In This Tilted World
Before lockdown often seeked forms of isolation
Beyond the hiss and roar of civilization.
I’d sit by windows open, watch the shadows creep
As the moon sailed in and out of clouds,
And as the night grew ever deeper
Would listen to the hooting of owls,
I’d lie and wonder, find peace among the darkness
Instead of feeling locked up, thinking there was no way out.
I’d wait for a lover to call, with a key of their own
To deliver the taste and milk of human kindness,
After times sometimes got filled with hopelessness
Would arrive and fill my heart with gladness,
Leading me from despair to hope
As the skies gleamed and the trees swayed,
Penetrating my senses with smiles so radiant
Whispering secrets, releasing calming scent.
Sometimes cool or intense as fire
Solving problems, as incense dispersed,
Outside on the streets, voices heard dearly
Tempered by the Sun’s warm embrace;
Now the air is thick with quietness
The whole world seems to be in mourning,
But they say there’s a God somewhere
Beyond the silence, I can almost hear her laughing.
There is silence in the streets
There is silence in the streets, long nights of uncertainty
There is power in music, collective threads of solidarity,
Vibrations non-conforming, searching for different realities
Where laborious thoughts keep on gathering,
There are joyful rivers and flowing streams
There is our shared humanity, among days of disbelief,
In Gaza people daily facing unrelentless suffering
Waiting for the darkness to be overcome,
There is despair woven into the landscape of life
Where countries are scarred by war and division,
The lonely and forgotten ensnared by disease
There are so many things we fail to see,
In this world, there is pain so great and terrible
Paths laden with discomfort and so much fear,
There are times when no reason arrives at all
Weary now, timid with all that we collectively face,
There are those that reach beyond this bleakness
Beyond the shattered hopes, gloomy hours in isolation,
There is still beauty, new dawns approaching
The continuing intermingling of minds persistence,
Where our love can heal, holding on to mutual beliefs
Where the affliction of existential life can cease.
………
Just an individual based in West Wales, I follow freedoms breath and international solidarity.