Ekphrastic Poetry: Sorrowing Old Man At Eternity's gate
Neither to leap, neither to fall
My body is too weak
After I’ve had it all
I see my life through a clouded vision
Success never failed like this before
Motionless and stuck to the ground
Can you lose that which you’ve never found?
If this Earth is all, and God just a concept
Why have I, for so many nights, silently wept
And why do those who pray to their God
Still weep violently when Death is around?
At the brink of hopelessness, anguish and pain
I only can think that my life was in vain
Neither to leap, neither to fall
I possess no strength
No power at all
Sitting on an old chair that I love so much
Near the fire that never is warm enough
I let the soul sink into my clenched palms
To drown into this deep ocean of pitch dark
As I present myself
To the darkness of my hands
Sincerely asking who I am
And what’s the price of success?
Why is this life so empty?
Away with the glory!
That numerous times retold story!
Many wood logs did ride on my back
Now I feel the burden of all of them
And on my shoulders a thousand rock boulders
Bending my body, the weight beyond all knowing
If I could ask for a wish that truly is mine
I would just shout out “please let me die”
In me there is no strength
To deliver myself to Death
I scream “let me die”, whilst deeper I dive
Nameless and faceless, this darkness of mine
And the Coward in me says: “Sit there and be,
Safe near your fire, so warm and so cozy”
Conflicting the desperate Hero that digs through the dark
This hopeless adventure through the labyrinth of heart
Is there a monster inside?
Or the spark of God’s light?
The time will come when the Hero will win
Slay the Coward within
Conquer the monster
Wait for the disaster
That will be the time for the old man to die
And the spark of God will aflame inside
No one will know
No one will care
But the old man will see some glimmering there
Not for believers but for those who dare
In fullness his life will be revised again
The trees, the birds, and the stars will sing in delight
Welcoming back those who endure the dark night
And it all happened near the warmth of fire
In a room of heavy air
On an old chair, at Eternity’s Gate
