Six Poems by Josh Jordan
The Soul Undimmed
In quietude you whisper upon the wind, reminiscing upon an afflicted past
Outwardly your soul appears cemented from any perception
veiled in tragedy, dwelling in a faded realm
Ghostly floating in an endless pattern of unspoken shame
Fixated always on the same question “How did it come to this?”
Then beyond hope…Spark, spark, spark, it begins to stir
you raise your eyes towards the sparkling sky remembering
That you are mantled in light, your spirit dazzling with illumination
All at once the heart is caught up in the swirling flame
Purging the guilt, cleansing the silent suffering
What was limp with grief surges anew
Your horizon is vast as you embrace that small voice
Telling of a trajectory, your outward expansion
to the many tomorrows, the countless aspirations
The center holds, the questions subside
As you find peace knowing even when broken you are one of a kind.
Her Scarlet Crown
The scarlet crown of her device
Hoisted upon a mane of silvery spindle
The ages of burden twisting a smile
Driving unbounded hope towards vile contempt
She is haggard, born towards life’s current strife
The withered sovereign, the quiet cold of wasted potential
Straining to find that youthful visage
Desperate to reclaim that springtime of her youth
When cares were few and turmoil quickly smitten
laboring deeper she comes to fathom
There never was a diadem of crimson
The enormous tragedy of lost years
was a creation of her mind
The Infinite Gaze
Such as this I have never seen
Standing upon sand so white
Hot grains crumbling
A tiny avalanche beneath my feet
My eyes fixed upon a mystical point
Salt stings my senses, pin pricks of awe
Oh Catharsis!
Vastness beyond measure!
Liquid infinity rolling back upon its own immensity
Where does the sea end?
Where does the firmament begin?
The descent of the sun
Paints the ocean the color of warm crystal
The sparking water contesting the darkening sky
Silently struggling for the most dazzling sight
The bombastic symphony of thunderous waves
dissipates into ringlets of sundering sound
whispering echoes of goodnight
This is the ecstasy of the sea
The promised [Proxima] land
Across the canvas of night
A pale point far off
(So close some would say)
from our system’s harbor
The “country” of the highest unknown
Finally a destination to be reached!
Interstellar distances
across the void of infinite black
We are on a journey to find
Not just a new promised land
For habitable colonization
But to discover within ourselves
The technological prowess
Of tomorrow’s far reaching sight
This “Proxima b” our crafts will find
And in such a voyage
Our search for both this planet
And our species maturity
Will reach that next paradigm
A most refined sophistication
And in that long view
Of humanities climatic destiny
The “Proxima” path
Is our opening gateway
To near infinite variations
Of multi planetary life
Out of the Depths: An Ode to Music
Eyes close,
darkness,
the void given form
the murmur of vibration stirs
Sound weaves upon sound
Bonding to the fibers of our incarnation
The consonant dream of beauty
Mantled in the glory of light
Assaulting the senses
With overwhelming brilliance
Yet within the dominion of despair
The choirs of dissonance overwhelm singing….
“Out of the depths I cry”
Both themes consume our being
Oh the joy, oh the agony
Can they be of one source?
This sonic voyage,
Is an ecstatic jubilation
Yet also a landscape of woe
Yet through this aural journey I say
Marry me to my art
Cling to me forever
My soul hungers for your essence
Oh muse, my music
You are always with me
even until the End of my hope
Quiet my tempestuous core
Rest upon my heart
Open me to all that I can be
You lift the veil of this world
And promise
That all grief will come undone
A memory of light
A memory of light darkens my dreams
I was enveloped in your arms as the sun broke over the horizon
The steady rhythm of your breathing, hypnotic
My eyes gazed upon your sleeping form
A silent adoration
The clock reverberates with the diminished reminder of lost time
What have I done?
Where have you gone?
The hand that reaches toward the sun
conducts the same palm that covers my face in shame
Such simple words:
“I Lost You”
Crack through lips sealed with dried tears
Under the veil of shadow I haunt the world
With my vacant steps of shattered silence
Around the next corner I know you will appear
And you always do
In the vexing form of reminiscences
heaped upon reminiscences
Just out of reach
A soft whisper kiss
A glimmer of your shining hair
Do not leave me I intone
do not fly from my face
Your trace dissipates from my senses
So does that fading aroma
Along with the remaining strands of your hair
that once dispersed
Will be the final tokens of our intimacy
Laughter silenced, Wonder lost
You are now gone from my being
the imprint of your soul
permeates my isolation
And to the last tragedy
I will love you
Unto my final fall
from the face of the earth.
About the author:
Josh Jordan lives and works in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. As a band director, he spends most of his time teaching junior high instrumental students at a local school district located in Western Pennsylvania . Most recently Josh has had poetry featured in The Luminous Echoes anthology, published by Into the Void magazine. In addition Josh has had poems exhibited as part of the 2016 New Worlds Conference in Austin, TX. In his free time Josh enjoys writing poetry, hiking, and playing the ukulele with his daughter Anya. He can be reached at cosmic-phrases.tumblr.com
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