One Single Impression: Twilight

I said to you once
That we are old.
We are not old, you replied.
Middle-aged then, I said.
No, you insisted;
We are still young.

So be it.

At twilight I keep watch as
The trees become the rocks become the geese
With the muskrat and beaver
To become the water
That becomes the flicker of light
That falls in on itself
Like grains of sand in an hourglass

I step forward,
Close my eyes,
And become all of this, too,
Become everything I love,
Become you,
Become at once all things
And nothing
In a love that falls
Through the hourglass

In that surrender,
There is no distance
Or shape or form
Only life and a silence
As vast as this universe
That says it's all good
True and out of time
At twilight.

One Single Impression

Post a Comment

33 Comments

  1. That's ... surreal. I was actually following all those transmogrifications (it is too a word, Firefox... I looked it up!) and getting a little dizzy.

    But in a good way.

    And I won't even be hung over from it in the morning.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:04 AM

    beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "In a love that falls
    Through the hourglass"

    Beautiful lines here..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Sandy. Thanks for another great poem. Always enjoy the peacefulness of your posts. Pappy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful words stringed together in a lovely poem. I enjoyed it, so much.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:19 AM

    This is one of your best poems. The weaving and disappearance of individuality is wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow that is deep on many different layers-great poem!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Delightful poem, Sandy..

    "Only life and a silence
    As vast as this universe" -- loved those lines....just so much promise of peace -- loved it :)

    wishes,
    devika

    ReplyDelete
  9. Delightful poem, Sandy..

    "Only life and a silence
    As vast as this universe" -- loved those lines....just so much promise of peace -- loved it :)

    wishes,
    devika

    ReplyDelete
  10. ... death becomes her.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sandy, I love the part:
    At twilight I keep watch as
    The trees become the rocks become the geese
    With the muskrat and beaver
    To become the water
    That becomes the flicker of light
    That falls in on itself
    Like grains of sand in an hourglass

    It reminds me of a house I once had on a river, and sitting on the back deck at sunset, watching as the muskrats and ducks merged into the river and reeds as the light waned. Your words call forth the vision so vividly -- thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  12. A perfect holistic vision there.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I too admire the image of that which falls through the hourglass. Tender and hopeful, yet sad.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Sandy--
    I too loved the loss of individuality in this poem, and the concurent loss of time. They must be connected.

    This is truly a poem of great beauty and grace. Thank you for penning it.

    And thanks for your sweet comments on my photo/poem for this week. Those friends of ours...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nascent obscurity as a great blender. I like this.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous5:51 PM

    I love the twilight in your poem that makes differences simply disappear.

    ReplyDelete
  17. For sure you aren't young. You wouldn't spend your time watching the twilight changes like this. You probably aren't old either. I'd say you are a little dejected and trying desparately to figure what life is all about. Then later life you find that it really hadn't mattered at all.

    My interpretation. Teach, are you going to have me sit in the back row (someone has to do that)?

    I like it. And thanks to Mojo I was motivated to learn a new word, " transmogrify."
    http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?transm21.wav=transmogrify
    ..

    ReplyDelete
  18. Serene. Enjoyed this. And thanks for coming by.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous8:05 PM

    I really enjoyed the movement of things becoming other, as happens as depth is flattened in the twilight. Loss of light, loss of identity, or not loss but gaining new identities as something else. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sandy, this is a wonderful poem of great inspiration: I really enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love everything about this poem, Sandy - especially:

    Become everything I love,
    Become you,
    Become at once all things
    And nothing
    In a love that falls
    Through the hourglass

    So evocative, timeless and brilliant. Peace, JP/deb

    ReplyDelete
  22. Phew, it's coming to that moment of surrender, lovely thoughts!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous10:09 AM

    The word "Twilight" is like a one word poem. And you are not old. And yes, we are internally ancient, like gold threads in the whole of the fabric.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I feel that time lives in the mind...and the beat goes on...as Sonny & Cher sang their theme song.

    Evolving is the same for all that lives.
    ...and beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

    ReplyDelete
  25. inexorably drawing to a close - twilight - lovely words with a hint of melancholy and a oneness that transcends.

    ReplyDelete
  26. there's a lot of connectivity in this poem. i like it.

    ReplyDelete
  27. "In that surrender..." Isn't that the whole ball game? learning to surrender, to be naked, vulnerable. we all spend so much time building our own walls. the true gifts come when we let someone tear them down or do it ourselves. Beautifully crafting of wonderful thoughts. Quite stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I am glad for the twilight as it comes at a perfect time in our life

    ReplyDelete
  29. found myself chanting along to the rhythm ~

    By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
    By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
    Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
    Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
    Dark behind it rose the forest,
    Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
    Rose the firs with cones upon them;
    Bright before it beat the water,
    Beat the clear and sunny water,
    Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous11:40 AM

    That is what I call living in the present. Beautiful poem, Sandy.

    You know, age is so relative. When I think about being only 3 years away from 50...I smile. I feel like I am 20. :-)

    Great poem!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I loved the connection to nature in this wonderful piece.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I really enjoyed this poem Sandy; especially the line "so be it"...Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  33. "Close my eyes,
    .... Become everything
    And nothing
    ..... falls
    Through the hourglass"

    Time is irrelevant, twilight is just the beginning of another life, day, ... I enjoyed the pieces of life that you revealed, amused by what was concealed ... life is like a puzzle, no one seem to have gotten it all together yet, and that just might be it ... life is not meant to be understood, just lived.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for being here.