Intending to see what he should,
He set sail on a wing to the sun.
She was a sparrow counted
By the hand of God, set soaring and falling
In turbulent skies, wind burnt and singing,
“Arise, arise, we will rise above this.
The earth she is falling away.
Arise; arise to the face of God,
Through the night to the dawn and out past the sun;
Past the circle of dawns always falling,
And setting our watches to sleep in the dark.
We will rise; arise. There the air holds no poison,
There we breathe no more lies.
Let us glide, the earth she is falling,
Let us rest, she is fading,
She has died,
We arise to the morning-forever.
Our eyes they are brightened.
The breeze it is gentle.
His face it is steady,
Counts us in His sky.
Arise; arise, the earth it has fallen away.”
1 comment:
This is beautiful, Riley; and even more so because I have gotten to know Jessica a little.
You have such a boldness in your poems, that would probably get you kicked out of a poetry class but I think at its best is brilliance. With any other poet I would say, "Well that's just ridiculous how often he repeats the words, "Rise, arise," in this poem. But your poems use this repetition to build and build and build the feeling and the rhythm they are intending. I can't read a Riley poem without *experiencing* it.
You also take ridiculous liberties with grammar and alliteration that would doom anyone else, but for you it works -- not always, but I think more and more often as you are developing your style and your gift.
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