tilting at windmills
the void between you and I
faint heart never won fair lady
but bridging the void between you and I
made me dizzy with fear
...
for how dare an ordinary soul in all my
human frailty woo a goddess or court an angel,
what boastful temerity might impel me
...
or what worthy offering might I make
for I possessed neither looks nor physical prowess
save a plentiful wit and clever repartee
...
and yet destiny impelled where courage failed
my thoughts of love like a faery castle in the clouds,
true love, it seemed, demanded a leap of faith
...
but for three long years I yearned for you
at a distance, dreaming the impossible dream,
tilting at windmills, like the man of La Mancha
...
my perfect love held at bay by the terror of the leap
separating us even though I knew that I would
rue my failure to act to the end of my days
...
I remember your piteous gaze as if I had seen you
only yesterday, your features flashing briefly
before vanishing, powerful emotions rebirthed
...
convulsing my throat with forgotten awe
thoughts emptied for a few precious seconds
of the terrible burden of language
...
Words alone could never revive those feelings –
that former mixture of terror and joy
which once upon a time froze me in place
...
Only a profound and mysterious
magic can stir them from their deep slumber,
awakening unlooked and unbidden
...
Your face bathed in a shimmering column of light,
motes of effervescent dust rising up, ascending
like angels, climbing Jacob's ladder to the stars
...
my inertia broken by energy that a moment
before was wanting, a tonic compressing time
into the immeasurable vastness of now
...
the radiance of your features drawing me slowly
forward, like a numinous dream, life slipping
from my throat in small and terrifying bursts
...
but the feelings were mine and mine alone and with a weary
shake of your head, I played the fool while leaning forward
in dizzy terror plummeting, the breath torn from my lungs
...
fifty years past, that emptiness in my chest haunts me still
and I wonder why the emotions of youth are so much
greater than in the wisdom and maturity of old age
About the Creator
John Cox
Twisted teller of mind bending tales. I never met a myth I didn't love or a subject that I couldn't twist out of joint. I have a little something for almost everyone here. Cept AI. Aint got none of that.
Standing While Falling
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTH6 days ago in Critique
Comments (5)
I've always wondered at the tales of what men do for beauty, the Cleopatra type figures of the literary world. This belongs with those tales.
I am throwing that word in my readers bag. Temerity. Thank you for teaching us a new word. From the start to la mancha, you did not break character or rhythm. This flows so well that it seems all the lines were meant to be spoken together, or else the story and the love would die instead of being known. Hmm the terrible burden of language. Oh I feel this line. Love the use of Jacobs ladder. 👌🏾 I had to rest my back against the wall for the last three lines. Sometimes in poetry we write, and for some reason there's that harsh stop and start. Maybe because we the poet is not allowing or making way for the emotions to speak freely. But in this, you mastered what it means to feel and let that feeling speak. Outstanding work. I am speechless, forgetting where my usual emojis are... Wait... Here they are 🤗❤️👏🏾 I haven't used my claps in a long time…
A well-wrought exploration of the theme of love unrequited or unpursued! Though emotions are but one diamond facet of a total human experience, they tend to be the most overwhelming, especially any case involving love!
Whoaaa, this was so intense and deep. Loved it so much!
What a great monologue to the subject of LOVE.