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Threshold

R. S. Thomas, R. S. Thomas poetry, Christian, Christian poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by R. S. Thomas
(1913 - 2000) Timeline

Original Language
English

Christian
20th Century

I emerge from the mind's
cave into the worse darkness
outside, where things pass and
the Lord is in none of them.

I have heard the still, small voice
and it was that of the bacteria
demolishing my cosmos. I
have lingered too long on

this threshold, but where can I go?
To look back is to lose the soul
I was leading upwards towards
the light. To look forward? Ah,

what balance is needed at
the edges of such an abyss.
I am alone on the surface
of a turning planet. What

to do but, like Michelangelo's
Adam, put my hand
out into unknown space,
hoping for the reciprocating touch?

 

 

 

Themes

  Light
  Night
  Sound
 
 


Recommended Books


Collected Later Poems, 1988-2000, by R. S. Thomas
For Lovers of God Everywhere: Poems of the Christian Mystics, by Roger Housden
The Man Who Went into the West: The Life of R. S. Thomas, by Byron Rogers
R. S. Thomas (Everyman Poetry), by R. S. Thomas
R. S. Thomas: Collected Poems 1945-1990, by R. S. Thomas

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.