Nothing On The Acsendant
On presence, absence, and learning to sit with what remains

Today is the International Day of Nothing...when we mark the necessity of a little silence.
Emptiness and space are as important as thought.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. We need space.
Nothing is on the ascendant.
🕯️⬛🕰️⬛🕯️
An empty house, a quiet street,
Where no birds flew and the wind failed to greet
The clocks did pause, its ticks unsure
The world held its breath, the stillness queer.
🕯️⬛🕰️⬛🕯️
Shadows stayed, a touch too long
Visions looming by eye's edge
Its soul empty, bareness strong
Its cold breath cuts, a razor's blade.
🕯️⬛🕰️⬛🕯️
Its quiet surges, wraps and swallows
A chair, now gone, a lamp now blown
Its hunger triumphs, a new gallow
Nothing ascends its blackened throne.
🕯️⬛🕰️⬛🕯️
When the day was finally done
Blackness stayed, the light now gone
Nothing's soul had triumphed - won
A well-deserved, though unseen throne.
🕯️⬛🕰️⬛🕯️
Original poem by Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin. AI tags are coincidental.
For Mikeydred's January prompt
About the Creator
Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin
Hi, i am an English Language teacher cum freelance writer with a taste for pets, prose and poetry. When I'm not writing my heart out, I'm playing with my three dogs, Zorra, Cloudy and Snowball.
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Comments (4)
An introvert's dream vacation
💖This poem brought meditation to my door. I found myself yearning to sit in that empty house, finally deaf to the relentless ticking of a clock. You have inveigled me into a state of peace by giving 'nothing' a body and a brain.
Sometimes we need quiet, thank you for another challenge entry
Nothing is necessary, as you wrote, because it clears the heart. Many times I need my own corner to find myself. You wrote it in a wonderful way in your work. The throne certainly belongs to the unknown behind the throne. These are automatic thoughts that, rest assured, will continue because I liked your work.(Ι believe that your last two post need a star)