bitter they can't see the pleasure in anything and sometimes there is no escape- I like the Taj Mahal reference an inescapable greaving

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Sue! Darkness is like a huge tomb in which you are buried alive. Darkness is also a monumental loss.