Importunity

My heart is empty. All the fountains that should run
_____With longing, are in me
Dried up. In all my countryside there is not one
_____That drips to find the sea.
I have no care for anything thy love can grant
_____Except the moment’s vain
And hardly noticed filling of the moment’s want
_____And to be free from pain.¹

Keep me from going to sleep too soon
Or if I go to sleep too soon
Come wake me up. Come any hour
Of night. Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door.
Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.²

Little deeds of kindness,
___Little words of love,
Make our earth an Eden,
___Like the heaven above.³

¹ from “Archtype and Ectype” by C. S. Lewis in Timeless Writings of C. S. Lewis: The Pilgrim’s Regress. Family Christian Press: Edison, NJ, 1943, p. 122.

² from “Summons” by Robert Francis in Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle… and Other Modern Verse. Scott, Foresman & Co.: Glenview, IL, 1966, p. 62.

³ from “Little Things” by Julia A. F. Carney in Favorite Poems Old and New. Doubleday: New York, 1957, p. 540.

Composed for #OctPoWriMo

Cento

Poets often borrow a line here and there from one another and build on it to write an entirely new poem. This poem, however, was created exclusively from the words of other poets. It is called a Cento, from the Latin word for “patchwork.”

Although none of the words are mine (with the exception of the title), I spent at least as much time compiling these stanzas as I have writing any of my own original work. It’s incredible how much care goes into weaving the words of different poets together to form a cohesive unit.

Disclaimer: I may have taken Lewis’s text out of context just a bit, as I believe he is talking to God, but I interpreted it as talking to a friend. However, God’s finest attributes are reflected in true friendships.