The Poetry Spot (PTM Newsletter, Dec. 2008)
posted by drew
01.20.09
Ancient Remnants
A shattered stone statue
Some old copper coins
Strange ornaments of blackened silver
Several broken bronze vessels
Were unearthed
In a desert
And people say that centuries ago
Here where there is only a desert
A city was once settled
And a thought strikes me:
Even today, at a party
A gathering
When I come face to face with you
For one second
Just for one moment
The warmth of your body
The fleeting chance of meeting our eyes
The shine of your red bindiya
The rustle of your clothes
The fragrance of your hair
And sometimes, unintentionally
A tiny flower of touch
And then again, that unending desert
That desert where once
A city had flourished.
(From Anthems of Resistance: A Celebration of Progressive Urdu Poetry, by Ali Husain Mir & Raza Mir. IndiaInk, 2006.)
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1 comment for "The Poetry Spot (PTM Newsletter, Dec. 2008)"
drew dellinger
Drew Dellinger is a spoken word poet, professor, activist, and founder of Poets for Global Justice. He has inspired minds and hearts at hundreds of events in many countries, performing poetry and keynoting on justice, ecology, cosmology, activism, democracy and compassion.
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"Drew Dellinger is a national treasure. His poems for global justice bring light to these leaden times, helping us to see and defend the beauty of our world. His spoken word performances are exquisite in their intelligence and artistry: Setting the political challenges we face within the grandeur of our unfolding universe, they ignite both our wonder and our will."
- Joanna Macy, author of Coming Back to Life
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.jpg "Drew at the Whidbey Institute, delivering the Thomas Berry Legacy lecture, October 2008")
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George Polley says:
February 03, 2009 at 06:29 PM
How impermanent life is, yet moves on, passing, yet remembered, touched then time leaves touch behind except in memory. A very beautiful, moving poem. Thanks for posting it so people can read and savor it.