Summer snow
“Do not be afraid; our fate
Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
A rose in December,
snows in July,
as far as we know
the unexpected will die.
Common sense has infirmities
deformities, affinities,
with pie in the sky;
we seek to get by.
Nothing happens too late
that isn’t taboo
a floating moon slips
above stone-built walls,
a story of endurance
illiterate, is all,
We don’t know nothing,
i’m certain of that,
a waxing moon lingers in the sky
as centuries float by….
My eyes were deceived by promises
unmade, on the way to the grave;
abiding luck, in a shaman’s eyes,
whispers a stuttering goodbye.
Don’t rely on promises
made beneath the moon
a birth or a death
can happen too soon.
Just pray to get through the day.
Say that I love thee
not to death
but far-far beyond,
where the meagre words
of this sing-song-song
will carry you along.
John Marks
Mon 18th Jan 2021 19:54
Thank you Kristian and Stephen and also Cathy and Keith for your unstinting support. And Aisha, dear Aisha, I nearly forgot your generosity - mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. And Aviva, yes, I chose the song to work with the poem. Both carry a message for the less-deceived reader, echoed in the words of Dante (born c.1265, Florence — died September 13/14, 1321). That great Italian poet, advised us thus:
“Do not be afraid; our fate
Cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.”
― Dante Alighieri, Inferno
This view, espoused by Dante, harks back to the central belief of Christians, that God took human form and allowed himself to be crucified at Golgotha. In the ninth hour of Christ's agony his words, recorded in both the new testament gospels and the old testament psalms, :"Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?" "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" have echoed down the centuries. Few listen in this barbarous age as the Christians of the East cry out for help.