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THE EMPTINESS

When the house was taken down
the air that for so long
had been parcelled into rooms
drifted into the day and was lost there.

There were no windows anymore
for the sunlight to fall through,
or landings to rest on, and it fell now
in long beams on the bare ground.

In time the last of brick dust
was carried off by the wind
and there was only the emptiness,
something like the emptiness

that the horse-drawn wagons,
laden with new bricks,
with window frames and tiles,
had first pulled up at.

by Simon RICHEY, in "THE POETRY REVIEW", Volume 105:3, Autumn 2015
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17 comments

beverley said:

and yet ... much interest to be seen in
colours, textures and thoughts of the past !
9 years ago

Armando Taborda replied to beverley:

...they can be reconstructed in the future, Bev! :)
9 years ago

Ulrich John said:

That's the shabby rest of life: only ruins !
9 years ago

Armando Taborda replied to Ulrich John:

We always can rebuild our lives, Ulrich!
9 years ago ( translate )

Armando Taborda said:

Thanks for fave, Lorenzo Salmonson!
9 years ago ( translate )

Steve Bucknell said:

Do you know the majestic opening lines of James Fenton's "A German Requiem", Armando?

It is not what they built. It is what they knocked down.
It is not the houses. It is the spaces in between the houses.
It is not the streets that exist. It is the streets that no longer exist.
It is not your memories which haunt you.
It is not what you have written down.
It is what you have forgotten, what you must forget.
What you must go on forgetting all your life.
And with any luck oblivion should discover a ritual.
You will find out that you are not alone in the enterprise.
9 years ago

Armando Taborda replied to Steve Bucknell:

Yes, Steve! And also the closing stanzas of this majestic poem.

"Even the enquirer is charmed.
He forgets to pursue the point.
It is not what he wants to know.
It is what he wants not to know.
It is not what they say.
It is what they do not say."
9 years ago

Steve Bucknell replied to Armando Taborda:

Exactly. We're on the same page.
9 years ago

Christel Ehretsmann said:

an emptiness full of garbage
9 years ago ( translate )

Armando Taborda replied to Christel Ehretsmann:

Nowadays all garbage can be recycled, Christel! :)
9 years ago ( translate )

Steve Bucknell said:

Garbage the new Daffodils.
9 years ago

Armando Taborda replied to Steve Bucknell:

Is it poetry?
9 years ago

ºLº said:

Your photograph makes me think of the Nepal earthquake, the pictures of which in the News, were heartwrenching ..
A shell of a home, still full of memories of people's laughter and tears, precious moments of bliss and sadness, life.. tatooed on the bricks, clinging foolishly on the blue tatters on the shattered wall ..
9 years ago

Armando Taborda replied to ºLº:

...we can do nothing against the nature strength...even prevention is only a token palliative...
9 years ago

.t.a.o.n. said:

i see a lot of things !
9 years ago