Dark things open my eyes, raise my hand, knot my fingers.
They are close and far away, beyond nine hills
in a hidden refuge.
Night is their kingdom, and this day, just breaking, is their cloak of light.
No force can cancel them, untangle them, explain them.
They stay where they are,
in our chests,
murmuring in our hearts.
Dark Things, Novica Tadic translated from Serbian by Charles Simic
"... You dwell in that safe place in our hearts, Where no storm or might or pain can reach you.
"Your love was like the dawn brightening over our lives Awakening beneath the dark A further adventure of colour. The sound of your voice Found for us a new music That brightened everything. Whatever you enfolded in your gaze Quickened in the joy of its being; You placed smiles like flowers On the altar of the heart. Your mind always sparkled With wonder at things..." Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath, As close to us as we are to ourselves."
excerpt from An All Souls Day Poem by, John O' Donohue
