ok i'll bite

[In_betweenthegrey]

The Last Time

At those times when i am most alone,
when i have no one to share my soul;
share my mind.
you are there in my sadness,
a constant reminder.
in my silence you are there,
caught between sorrow and truth.
it pains me to see you.
to know my love for you was in vain,
to know you will never change.
its been too many years,
and too many tears,
to waste another drop of my pride on you.
this cannot go on.
this is my final good-bye to you.
this is the last time i will share myself with you.
nothing here remains to keep my mind free,
and i will not be bound to your indifference anymore.
i will not live another day a prisoner of my own will,
captive to my thoughts,
and tied to chains you call love.

This is the last time you will hear me whisper in the dark.

By Tina Lea

[mat james]

On a dark night...
"without light or guide
save that which is burning in my heart" (San Juan de la Cruz. Poem: Dark night of the Soul)

Keep at it Tina.
That hopeless feeling is a catalyst that works the mystery into the mystic.

[In_betweenthegrey]

Thank you Mat, I wrote that poem many years ago
San Juan de la Cruz. Poem: Dark night of the Soul is very interesting indeed i have never heard of it before do you know of anything else like this

[mat james]

Hi Tina,
Among Roman Catholic writers, San Juan and his “Dark Night of the Soul” is pretty unique. There are plenty of mystics, but his poetry is outstanding. He has other poems, all of which are worth reading.
He wrote books about the meaning of his poems, wonderful, in-depth elaborations of the several meanings of each “word” or phrase or line. He wrote 2 books about the meaning of “Dark Night of the Soul”. The first book takes the same title as the poem and the second is titled, “Ascent of Mt. Carmel”. In both books, he never gets past the 3rd verse !!
As I said, he is unique.
Other great reads around this topic of the “Soul” who goes out hunting a “Lover” (who is rarely found), are:
• Songs of Solomon (a great inspiration to the poetry of San Juan)
• Gitjanjali by Rabindranath Tagore. In much of his poetry he is lost and hopelessly seeking and is therefore a poet of “The Dark Night” by my understanding
• Bhagavad Gita: “The high point of Indian” literature according to many.
• Plotinus who I believe is the man responsible for introducing the concept of “The Dark Night” (journey) to the West, is also worth a read
• Frederich Holderlin ---full of dark night and shining stars

There are many poets stammering around the Mystic and they are not all dead.
• Leonard Cohen’s poetry/songs
• Van Morrison
• Nick Cave
• P.R. Eason

These come quickly to mind, but there's a plethora of them that you will find if you keep looking.
Generally speaking each of these writers is 99% seeker, 1% found. And that’s good enough!
The dark night is pregnant with potential. Hang in there, who knows what will unfold.

Matj