This is the first monotype I have ever made that does not contain a living creature of some sort whether it be person, bird, or even monster. It's a strange and unsettling feeling. I tried to put a figure in but every time I was stopped, that blocked feeling came up. Finally, I surrendered and now am sitting here being present to the anxiety the lack of figure is producing. That so much emotional can surface from leaving a figure out is surprising and illuminating. It's so easy to become stuck in comfortable ways but internal magic happens when we embrace change. I seem to be going through an emptying process. I's uncomfortable but I am here for it. We shall see what happens.
I love everything about tonight's poem except the use of the pronoun he. However, I'm willing to overlook it for now 😊
Via Negativa
by R. S. Thomas
Why no! I never thought other than
That God is that great absence
In our lives, the empty silence
Within, the place where we go
Seeking, not in hope to
Arrive or find. He keeps the interstices
In our knowledge, the darkness
Between stars. His are the echoes
We follow, the footprints he has just
Left. We put our hands in
His side hoping to find
It warm. We look at people
And places as though he had looked
At them, too; but miss the reflection.
xo