Sand
“There is no god but God” were the very words
I was thinking early that February morning,
the day after I got my diagnosis.
And though those words didn’t actually cure my cancer,
they did shift reality enough
to let a little divine light
in with the dawn. Nobody I know
gets up as early as I do. I like to believe
the universe is spinning like a mill wheel
when we’re not watching, and dawn is part of that.
And though my peace of mind may not depend
on the time of day, I’m fond of the early morning –
it holds such promise. This universe we inhabit
propels us into the future according to its law.
The sand is like a living thing. Along
the winding dunes, the windward and the lee
redraw their maps – and over them, as if
a mist, the sand is dancing. Walk awhile:
the sun is high. Or you can ride the sand:
you’ll gaze out at the endless dunes. A soul
might lose itself, though every grain you see
is placed just where it is, it is recorded.
Today, we walked the sands. And when we came
to sunset and the evening prayer, we sat
to break our fast. A man whirled on a stage.
We spoke of holy things and not so holy,
of those we’ve lost, of how life has its end.
This world is large, and we are small in it.
Small as a distant star to light the night.
Small as a grain of sand the wind has caught.
Sand
Another new word for me John
(Ref the title). The religious assertion, its exclusivity, I tend to contextualise with war and persecution. I wasn't sure how the phrase helped you, unless there is some irony intended. The thinking process then shifted to time and the promise of a 'new day' feel. I can relate to the early hours. I don't feel excluded by these diary thoughts, but I can't say I felt engaged enough to pursue the thought process.
(Ref the title). The religious assertion, its exclusivity, I tend to contextualise with war and persecution. I wasn't sure how the phrase helped you, unless there is some irony intended. The thinking process then shifted to time and the promise of a 'new day' feel. I can relate to the early hours. I don't feel excluded by these diary thoughts, but I can't say I felt engaged enough to pursue the thought process.Hi Phil,
Maybe the way to go is to remove the first two stanzas? The book conducts a religion world tour, and we've come to Islam - the opening line is one of the five pillars of Islam, and extremely important to any Muslim. But that doesn't make it accessible to non-believers. I do need space for Islam in the book, I think that really matters, but I think i can argue that just S3-4 will make that point, without the in your face nature of the Shahada. Also, nobody really cares about my cancer. The next poem, Habibi, is also Islamic (and about war as it happens).
What do you think? Your thoughtful comment has got me thinking!
Cheers,
John
Maybe the way to go is to remove the first two stanzas? The book conducts a religion world tour, and we've come to Islam - the opening line is one of the five pillars of Islam, and extremely important to any Muslim. But that doesn't make it accessible to non-believers. I do need space for Islam in the book, I think that really matters, but I think i can argue that just S3-4 will make that point, without the in your face nature of the Shahada. Also, nobody really cares about my cancer. The next poem, Habibi, is also Islamic (and about war as it happens).
What do you think? Your thoughtful comment has got me thinking!
Cheers,
John
I'll have a think John. I was aware of the Islam reference, after googling. Of course, there is a lot of conflict, as always, with religious justifications. Apparently Buddhist 'extremists' are supporting the generals in Myanmar! I couldn't glean the personal significance for you, disconnect from the news defaults. Cancer is a subject that affects many and impacts on many more. I'm sure there would be a readership, and one that connects to religious belief. Time is another big subject! I quite understand, as you have said, that you need to thread 'fragments'. I did thread mill/grain. Off for a walk now.
Hi Phil,
I hope you have a lovely walk! I did want that opening zealots' manifesto to be undercut by what follows, and have tweaked the opening line in the hope of making that a tiny bit more apparent. But I'm playing with some weighty material here and am unsure that my lightness comes through.
As you say, cancer has impact, and it is part of the pattern of adversity faced by my narrator. It would be ncie to keep it. But I could imagine S3-4 on their own, they can easily stand alone.
Yes, they used to say Buddhist countries had never started a war of aggression. You have to bend the line a bit for Shintoist Japan. But in any case, Myanmar and Sri Lanka have shown Buddhists perfectly capable of persecution and massacre. Maybe not good Buddhists!
Cheers,
John
I hope you have a lovely walk! I did want that opening zealots' manifesto to be undercut by what follows, and have tweaked the opening line in the hope of making that a tiny bit more apparent. But I'm playing with some weighty material here and am unsure that my lightness comes through.
As you say, cancer has impact, and it is part of the pattern of adversity faced by my narrator. It would be ncie to keep it. But I could imagine S3-4 on their own, they can easily stand alone.
Yes, they used to say Buddhist countries had never started a war of aggression. You have to bend the line a bit for Shintoist Japan. But in any case, Myanmar and Sri Lanka have shown Buddhists perfectly capable of persecution and massacre. Maybe not good Buddhists!
Cheers,
John
Sand is a good binding agent for the poem John. Religion coming out of so many desert places. The light of optimism, in the context of the diagnosis, is a light that can have religious conviction. Certainly the promise of looking to future life, and the use of 'propel', is an uplift. So that is the philosophy I've taken from the opening two sections. Was the whirling man a dervish?
Hi Phil,
I think you're exactly right. Nicely put! It's good to hear sand works as a title. I think the opening is just a little more accessible now, and there are things worth keeping in it. There is some hope.
He may have been a dervish. I think they're more typical in Shia Islam, and this was Sunni Dubai, the Arabian Desert. But he was certainly spinning! Not so much a Western thing.
CHeers,
John
I think you're exactly right. Nicely put! It's good to hear sand works as a title. I think the opening is just a little more accessible now, and there are things worth keeping in it. There is some hope.
He may have been a dervish. I think they're more typical in Shia Islam, and this was Sunni Dubai, the Arabian Desert. But he was certainly spinning! Not so much a Western thing.
CHeers,
John