Next
Dinesh

Dinesh club

Posted: 13 Mar 2022

Taken: 13 Mar 2022

1 favorite     2 comments    45 visits

See also...

Keywords

Poem •
Man & the Camel •
Poet •
Mark Strand •

Authorizations, license

Visible by: Everyone
All rights reserved
45 visits

Photo by Dinesh

On the eve of my fortieth birthday
I sat on the porch having a smoke
when out of the blue a man and a camel
happened by. Neither uttered a sound
at first, but as they drifted up the street
and out of town the two of them began to sing.
Yet what they sang is still a mystery to me—
the words were indistinct and the tune
too ornamental to recall. Into the desert
they went and as they went their voices
rose as one above the sifting sound
of windblown sand. The wonder of their singing,
its elusive blend of man and camel, seemed
an ideal image for all uncommon couples.
Was this the night that I had waited for
so long? I wanted to believe it was,
but just as they were vanishing, the man
and camel ceased to sing, and galloped
back to town. They stood before my porch,
staring up at me with beady eyes, and said:
"You ruined it. You ruined it forever."

~Mark Strand

micritter has particularly liked this photo

Comments
 Dinesh
Dinesh club
Much of Man and Camel concerns one’s contemplation of the past, as well as its influence on the present, and one’s confrontation with the future accompanied by an increasing awareness of the inevitability of death. The poet continually links passage of time with feelings of love and loss or desire and desperation. One comes to understand the kinds of destruction done by time’s passing, as even each exhalation of air escaping the body may be seen to be a measurement of mortality

edwardbyrne.blogspot.com/2007/04/mark-strand-man-and-camel.html
2 years ago. Edited 2 years ago.
 micritter
micritter
Very interesting post.
2 years ago.

Sign-in to write a comment.