Saturday, October 12, 2013

Light & Darkness

 
where there is light there is surely darkness
darkness that brings both hardship and growth
growth that expands us and makes us more
more than we ever were before

before death and grief, sickness and pain
pain that makes us question this life
life that we cling to with every breath
breath hard and heavy as we contemplate death

death seems an easy way out of this space
space to stop feeling and simply be
be nothing more than a story to tell
tell as a warning to others who dwell

dwell in the darkness instead of the light
light that creates those shady spots
spots to acknowledge but are no place to stay
stay and those demons get their own way

way down deep you know that you are brave
brave and strong and up for the fight
fight for a life that is surely worth living
living and loving, hurting and forgiving

Linking up with imaginary garden with real toads for this weeks challenge of loop poetry and poetry pantry.

33 comments:

  1. Lovely turn in the ending, fighting for that light & love, forgiving and living ~

    Sometimes darkness is all we can see when we are in the midst of darkness & pain ~

    This is a gem & I like the looping words ~ Thanks for participating in Sunday's Challenge ~ Happy weekend ~

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  2. great looping of the words..the poem had some power to it...

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  3. nice...pretty cool on the looping in this....
    to fight for a life worth living...nice closure with that...
    and the elements in your last line...living, loving hurting forgiving...they are all part of life....

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  4. Brilliant :)
    please go through my try too..
    http://sruthiharidas.blogspot.in/2013/10/a-verse-sponged.html

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  5. Contrasts are in life also and in this world also, both are required for fulfillment.

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  6. Provocative and emotionally dense with layers and layers of meaning and imagery.

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  7. Thanks Brenda . . . emotionally dense sounds just like me.

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  8. Wonderful...loving, hurting and forgiving!!!!

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  9. Yes, where there is light there IS surely darkness. The two definitely go together all through our life, I think. The time before death is definitely a 'dark' time. You made that darkness very, very vivid..and I agree that sometimes death seems the best way to escape the horrible pain one endures at the end. Your words are thoughtful and thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing with the Pantry!

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    1. Thanks Mary I enjoyed the challenge of this form.

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  10. Very well weaved words in this loop poem. I like how you started with light, made us question darkness and death but ended on a more optimistic note - a loop there too.

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    1. I hadn't consciously thought about it but you're so right, a loop poem in more sense than one.

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  11. Interesting structure. I enjoyed reading this, especially the ending. Keep it up.

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  12. Ooo... you tackled some deep concepts and brought so much meaning to your loop poem...I definitely found my self on both sides of this contemplation @ life and death light and dark...well done, Kathryn. :)

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    1. Thanks Hannah, I'd never tried a loop poem before so this was quite the challenge.

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  13. Fantastic looping poetry.....a shaman once told me "your greatest pain is your strongest medicine". I thought of that as I read of "growth that makes us more..than we ever were before....." Awesome.

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  14. Ah! The light and the dark - just my kind of poetry.. Loving your art too... Well Kathryn, the thing is in the crazy big world we live in, can quite believe how I haven't tripped over you, before now - and that's the truth! With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastie.com Have you come across Lina Ru yet - there is something about the spirit of what you are doing, that reminds me so much of her stuff....

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    1. Thank you Scott for such a lovely comment, will definitely check out Lina Ru,

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  15. This is indeed the circle of life, and you are right, choosing death is not the answer.
    An excellent write.
    K

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  16. Beautifully written and a strong message! Life is like that with it's ups and downs...we might often feel like giving up but it is then that our inner light matters! Loved the loop....very interesting!

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    1. Thank you Aditi, this was one of those poems that seems to write itself.

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  17. ...a delight to read how the thought process comes & becomes... light & dark --- something in this topic suggests a de profundis... smiles...

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  18. It reminded me of most everyone's journey
    always the pondering of light n' dark and how
    we must continue to fight the battle~
    Well Done

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  19. This is a very powerful existential piece - I found the middle stanza particularly compelling.

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    1. Thanks Kerry, I love how different section speak to people.

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  20. there is a german song i like much and it's about that theme a bit... we can only see how precious life is when we have seen darkness as well.. and that gives us the strength also to move forward..

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  21. Looping and living .. in and out of light. I really like the slight play on breath! Very pretty, reflective piece. It seems this looping style tend to lead to introspection :)

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  22. First time I've heard of a looping poem. Your message gives strength to continue.

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