When Sky Does Not Answer

Malcolm Gladwin

If this life is an Unlit altar

I press my voice into the windless dark,

as if breath alone could shape an answer.

Knees sunk deep in brittle earth,

I offer silence where hymns once rose.

 

No fire falls. No veil stirs above me.

Only the hush of those illuminated stars

burning through questions

older than any creed.

 

Once this world felt held

a warm, unseen hand of meaning.

Now this endless sky just stares back

like great eyes looking down: vast, flawless, and mute.

 

I build no temples, only marks in sand,

each one unseen before it's known.

A ritual of reaching

toward something that may never reach back.

 

Is this devotion or defiance

to keep shaping the shape of longing

when no hand returns the touch?

 

Still I rise,

not redeemed, not refused,

but marked by the gesture

of asking.

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Comments +

Comments3

  • ElizabethMoroz

    This is a beautiful reflective lament on meaning, purpose, time, loneliness, and so much more,..your lines are vivid with classical thought and imagery indicating a beautiful understanding of language and musicality of poetic form. I loved some of the imagery you have created here and this is a pertinent reflective piece with questions that need to be asked. Beautifully written well done! Sincerely, Elizabeth

    • Malcolm Gladwin

      Thank you for reading and leaving such a a lovely comment ❤️

    • Poetic Licence

      A wonderfully written write, reflecting on our purpose, loneliness, meaning of time etc. some lovely lines and imagery throughout the write, enjoyed the read

      • Malcolm Gladwin

        Thank you for reading and taking the time to enjoy my lines of thought , there is a second piece to it which I will post shortly

        • Poetic Licence

          You are very welcome, look forward to reading it

        • sorenbarrett

          There is a hushed feel to the beginning to this poem that is somber. Nicely written it speaks of rituals and temples giving it a sacred feel. Nicely done



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