“When I need them most terribly, never.”
—Franz Wright, “Words”
There comes a time, for all, when
we are asked to lose ourselves. That’s when I
discovered the fullness of feeling empty, the need
to find abundance through release. Now I sing an anthem
made of silence, craving most
the absence of self; only then, terribly,
do I find what’s always here, though felt almost never.
A.R. Williams is a poet from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. His poetry collections include Funeral in the Wild (Kelsay Books, 2024), Time in Shenandoah (Bottlecap Press, 2024), and A Weathered Ship (Ridge Books, 2025). Website: virginiapoet.com
This poem is powerful, some kind of personal Dark Night Of The Soul. I imagine this poem is about ego-death. There will be things that happen in life that will bring us to our knees, quite literally. Sometimes it's what happens to us by no real fought of our own. Other times, it's the unbearable burden of regret, or coming to a realization too late when our only recourse is heavy prayer and even fasting. That what was at the end of the line was always there, waiting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this poem. It touched me deeply.
Thank you so much for reading my poem and responding! Your kind feedback made my day! -A.R.
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