We Humans Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

We Humans



We humans
We
Must be humans of the
Night
As the bat and as
The nightingale
The slick hedgehogs
Glow-worms light
Of the moon
And of the stars
Ah! for grace
Keep Dawn away
Stop the clock of Time
From heralding the new day
Remain frozen-fixed in night
And
The silent awe of star light.

Saturday, August 30, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: human nature
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Daniel Brick 14 April 2015

The last seven lines of your poem had me transfixed by the image they create. I was there, inside that image, and I rarely speak of imagery in such experiential terms. But every now and then a poem of existential merit comes into view and its excellence must be acknowledged. But to clarify: this poem takes one of the largest possible themes - the fate of humankind - and by swelling you already eloquent voice, you take us to an imaginative perspective from which we can dimly see that future.

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Daniel Brick 06 September 2014

I love the last line THE SILENT AWE OF STARLIGHT. I expected and anticipated the last line as something special, and this line fulfilled those expectations. This is a striking poem, almost counter-intuitive, since for most of history we have been creatures of the daylight, that is when the work of humanity occurs. But if something pushes or lures into the nocturnal dimension, we can make the adjustment because something in us responds to the night, its silence perhaps, its spaciousness, its secrecy. I feel at one with the night, as if it were a companion and not just a time frame. Your poem is very open to such a view of night.

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