taken by your music
to a land of loss, bare, stark,
it dares me enter places i would shun,
deep in a heart of terror where the sun
burns or vanishes. hear the cries of realisation,
the recognition that lies in those extremes
we bear within us. you have voyaged to fearful places
and returned to speak of what you saw,
unsurprised at our incomprehension.
trembling on the edge of loss, of death
and dread, we try to follow, but our legs refuse
to carry us. reflecting on this paradox,
you whisper first, then come those sustained notes.
speak to us, speak for us now, show us the path.
do we dare follow? humanity’s abysses
lie in wait, so we must tread this thread of sound
stretched high over them, a fragile bridge – of hope?
easy to fall – down, into darkness.
where are we going? where are we now?
if you ask you must expect an answer,
but are you ready for it? the notes reach out
to show us a different world…
time has ended. time has yet to begin.
we must live between those paradoxes –
there is no other habitable space.
crying out for rescue from the abyss
unable to believe that all is lost,
that what is lost? and what will now be found?
and in the end, can there be resolution?
Quartet for the End of Time – Olivier Messiaen
poetryspeaksong 