We kick off the new year here at the Low Density Lifestyle website with a poem by Vermont-based poet David Tucker, who has graced our pages before, the most recent time with his poem The River-Woman’s Daughter.
David’s new poem is called Longing, and in the above video, David does a reading of the poem. In true poet fashion, David adds a visual twist to his reading.
This is what David has to say about himself:
“I am a poet who lives in Vermont where I struggle to dig from the rock of mundanity formed by the details and disappointments of life the images that will startle us and remind us how we are connected to each other and to all the universe.”
Here is David’s poem:
Longing
Now,
as sure as Hades hears no joy,
new snow will fall into my path
and all the footprints
marked my way
will disappear
because I burned
the scripture written on my youth:
‘Love the money not the kiss’.
Watch.
You’ll see.
I now must wander
the pathless sky because
my longing for the breath of God
has welded
shut my purse
in which I carry
my old compass,
my pride,
my wish for the praise of women.
And, my mother says,
worst of all,
I do not care.
I toss it all
for just a taste,
just a tiny shiver
from the sweet breath
that lights the dawn!
I would do differently
if I could.
I would be responsible.
I would be ambitious.
I would be good.
I would be the poster child of mental health
if I could
but I can hear
death sniff the vacant seconds
of my past
looking for my life
to chew
and drag into the dark.
And
in the forest
of the hammer blows
of time
and age
and death,
certainty rises
pink like a new sun
over the ocean
of my soul:
no one moment
is wide enough
to acquire the light
that breaks the grasp of night
unless the voice of God
licks it
until
it become as wide as the sun.
Come, Lady
who turns the stars
and bakes the light
that tingles in the belly of my soul,
lick the darkness
out of every moment.
She
who has knocked me to my knees,
cut the tendons of my will
and tied me to her bed.
I would trade a million dollars
for her kiss.
Wouldn’t you?
Enjoy the poem – whether you watch it, read it, or both, and see you next time as we continue the series on the Masters of Enlightenment, as part of the series on Spirituality.
And don’t forget: The Low Density Lifestyle book is now out! You can check out an excerpt from the book, and buy it, at the Low Density Lifestyle bookstore.