Poetry Day - Elsewhere
Here's a bonus poem, another from Bruce Smith. Greg Clarke introduces and includes this poem in the Kategoria article I linked previously, but I include it here because I suspect the poetry-link followers are few. I don't think this poem is quite Sehnsucht, because it's not about desire or longing stemming from echoes of beauty here, but I think that is found in his poem I'll Not Be Disappointed.
Being Elsewhere
Today it’s wet
and people complain
as the rain comes down
turning the streets
to a glossy black.
Car tyres make that
distinctive hiss—
a familiar sound
on a day like this.
It’s cold as well,
not fearfully so,
but cold enough
to add to the grief
of those who seek
relief from the rain
by pausing in doorways
before they cross
the street once again.
It’s the contrast
that hurts.
A carpeted room
and a fire brightly burning,
being at home
in a cosy world,
sitting outdoors
on a sunny day
reading a book
while children play.
It’s being elsewhere
where things are different.
These things we miss
on a day like this.
It’s heaven itself—
the absence of fear,
the reign of love
and the prospect of bliss,
that moves our hearts
in a world like this.
Bruce L. Smith
I'll not pretend
Picture from here.
