I long, with blood and bone, to carve my name <br />Deep into the tree of glowing thought; <br />To set my words in wood eternal grown <br />So deep that time cannot wear them away. <br />My blood and bone cry out with years of longing <br />Trembling, aching, yearning with each breath <br />To make a mark in time that time can’t touch. <br />Every day sees my heart grow stronger <br />In resolve to carry out this task, <br />But every day sees time grow all the stronger <br />Determined to crush me back to earth. <br />My carving knives I clench between my teeth <br />And stand at the foot of that glorious tree, <br />Gazing up at the place I have chosen for me <br />But still I stand deep entrenched in mire: <br />The mire and murk of time holds me down. <br />And every day we each of us grow stronger, <br />Time in its resolve, my heart in mine, <br />And neither giving sway unto the other <br />Nor breaking free in triumph all at once. <br />And yet, though we stay head-on-head, <br />Time is the wiser, and I the weak, <br />For time knows it need not pull ahead <br />But stay just strong enough to hold me back. <br />If I cannot beat it down ere long, <br />My longing then will all have been in vain. <br />If I could just beat it down and climb, <br />And carve with mighty strokes upon that tree, <br />Then will I at last greet time and sleep. <br />But if I fail, and the mire draws me in, <br />I shall sleep uneasy for all time.<br /><br />Sophia White<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-long-with-blood-and-bone-to-carve-my-name/
