| Sounds and Visions
So late, so late and God is still awake. Not that you’d know until you’ve said goodnights, for there is always sound, yet sound must break when TV’s echoes stop. You hear the sheikh intone into his microphone, ‘No lights so late, so late; for God is still awake.’ A message that the faithful always take to heart, as do the Copts and Maronites; for there is always sound, yet sound must break in many pieces like a wedding cake. Each guest will take what pleases them. These rites are late, so late; though God is still awake they say; and even though it’s still opaque outside, prayers drift away on fancy flights for there is always sound, for sound must break to wing when men are weak and still mistake the hiss of burning sticks for poisonous kraits. So late, so late and God is still awake, for there is always sound, yet sound must break. Nigel Holt |
If you have any comments on this poem, Nigel Holt would be
pleased to hear them.
