“I Stood at the End of the Earth”

On By Mike U.In Poetry

“I Stood at the End of the Earth”
© 2013 by Michael L. Utley

I stood at the end of the earth
As it trembled and moaned
Beneath me
The great dark monstrous Pacific
Infinite and unseen
Before me
Mindless
Inexorable
The cliffs below me besieged
By the stentorian onslaught of
Night-cloaked sea

A lifetime of fear has deafened me
I cannot hear it
It does not exist

I stood at the end of the earth
As it shuddered and groaned
Beneath me
The obsidian veil of the void
Stretched taut above me
A canopy of moonless ubiquity
A spray of crystals muted by
An eternity of
Distance and time

A lifetime of sorrow has blinded me
I cannot see it
It does not exist

I stood at the end of the earth
As it writhed and spun
Beneath me
The virginal rays of an
Ancient sun gilding all
The soaring albatross
The breaching whale
The crying gull
The gamboling dolphin

A lifetime of hubris has dulled my mind
I do not know these things
They do not exist

I stood at the end of the earth
As I sought to uncover
The great mystery
The answer is all around me
Everywhere
And forever out of reach

2 thoughts on ““I Stood at the End of the Earth””

  1. Mike, this unknown feeling, this seeking of an answer – how you express your thoughts is so touching and deeply felt. Also, how you merge the earth and nature’s power with your emotions is brilliant.

    “A lifetime of sorrow has blinded me
    I cannot see it
    It does not exist”

    What a beautiful piece. I am curious why you have not submitted some of your work to SpillWords, for example. This work needs to be seen, and it is just so good. I have read it three times, and still, there is more I could glean from your work. Just a splendid piece of writing. Thank you what a treat to read you every time. You have such a beautiful gift, Mike. Love Joni

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    1. Hi, Joni. Your reviews are always so generous and thorough. I appreciate your thoughts so much. For this particular poem, I was playing around with the philosophical concept of solipsism. Basically, it says only the mind exists, and the outside world can’t be known, so in essence, if we can’t see it, it’s not there. I don’t subscribe to this concept, of course, but I’ve noticed that it’s incredibly difficult to acknowledge and experience the outside world when depression keeps me so closed-off to it and all I can see are my problems, and those problems obscure everything else to the point where I feel as though I’m in a cocoon and there’s nothing outside of my own miserable existence. Hence, this poem. I know these things exist (I love science and logic), but man, depression really makes it hard to see anything else sometimes. The nature references were used to counter the awful effects of depression and show the opposing ends of the spectrum. When I was involved in nature photography, I was really in tune with nature and it was such a balancing force. My nature photography was the “joy” to my poetry’s “sorrow.”

      Anyway, as for Spillwords… I didn’t want to say anything because I always tend to jinx things (I don’t believe in jinxes, but hey, ya never know, amirite?), but I actually made my first submission earlier tonight. I’ve never sent anything to Spillwords so I don’t know how long they take to respond, or if they even respond of they reject the submission. I’ve wanted to try Spillwords for the longest time, so I’ll have to wait and see what happens. My submission was the poem “This World is Yours.”

      Thanks again for your kindness and encouragement. I always look forward to your appraisals. Your support means so much to me, my friend. Many, many thanks. 🙂

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