During my first year living in the United States, I wrote Lakesong to reflect on the spiritual longing I experienced as I yearned for home. The idea for the poem arrived when I went on a field trip with a former youth group to a lake.
I swam under the waters as the sounds of other teenagers dissolved with the waves. And while I remained within the lake, I imagined an apocalyptic story playing in my head. Eventually, the story transformed into a poem, which has since been a steady companion in times of doubt, fear, loneliness, or grief.
Submerged underneath the deep Lost in the waves and turbulence I heard your angels begin to weep As the waters joined the cadence The expanse swallowed my head Ears drowning below the surface Oh, noiseless voices of the dead A poignant itch crawling my dermis I kept myself afloat, over and under The tears of martyred cherubim With eyes on clouds forced asunder A holy war cursed with sin I joined the melancholic chorale Of demons and heavenly beings As they confused the morale Of God’s delphic ordaining Then, a smile crept across my face As if heaven leaned over to kiss When I felt the indelible taste And sensed the glorious bliss Of a silent serpent’s hiss
Reading:
Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard
The Concept of Anxiety by Søren Kierkegaard
Watching:
Bee and Puppycat (Netflix)
Oddballs (Netflix)
Rings of Power, episode 8 (Prime Video)
Listening:
Did I Make You Up? by Half Alive
I Still Love You EP by Gungor