The moments may come fast or slow,
The day may panicked be, or zen:
Though we have near or far to go,
We cannot live the past again
There is a silence in the wood,
There is a stillness in the glen,
Though life go bad and hearts come good,
We cannot live the past again
We all would see the world be changed
As girls to women — boys to men —
Then find our heart from hope estranged,
We cannot live the past again
The tracks run far to unknown land,
The chance that comes we cannot ken —
Through all the lives of distance spanned
We cannot live the past again
The unused treadmill at the gym,
The ink gone dry within the pen,
The sun gone down, the eye gone dim,
We cannot live the past again
The grass beyond the railroad track,
The “one day” that demarks the “then” —
The way is forward, never back:
We cannot live the past again
(“Kyrielle” – 5-25-2017)
No, but today and tomorrow what of them? What if one jumps off the tracks and chooses only to last a moment in time, to flower and die? This poem is a powerful image provoking lots of negativity in this reader.
This, for me, is something like a mantra of acceptance about one facet of life, or maybe perspective on life.
I used the repetition inherent in the kyrielle form to drive the point home; however, as you rightly note, the poem has little to say about present or future.
Could you suggest a good text on poetic form for a beginner like myself? Something with examples and descriptions of various forms might be useful. Kyrie means Lord, and many supplications for mercy have been written in which the word is repeated; from this i deduce that the form you used,kyrielle, comes?
(LOL my English is bad)
-about today-each day is really hard for me and i am struggling to find and get back up on the tracks. However, I do think that being in the now is essential.
Your mind set is a healthy one. Kudos!
Holly
I use http://www.shadowpoetry.com as a resource on form in poetry. You are exactly right about the derivation on the name.
Good luck in the now. I know we all need it. – Owen
I have to Google “Kyrielle” in case it’s not just poetically soul-cleansing. If I (perhaps any of us) lived the past again, I’d make the same fatal mistakes… and the same miracles would come, and the same transformation and I’d say, “I wouldn’t want to do that again!”
Nothing that really matters has changed only that i am taking one day at a time and working hard to keep faith in my “New Day” –
I must believe in the circle of love, a circle which can remain unbroken even though paths may never cross again or even if the tracks diverge.
Brilliant poem! 🙂