Watching videos
seeing glimpses of
brightly flickering finite lives
I realize that the person I am watching
will die - though I know not when
and this video belongs to the stash of embers
they will leave behind when they are gone
and I realize that I too will die
though I know not when
and these writings are my embers
I pray that they will keep
all of my loved ones warm
~Nika
and now you have written a 21st century parallel that has the same uncanny power over us. But the biggest surprise is in the last three lines. You say your writings will be your EMBERS - I PRAY THEY WILL KEEP / ALL OF MY LOVED ONES WARM. I find this so moving. Instead of dwelling on your death, you are thinking of their comfort. This goes beyond what John Donne wrote, it's a totally unique gesture of generosity and provides a deeply felt closing for this PRICELESS LYRIC POEM.
I can't believe I have missed this priceless lyric until now. There is not a wasted word and some words work overtime conveying doubled meaning. You refer to the video images as BRIGHTLY FLICKERING, the very images which become EMBERS. Twice you write - THOUGH I KNOW NOT WHEN - the inverted word order calls attention to this phrase as well it should because the first time it refers to the passing of the person in the video, the seond to your passing.This has the same gravity and quiet warning that John Donne's ASK NOT FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS... IT TOLLS FOR THEE. has conveyed to people for centuries and now (Next message)
You got that right and you said it well and the only thing that may live on is a good pseudonym. Read mine - Everybody Has Had Somebody - Adeline
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Coming to terms with our own mortality....Something, I admit, I dislike doing. I admire writers who can deal with that issue as magnificently as you have. Have to keep coming back to this poem!
Thanks Mj, that means alot~