Wednesday, November 05, 2008

November 5th 2008

What is untrue may still be beautiful:
hope, for instance, or a sense of choice.

Beautiful to walk the streets this morning
with the leaves changing color, to hear them

murmur with one voice and know
the light will never be the same again;

beautiful to share in this sudden lightness,
to wander weightless as a dream

through the new woken air; beautiful
to feel the muscle of belief

at work in the world, for though our hope
be foolish it is not foolish to hope,

but human, necessary, and to feel capable
of that is already to be changed.

Disappointment is inevitable.
Time must be dealt with, winter faced.

But something of this day may remain
to sustain us, some ember of warmth

from a season of glory, the joy
of knowing that our voices,

however small, however shaken,
have finally been heard.

11 comments:

km said...

That's, like, beautiful, man.

Trinath Gaduparthi said...

Change has come .
Yes we can.

Obama ! Nice poem , liked the "ember of warmth" description.

??! said...

This, Falsie, is a gem.

Ana said...

very sensible indeed...and beautiful.

the Monk said...

Excellent poem, I say.

Anonymous said...

Excellent. Reminded me, quite directly, of this poem by Rilke:

A Walk

My eyes already touch the sunny hill,
going far ahead of the road I have begun.
So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp;
it has its inner light, even from a distance--

and changes us, even if we do not reach it,
into something else, which, hardly sensing it, we already are;
a gesture waves us on, answering our own wave . . .
but what we feel is the wind in our faces.

Anonymous said...

Have been a lurker here. But wanted to tell you that I've been quoting- with due credit :)- the first two lines of this poem to everybody. Beautifully captured.

Falstaff said...

km: Thanks. And thanks for linking.

musings: Thanks

??!: Thanks

annamari: Hmmm...wasn't really going for 'sensible', but thanks anyway.

monk: Thanks

anon1: Ooh! Rilke! Nice

anon2: Thanks.

Ana said...

I am afraid neither did I, i was goig for sensibil , same roots and it does sounde quite similar, but different language and meaning - a lot closer to sensitive or impressive...

Anonymous said...

Incredible. specially the first two lines

Cheshire Cat said...

Nicely written, but after all hope is emptiness, hope is a form of despair. The American people are nothing if not desperate...