Not that I remember, but that I am
Memory, am all that has befallen
Unbroken being and knowing
Whose flow has brought me here, laden with the forgotten
Time and places, once here and now
Of those where were, from day to day
From life to life as I,
Presences of that omnipresence without end or beginning
Omniscient through our being,
That brings and takes away the unremembered living
Moments of joy and wisdom, the once-familiar
Rooms and temples and fountains, the long ago gardens
Of a thousand summers, music once heard,
Travelling through me and on, like a wave
Of sound, a gleam
Irrecapturable. And who we are
Who gather each one leaf, one life of the myriadfold tree
Of the lost domain, and mourn
The flowing away of all we never were, or knew?
Promises, messages reach us, instruct us,
The untold, untellable, undying
Heart’s desire, resonance
Of elsewhere, once, some day, forever
Kathleen Raine
August, Remains of the Day, oil on canvas, 18x24in, 2011
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A very moving and poignant poem by Kathleen. I love your vital and haunting painting Jan, autumn blows in wild and free throwing summer aside and carrying with her whispers of winter days to arrive.
ReplyDeleteCaroline I love how you have phrased that--i never consciously or deliberately set out to paint my mood but i have been feeling bittersweet re the change of seasons..thanks for seeing!!!
ReplyDelete* and the more i am reading of Kathleen's work the more i am relating!
It is interesting, you must have a connection with her perhaps, she is certainly inspiring your artwork a great deal.
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