Obscurity (new poem)
by Tim Kavi
a message in a bottle
swam the darkened sea
landed on a sandy shore
the contents therein
hopelessly dated
a voice, daring to speak
in a galaxy of voices
an atom sparked in a shell
uncertainty making
no exact measurements possible
yet I shall speak
I shall still dare to exist
making choices no others can make,
quaking in fear, daring to utter
but only fading
how much does obscurity
diminish what the artist says,
screeching like a bat out of hell,
pronouncing like an angel,
scrolls of holy writ,
will there be no hearers?
will there be no readers?
yet I speak, are my words not worthy?
paragraphs, but only monologue?
I want dialogue!
So, I pray draw closer
as my voice withers with whispers
my throat is parched,
I long for the smooth drinking
of words uttered "well" enough
prose that gets your attention
you dare to deem it so worthy?
based only on who or what you think?
of who I am, or what I have said,
but we are completely only human,
transfixed and far apart,
knowing now, that our lives
are so valuable, wanting meaning
to be seen again, we search
for one another (post-pandemic)
let us turn to the Other,
speaking gentle words of esteem
even kindness and affinity
for all others, we come with
sure words of a brave love.
I only hope we hear, we read,
we esteem each other!
speech acts of sincere meaning
lost in nighttime's dark scheming,
longing for the light,
we can find each other
we can build again
darkened corners of unlit
cityscapes, reduced to rubble
avoiding death, and other trouble,
we will dance again
you shall see in the light
shaking the dust off
we will go to school again
and enjoy the fruits of our labors,
the happiness of each other
finding that obscurity
was only an illusion
a feigned sense of all that was
into the unmistakable joy of what is.
