when sleep lay awake,
watching sound drift away, slowly,
like the hush over a platform
as the last of the train angles away,
and shoes and wheels fade into spaces,
tracks cannot follow
in straight lines;
because sleep lay awake,
long after the last bird
had sung its last lullaby,
even the ones dressing
to hatch the next morning,
silenced by a circadian rhythm
of dark fear and finger-crossed hope,
I wish i could tell you when it happened,
sometime after the quiet began,
when the night was a parody
of its shadowy self,
a child’s charcoal drawing
on a damp canvas square,
a string puppet tied to its own
shackled hand;
sometime when sleep still lay awake,
and the birds had laid their voices to rest,
when the night hung from the moon
like a shrivelled caricature,
I wish i could tell you when it happened,
when the wheels turned away
from the lines,
when the marionettes began to whirl,
when the tears came
and when alone became lonely.
Reblogged this on THOTPURGE and commented:
From the Archives #Throwback
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Beautiful and haunting.
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Thank you Rosemary.
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hmm it hits us like a train at times and other times in the subtlety when a cloud crosses in front of the moon. You painted it vividly.
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Thanks so much Leslie..appreciate your comment greatly.
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“When alone became lonely” a very sad moment well expressed!
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Thanks Bekkie.
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Man, this is greatly relatable. It seems to be the same experience whether it’s insomnia, lonliness, depression or even illness. Sleep is a terrible thing when you want it…but can’t have it.
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Thanks Luk Lei…glad you liked it.
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When alone became lonely is a fine demarcate
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Thank you 🙂
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This is such a beautiful piece of writing. Thank you,
Elizabeth
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Thanks Elizabeth
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Wow, stunning….from the rich imagery of this: “like the hush over a platform
as the last of the train angles away” to the poignant contrast of “when alone became lonely.” Really brilliant. There is such a world of difference between those two words, ‘alone’ and ‘lonely.’
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Agree..they are completely different. Thanks so much CC.
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I can feel the aloneness in this piece. I love the image of the night hanging from the moon.
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Thanks so much Sherry 🙂
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Such sadness and truth permeates every line….where we have all experienced this loneliness.
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Thank you Donna..
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You have really shown what it is like when sleep lays awake. I see the thoughts whirring through the head, some of them eerie — the marionettes begin to whirl! I have had such nights.
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Thanks Mary… here’s to peaceful nights and good sleep!!
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“When alone became lonely”—that must probably be one of the saddest lines I’ve read after Neruda’s. It will stay in my head for quite a time, for sure. 🙂
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Thank you Kelvin… appreciate your comment greatly.
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You never cease to amaze me 🙂
Beautifully rendered.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
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Thank you Sanaa…
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softly and beautifully evocative and I like the way we are never told quite what happened – amazing imagery
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Thanks so much Laura..
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Those images in ones mind tickle our creativeness and often the words just flow and almost demand to to be posted. I loved the imagery you created here and the dreamy feelings that it produced.
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Thanks so much 🙂
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Its so sad……
‘alone became lonely’ 😦
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Yeah.. there’s something about empty platforms right…sad..as if it’s all over. But that poem wrote itself really quick, so not sure what it was thinking… 🙂
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When sleep lay awake is such a powerful tagline throughout this piece culminating in perhaps what keeps many of us awake and empty – beautifully written
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Thanks Jae… 🙂
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