Hope

WHISPERED WORDS

/ deuxiemepeau / 11 Comments

 

Last night 
you came calling 
like a song 
to soften the shadows
and found me
slipping in
between the silence
and the slumber.
Last night 
you came calling
softly
with your whispering words 
that filled the longing 
soft words that settled 
upon my bed
like a blanket to sooth me. 
Last night 
in the sweetened stillness 
you bent down
from above
from far away
from somewhere beyond the silence
and beckoned me closer 
with your wisdom
whispering words
softly 
like stars in the darkness 
like hope in the loneliness 
welcome words whispered 
which fell from your lips 
and moved amid minds 
warm words that rested 
softly 
in between worlds 
of sleep and seclusion
that found my ears
that soothed my shoulders
that caressed my chest 
like a breeze
like a beautiful breeze
like a beautiful summer breeze 
that lets you breath 
that finally enables you
to breath 

Last night
you whispered
from a world away
and I awoke all the lighter
as the night gave way to day.

 

All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

Click on the link below to hear the audio recording on SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/damien-donnelly-2/whispered-words

IN THE WAKE OF DAY

/ deuxiemepeau / 9 Comments

 

I see you sometimes 
in motions and moments, 
on lips being kissed
and hands being held, 

in that taxi while thinking of another,

in those arms while I searched for slumber, 

I see you sometimes 
in paintings of people,
in colours of contentment 
on canvas, connected, 

I see you on the streets that I covet
serene and smiling in the shadows,

I see you in reflections
that have yet to become,

I see you in suggestions
that have already been done, 

I see you held in other’s hands 
and caressing kisses on other lips

                not mine,
                not yet,

I see you 
no more in the dream 
but in the wake of day,

                awake and waiting 

 

All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

From Myth to Man on Valentines

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Reworking an old piece for Saint Valentine…

 

When I was a boy I dreamt of you daily, when I was 20 I thought I knew you,
as I fall into 40 I fear we’ve never met, but I’ve loved you, you know,
since childhood, since I saw what it meant to hold someone’s hand
and since I came to understand what that touch could bring.
I’ve spoken to you, daily, not sure if you ever heard,
but I’ve told you, over and over, all the plans 
I’ve made for us in my head, all alone,
sometimes I spoke to you silently
as I lay in the wrong arms,
in the wrong bed, fallen
on the wrong path.
I have married you,
again and again, in fairy tales
and formal attire, in far off castles
and sun kissed shores. I’ve made love to you,
moved in with you, moved the world for you and yet,
although we’ve never met, you’ve changed a lot over time,
with each day, along each year, through the ages that I’ve dreamt you in.
You are no more the God I once dreamt you to be with chiseled jaw and perfect pose.
No, you are now to me, at last, more man than myth; more meaningful than mystical, more substance than surface. I too am now man, having grown older and wiser and learned to distinguish
all that is necessary from all that is just noise. When I was but a boy I dreamt of you daily,
one bounteous bodily being of beauty, but now, all is different, I have seen the world
beyond dreams, and have felt all that life pulsing through my waking hands.
I have seen how dreams can deceive you, how gods can grieve you,
and so now, with eyes open, I see part of you in many
and none of you in some and I’ve accepted
that I’ll never find all of you in one.

 

Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

REFLECTIONS ON OUR SHIPS

/ deuxiemepeau / 4 Comments

Drifting
a ship at sail
weighted to the wind’s whim
captive to the currents that may come
servant to the sway of the storms
fated to the fickle folly
that lies in wait
down
deep down
deep in the depths
below the ebb and flow
beneath the ripples and reflections

beneath the ripples and reflections
beyond the foggy mists
we send our ships
now drifting
cutting
through the current
the coast no longer his concern
the mountains will mourn him in his passing
the leaves will return to the branches
when spring falls and the fog lifts
and we wait in hope
for the return
of our ships

All words and photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

Photograph: Morning’s breath upon the water in Stockholm

TO GIVE BUT NOT LET GO

/ deuxiemepeau / 2 Comments

Give
give him
she gave him
she gave him life
but she couldn’t keep him.
Give
give him
she gave him
she gave him a name
but she couldn’t call him.
Give
give him
she gave him
she gave him something better
she gave him something brighter.
Give
give him
she gave him
she gave him that forever 
she gave him that forever after.
Give
give him
give him up
she gave him life
and he gave her thanks.
Hold
hold him
she held him
she held him once
before they took him.
Him
her son
he; her boy
he; who was her baby
he; who was her sacrifice.
Give
give him
she gave him
she gave him up
but she never let him go.

 

All Words and sketches by Damien B. Donnelly

DROWNED IN DENIAL

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Taken by the sea
And buried in the sands
As man could not claim him
Hold him, place him,
Lost to the world
A loss before life began,
He crossed the waters
Of hurt, in hope.
We may cry for him
We may mourn for him
But we are the makers
Of this wicked world
And in our failing hands
We sealed his fragile fate

They come with only hope
But drown in our own denial.

Words and Pictures by Damien B. Donnelly

THE LIGHT WE ARE

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There is a light,
Amid the shadows,
Within our slumber,

There is a light,
That never flickers,
That cannot stumble.

There is a light,
In the very breath
That feeds us,

There is a light,
In every loving eye
That sees us.

There is a light,
In every dream
We dare to hope for,

There is a light,
In every joy
We try to reach for.

In the grace
Of every waking day,

In the rise
Of every starry sky,

In the person
That we can still become.

There is a light,
And it shines
Beyond reproach,

There is a light
And it burns
Beyond decay.

There is a light,
I can see it
Right before me,

There is a light
And within it
Lies my story

Still waiting to be told…

 

ALL THAT REMAINS

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I walked to you today
Along the rocky shore
As the winds roared
And the rain fell,
Soft upon my face.
I walked to you today
In hiking boots
And specs of snow,
Though hills and dales
And pools of tide.
I walked to you today
To where you stood,
To the cliff you’ve claimed,
To the earth you’ve clung to
Through the raging storms,
Through the dawns and deaths,
Through the hope and hurt,
Through the tides and tears.
I walked to you today
Now but a shadow
Of your once gallant glory,
Now but walls of stone
Devoid of laughter and life,
No roof to cover you,
No door to open you.
I walked to you today,
A ruined remains
Of all that once was
To remind me
Of all that still can be,
To reassure me
That not everything
Must be lost to the raging sea