Sunday, January 31, 2010

Night walk, by Franz Wright


Frederic Chopin - Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1
with Arthur Rubistein

The all-night convenience store's empty
and no one is behind the counter.
You open and shut the glass door a few times
causing a bell to go off,
but no one appears. You only came
to but a pack of cigarettes, maybe
a copy of yesterday's newspaper --
finally you take one and leave
thirty-five cents in its place.
It is freezing, but it is a good thing
to step outside again:
you can feel less alone in the night,
with lights on here and there
between the dark buildings and trees.
Your own among them, somewhere.
There must be thousands of people
in this city who are dying
to welcome you into their small bolted rooms,
to sit you down and tell you
what has happened to their lives.
And the night smells like snow.
Walking home for a moment
you almost believe you could start again.
And an intense love rushes to your heart,
and hope. It's unendurable, unendurable.




from God's Silence: Poems

4 comments:

Roxana said...

how well i know this feeling, when love "rushes to your heart"... and gratefulness for being, just for being there and receiving it...

Manuela said...

then you are blessed, roxana, and with much courage and beauty in your heart - for that 'just being', not an easy thing.

neata :)

Anonymous said...

You darling woman. I came across this--three in the morning--and was moved to go listen to the complete Nocturnes...
What a good heart you musthave.
I am grateful to you for making this weird but very beautiful and touching connection between my little poem and the very great Chopin piece.
FW

Manuela said...

Dear FW, your comment is a great gift, makes me feel more connected in a wide, world-embracing way.

I think you are a brave soul to go listen to the complete Nocturnes at 3 a.m., that most shapeless hour of the night...

I listened to the piece again, and recognized/remembered how i could feel in it the inner sound of lonely steps on a dark street, the rush of love, the unendurable - it may be a little poem, but it has a big heart.

May your night hours be peaceful!