The Poetic Blessings Blog will return on August 7th.
I put this poem together by choosing lines from my favorite poems. Each line is by a different author; the finished poem is by me.
“Waiting for Dawn”
– Collated by Renee Adele Phillips
Darkness comes too soon tonight.
Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season:
In headaches and in worry, vaguely life leaks away.
Do they matter—those dreams from the pit?
The reminiscence comes of sunless dry geraniums;
The night has music that calls to me.
I walk into the woods I made, my dark and resinous, blistered land.
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
It is necessary to go through dark and deeper dark.
Something has spoken to me in the night:
“Let your poison be your cure—
The awful daring of a moment’s surrender.
Your hope must wake while the choice is yours to make.”
Out of the little breath of oblivion that is night,
I find my own small person, a standing self against the world.
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
I turn, I turn, exulting somewhat—
and love illuminates again.
Oh, for the wonder that bubbles into my soul!
There will be sunlight later;
The cloud will open, night will decline.
Let these words answer for what is done:
To speak of an end is to begin.
Click here for author credits.
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Comments 4
Renee, You are introducing me into the land of Poetry. A total novice, am I. But, if you keep “working at it” I will grasp, enjoy, even learn to appreciate and love your affection with Poetry. So again, I thank you, I will read, re-read this writing from you today. I might even ‘steal a Line or two. Being one, who seeks new truth , learning and understanding, as I have been doing with my consumption of tHe Holy Bible in the past 2 months, your ‘Poetic Challenge”, I accept. , But, please no “spot quizzes”. Am looking forward to August 7th.God’s Blessings to you.❤️TexGen
Harold–It makes me so happy that you’re willing to read poetry; most people think it’s too much work–and it isn’t. It’s just another way of expression that, to me, can touch an emotional cord that prose simply can’t. I have no doubt that you will come to appreciate it; you’re always so open to learning something new. I can’t promise not to quiz you, though. . . Thank you for your kind words.
Beautifully put together-you would have had to know these poems well and also the authors to have chosen just one line out of each of their poems and so construct something so extraordinairy as to explain your very own soul. While I like to write poetry, I do not read many or have had training in this field persee. It amazes me each time you have chosen to construct a poem from one line only from a variety of poets or artists and then come up with such a unigue blend of words that so perfectly describe what you , yourself wish to convey. Truly an unusual and uncanny art form I have not previously seen before.
To me it feels like a collage, taking bits and pieces from all over the place to create a vision and sense of a cohesive wholeness, either for one’s self or to describe another person or situation.
I totally resonate with your poem–the darkness, the dryness, the waiting and the thoughts that come in the night, yet the persistance as it dances through your soul untill something resonates, makes sense and you dare to wait for the morning and know without a doubt ” It is well with my soul”.
Our hope is in surrendering it all, lift our hands up high and with the sigh of our breath let the breeze of the new morning allow it to float away. Darknes has its reasons and so does the night, but our struggles throughout will bring in the dawn and with it new light!
Klara–once again, you see my heart. I’ve never thought of this as an art form–but I love what you said about it being like a collage–that’s exactly it! Putting together the lines that speak to me the most in some kind of poem is pure joy to me. I know you feel that way when you get absorbed in your own art. Thank you for such a careful reading–I especially like your description of the ending: hope, surrender, and a new morning. Love you, my friend.