Friday, September 10, 2010

Three Miracles at Twilight

Dawn Chorus by Elizabeth Carolan

Watching one thousand swallows
And one
Glide
In an ellipsis of vibrating heaven,

Pausing by a shimmering tree
And another
Alchemizing
Birds into trembling leaves,

Hearing the galactic hum
And drum
Drone
The transparent cosmic spirit,

I became still. silent. sacred.

47 comments:

Natasha Milburn Lalita (Novelist) said...

Vibrant poesy.

They transport souls, like a poet transfers his spirit into the hollow space between the words.

Momo Luna S!gnals said...

Beautiful! Now i become silent too, inhaling your beautiful words....

Sam Liu said...

What vibrant poetry, Nevine! Each word is alive with colour and sound and the most marvellous of imagery. And I love the title of this piece too..."Three Miracles at Twilight"...quite, quite beautiful.

Anonymous said...

just lovely....peaceful, calm,

Man Named Kim said...

i like this piece. i prefer shorter pieces and this is a lovely one. i like the breaks and rhythm. it flutters like the birds...

thank you.

Cildemer said...

J'ai adoré! Short but so beautiful;o)

***
BIG bisous
et une merveilleuse fin de semaine*******

Owen said...

Short and sweet ! A trembling moment of epiphany...

Love the illustration chosen to accompany this too, it is perfect.

I will be thinking warm thoughts in your general direction while in Dallas on Monday and Tuesday morning... if you feel the glow of sunshine while you're sitting in the shade, you'll know where it came from...

And then I'll glide off again quietly, in wide curves below the clouds...

laughingwolf said...

happy EID, if that's the right phrase...

blessings to you and yours

S. Susan Deborah said...

Nevine, the title is quite nice, just as Sam remarked. This piece made me feel one with the Universe. Almost like a merging of different beings into ONE cosmic soul. Whatever the length, you never fail to stir the innermost being.

Joy and love always,
Susan

Coronet Blue said...

"Three Miracles at Twilight". Your poem itself is a miracle! What talent.

Martin said...

A magic moment of awareness and understanding. A sense of place and connections.

Wild Rose said...

Stunning beautiful my sweet delight and am just inhaling your essence before i drift off to sleep. You're the sweetest miracle as is your poem. Muah**

Sending you my love and hugs*10

Wild Rose~

Wild Rose said...

Stunningly beautiful my sweet delight and am just inhaling your essence before i drift off to sleep. You're the sweetest miracle as is your poem. Muah**

Sending you my love and hugs*10

Wild Rose~

Kay said...

a comfort.

Nevine Sultan said...

Lolita – A pleasure to see you here. And a higher pleasure to know your lovely thoughts. Thank you.

Momo – Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sam – As always, you flatter me. We share a love for the title, Sam. I think I like that more than the actual poem. ;-)

Steven – Happy you found peace in it.

Kim – We all have our different preferences. I’m happy you enjoyed this one.

Nevine Sultan said...

Cremilde – Short, yes. I challenged myself, here. ;-) Bon weekend à toi, aussi, ma belle. Bisous bisous bisous!

Owen – How I wish I could’ve come out to Dallas to meet you. But, as that will be quite difficult for me, I will bask in the warm thoughts you will send my way, and I will be sending you the same in return. I wish you a safe trip, Owen.

LW – Yes, that is the right phrase! You are ever the surprise, LW. Thanks a million!

Susan – And you never fail to stir the smile right out of my heart. Joy and love back, dear Susan.

Nevine Sultan said...

Nes – Thank you for the wonderful words. I really appreciate them, Nes.

Martin – Yes. As always, you get it. Thank you, Martin.

Wild Rose – Oh, you are a night owl… like me. And my miracles are people like you, my dear Wild Rose. :-)

Kay – Mmmmmm……… :-)

Anonymous said...

It’s a blessing where we can go with your imagination!!!!

Manic said...

I love my swallows. In summer haze I watch, still as a statue while flies gather around me in clouds - the bugs bring the swallows ever closer. Flashes of dark beady eyes on cream coloured masks, electric blue shimmer, then flit, and they're gone. Once, one flew so close he touched my shoulder. I tasted that once more when I read your beautiful poem.

Betty Manousos said...

Oh Nevine! That is a real feel-good poem!
What a delightful and colourful piece!
I love the sentiments expressed in it.
Gorgeous title, too.

Wishing you a magical Sunday! :o))
Love and hugs,

B xx

PLUS:Too busy working on a research project..agh! but I had/loved to quick pop over here.

Nevine Sultan said...

Sir Thomas - Glad to take you along for the ride!

Steppenwolf - A beautiful moment you had with a swallow. I would always remember such a moment, as well. I smile that I've helped bring back such a delicate memory to you. Thank you for sharing it.

Betty - I'm so happy to see you here, especially considering you are so busy. Thank you so much for your ever kind nature and your loving words and I wish you the most magical Sunday as well. Stay well, my dear friend. Love and giant hugs back to you!

Madame DeFarge said...

I love watching flocks of birds at twilight, so fluid and graceful. You captured that feeling of being in the presence of something greater than ourselves.

Jai Joshi said...

This made me catch my breath, Nevine. You capture that moment of birds taking flight and then alighting in a tree so beautifully. I could see it, feel the current of the wind, see the fluttering as they sat upon the tree branches. You engaged all my senses.

'In an ellipsis of vibrating heaven' reminded me of the ever dancing cycle of nature.

Jai

Rick said...

Nev
What a cool realm to fall into and lose ourselves for a moment in smallness.
Lovely telling
love the succinct ending.
~rick

A Cuban In London said...

I agree with everyone else. Your first stanza left me breathless. Especially because you brought back memories of my trip to Wales recently and seeing birds take flight by the cliffs.

Many thanks.

Greetings from London.

Unknown said...

I loved the alliteration in the last line- 'still, silent, sacred'
beautifully worded, Nevine!

Unknown said...

I came back to say: and what lovely pix! do you live here?

adriana said...

Oh! Because I was reading too fast in my first round about this adorable morcel, I read "still, silent, scared" which totally astounded me!
Then I read again and I had to think of the awe before something sacred and how it is similar to the fluttering of being scared.
And the fluttering of swallows was there... and.. this little piece brought me so many reading levels! Lovely!

Nevine Sultan said...

Mme. De Farge - Thank you for your very thoughtful words.

Jai - Nature is so alive and always pulsing with beauty and endless energy. Sometimes, it is a simple matter of stopping to look... to fall silent with awe. That is exactly what happened to me. I'm happy to know all of your senses were touched by this, Jai!

Rick - Yes, we are so small in the grand scheme of things, aren't we? And it's actually beautiful to feel small in the presence of nature. It's humbling... and we all need that every now and then. Thanks re: the ending. :-) And thanks, too, for your never-ending graciousness, Rick.

Nevine Sultan said...

Cuban - Your recent trip to Wales sounds like it was the perfect break from everything fast in life. And there are moments I know you will remember forever. Thanks for letting me know I brought back some memories of that! ;-)

Smita - Thank you for the sweet comment. And the photos... they're from here and there. My husband and I love to travel... and never without our camera!

Adriana - Sometimes, when I read fast, if I misread, I feel that I'm reading something as it is meant to be read for ME. Maybe I'm a fatalist, but it has always been my belief that I am reading something at a particular moment because there is a message in it for me. As you describe it, Adriana, there is a thin line between being "scared" and being "sacred". I like the thought of that. It gives me an entirely new dimension from which to understand my own writing. What a gift you are!

GYPSYWOMAN said...

the perfect simplistic fluid beauty of your always moving words is just such a perfect touch for my own day today, nevine! and odd you write of birds because they, literally and metaphorically, have so been on my mind of late - am not sure why - except perhaps for my own yearning for what their gossamer wings allow us all -

Judith Mercado said...

I will never see birds in the trees in quite the same way again. That's how powerful this poem was.
Judy

Dulçe ♥ said...

My beautiful friend....
.
I am not used to, almost forgot you also did write poetry... and when you do it this simply and intense way, wow, it gets to the inner self, and a sense of peace, relief, the same you must have lived then, remains in us as if a drop of something sacred...

Hugs Sweet Queen Neevine!
:)

joaquin carvel said...

amazing painting - paired with aptly amazing words.

"an ellipsis of vibrating heaven" is perfect - and yes, especially with swallows, almost a swarm more than a flock - there is an awe that can be overwhelming - a fear at the power and number of them.

wonderful, wonderful poem - as always.

Craftsman of light said...

Nevine,
Your title itself is a poem....moments ripened by contemplations....or simply settling down in the armchair of the soul!
There leaves not only transform into birds or into a galactic hum but a cosmic canvas dripping in the paints of universal love.

Anything see from thence onwards is a miracle!

Love all your writings!
This one is so refreshing!

thankyou Nevine!
Col

Yvonne Osborne said...

I came to congratulate you on the Notes From Underground contest (I was screaming like a cheerleader this morning) but then I got caught up in this little poem. I love your one thousand swallows..."birds into trembling leaves" and what a beautiful work of art above. I can't wait for the anthology to come out to see what everyone does.

Nevine Sultan said...

Jenean - Birdwatching is so freeing and cathartic. I never realized just how beautiful of an activity it is until I started to pay attention to the behavior of the birds, and to find a bit of myself in it. Thank you for your always beautiful remarks, Jenean.

Judy - Your words to me are always powerful, too... and they always leave their mark. Thank you, Judy.

Dulce - My poetry must be that forgettable if you almost forgot I write poetry. ;-) But it sounds as though you enjoyed it, anyway. So, for that I am grateful.

Nevine Sultan said...

Joaquin - Thank you for your always perceptive comments. You used the word "fear", and yes, there can be that flash of fear... just for a moment, before we experience that silence we so desire.

COL - When I read your words, I feel such peace inside them. It is as if you go right under the skin of things and feel their pulse... directly. And... so much of my writing can be dark... so I needed something a little refreshing, myself. I'm happy you enjoyed it, COL. Merci!

Yvonne - And congratulations to you, as well! I was practically in tears, myself. I couldn't believe it, really. And thank you so much for your words on my poem. Looking forward to reading your work and that of others when the anthology comes out!

Felicitas said...

Nature is so amazing. You can be having the worst kind of day, where everything seems to be going wrong, but then you can go outside and the natural world has this way of pulling you in, showing you the bigger picture and transforming you. That is what this piece reminds me of; great poetry has that same transformative power.

Anonymous said...

Excellent.
Bravo

Nevine Sultan said...

Felicitas - It's wonderful to see you here, especially because I know you're taking blogging quite lightly, now. And I so appreciate your words. Nature has that much power over us, truly.

Ian - Thank you.

steveroni said...

Indeed, where have I been? Maybe 'catching up' would be an excuse--but there really is none.

I LOVE these words of yours: "I became still. silent. sacred."

YESSSSS!
Attitudes as this give birth to meditation. I must be still--"know that You are God, not me."

PEACE!

Nevine Sultan said...

Steveroni, you owe me no excuses. Life is hectic... and this I know... believe me! If only I could tell you. But then, excuses excuses. I'm glad you enjoyed this humble piece, Steve. :-)

Jai Joshi said...

Nevine, you have an award at my blog!

Jai

Nevine Sultan said...

Thank you, Jai! :-)

Cassiopeia Rises said...

Oh, but this is wonderful. So deep yet as light as the changing seasons. Love it!

Nevine Sultan said...

Cassiopeia - Thank you for stopping in to visit... and for leaving such sweet words. I hope you will enjoy your visits here!