Lamentations of a Sickly Heathen

by Alice   Nov 16, 2017


I dropped into to the desperate dogma of a prayer.
Knees buckled on that ancient cathedral floor,
saints sleeping beneath my humbled bow
as if in trance,
their peace fluttering through that gold and holied ground
to burst my shamed and flagellated form
like how the sun uncurls my tremors from a night forlorn.
I felt the rippling wrath of sweetened agency slash the air,
snatch up all blackened wisps,
so I could breathe freely.

I wish,
I wish such charming revelations had graced me!
(Although an atheist I may be)
Had sent purity of make and manner
streaming in crystalline rivulets
to clear the soot stuck fast in my veins
and pry from the blur and botched oil of my mind
unseemly ideations still half traversed.

    report violation
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Latest Comments

  • 7 years ago

    by Maher

    I generally only like poems with rhyming patterns because I feel they have more gravity - kind of like being pulled to a different world, if only for a little while. But this is one of those exceptions. It's one of those hidden gems that I love to find on here.

    "I felt the rippling wrath of sweetened agency slash the air,
    snatch up all blackened wisps,
    so I could breathe freely."

    I'm Muslim myself, but even I've had times similar to what you've described here - though maybe not as heavy on the heart and mind. All I can say is that you've very successfully turned into beautiful poetry a phenomenon that most can barely even find a short string of words to describe. And I loved it.

    Have a nomination ma'am. This deserves it and I hope it wins. Please, keep writing :)

  • 7 years ago

    by mossgirl19

    Alice, the opening line by itself is amazing! Wow, you have expressed your plight so poetically. I can only wish I utter words as rich and wonderful as you do. I hope this gets nominated. Great write!

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