The Short Path Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

The Short Path

Rating: 4.0


The short path
To the sea

Hewn in the rock
And
Slippery

White rocks hideous
Heights
Around

Below the pitch black
Of depth of
The sea

Ah! how
That sea rages in nights
Rare
Of spell and gales

Then spumes abound
But then
No sea gulls fly

Night has its world
No less than day
No less.

Friday, August 29, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: night
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Narayanan Kutty Pozhath 29 April 2018

A beautiful narration of the path to sea.

105 0 Reply
Mohammad Taffazul 29 May 2016

Ah awesome, my favourite lines.........night has it's world no less than day no less

112 0 Reply
Daniel Brick 08 September 2014

This is a brilliant poem of observation and description. Its details are razor sharp and precise, it's an EYE OF THE BEHOLDER closeness that makes the peril of the sea at night palpable. I think you were wise not to add any reflection in your speaker's voice. Fear of slipping into the dark waters, of drowning, was already troubling my reading.

111 0 Reply
Daniel Brick 06 September 2014

NIGHT HAS ITS WORLD / NO LESS THAN DAY / NO LESS Those closing lines express what I was saying in responding to the experience of night, not as the time of sleep and withdrawal, but rather as a time of engagement with the night. Rilke in his SPANISH TRILOGY expresses this rapport with his intimate eloquence AT NIGHT A MAN STANDS UP, THE DISTANT CALL OF BIRDS ALREADY DEEP INSIDE HIM, AND FEELS BOLD BECAUSE HE HAS TAKEN ALL THE GALAXIES INTO HIS FACE. Both of us feel the truth of this night vision!

111 0 Reply
Daniel Brick 06 September 2014

NIGHT HAS ITS WORLD / NO LESS THAN DAY / NO LESS Those closing lines express what I was saying in responding to the experience of night, not as the time of sleep and withdrawal, but rather as a time of engagement with the night. Rilke in his SPANISH TRILOGY expresses this rapport with his intimate eloquence AT NIGHT A MAN STANDS UP, THE DISTANT CALL OF BIRDS ALREADY DEEP INSIDE HIM, AND FEELS BOLD BECAUSE HE HAS TAKEN ALL THE GALAXIES INTO HIS FACE. Both of us feel the truth of this night vision!

110 0 Reply
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