Sunday, June 29, 2014

ST11: "The Eglantine" by Nathaniel Pearce

I was putting a book away on my bookshelf this week and remembered about this gem of a book that I have.  It is a collection of poems written by citizens of Sierra Leone after the civil war.  Its words are incredibly powerful and speak to the depths of one's soul.

"The Eglantine"

A perfect image, all I knew.
The season changed and she was gone.
And now I searched that past of plenty
Digging stones with painted fingers.
Sometime in dreams she tells the story
Of what the future meant to us then.
And now I search that past of plenty,
Find beneath it only shadows.
Yet I search through all the seasons
Not for what is past, but promised.
Soon to find the present hope
That was at that pure beginning.

--Nathaniel Pearce

Source: Rian, Kirsten, Ed. 2009. Kalashnikov in the Sun. United States: Pika Press.

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