Vladimir Suchan, Orphean Nostoi, Book II of the Songs before the Gaze, available both in paperback and in e-book

Vladimir Suchan, Orphean Nostoi, Book II of the Songs before the Gaze

 

 

The Xu, the Fruitful Emptiness between Lovers’ Brushstrokes

 

Autumn birds gather into flocks,
and flocks into waves and scarves,
disclosing little, hiding much—

whoever is mortal
commonly strives
for the measure,
straining against it—

but gods—gods alone,
if true—may be at ease,
themselves bearing the measure,
though they did not set it;

and yet both mortals and gods
cannot but admire, deep down,
musicians and poets—those who hone,
their whole lives through, measure’s clear tone,

never turning away from sounding it,
ever seeking to bring it forth—
like the soul’s own pulse,
with the husk removed:

for flower and fruit.

Not Merely Mutual Recognition But also Dazzling Resonance

 

 

Love comes only when

it comes as hearing kindness—

one that shows how far

the soul has opened up

its ears for a kindred heart,

 

and how well the soul has learned

the art of listening for the presence

from which good thoughts rise.

So when the heart finds its words,

those words will sound and speak

 

what the other has meant to be—

his soul's return, her own remembering.

And though they deem it lunacy

to cherish someone so within one's heart,

this sweet insanity grants what the loveless

never find.

 

And thus we fill, slow and gentle, with living light—

what we then grow and carry deep inside

like wheat: ears rising, arching spikes—

with seeds and songs for lives to come,

once more entwined, fresh with memory of heart.