Poetry Lovers in a Dangerous Time

Sometimes when I allow myself to think about it, I feel guilty when I focus on poetry rather than on the political and environmental disasters I see happening around me. When I feel that way, though, I try to listen to Bruce Cockburn’s "Lovers in a Dangerous Time."

Don’t the hours grow shorter as the days go by
You never get to stop and open your eyes
One day you’re waiting for the sky to fall
The next you’re dazzled by the beauty of it all
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

These fragile bodies of touch and taste
This vibrant skin — this hair like lace
Spirits open to the thrust of grace
Never a breath you can afford to waste
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime —
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight —
Got to kick at the darkness ’til it bleeds daylight
When you’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
And we’re lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

The saddest part of all this is that I may well be dead before this "War on Evil" is finished. I can’t afford to ignore those things I love the most and simply focus on the war and the environment until the problems are solved.

I guess I just have to remember that every moment spent on those things I love is just that more precious because of the times.

5 thoughts on “Poetry Lovers in a Dangerous Time”

  1. Poetry and other similar expressions, beautiful forests and our appreciation of same, the love of walking and of another, simple joys are the constants among all the upheavals of our lives. I hope you never feel guilty again about writing about poetry and sharing your favorite poets. They’re a bright, quiet moment of reflectivity amidst all the chest pounding bellicosity (sp).

    Ah, but Lovers in a Dangerous Time — a bit tough on those of us who only have a cat to cuddle. Still, she is a cute cat.

  2. Cockburn is one of my favorite artists because he succeeds at balancing prophetic and poetic roles. His anger is (mostly) righteous, because its context is humans and human love. In an age of too much irony and too much cynicism, there’s a lot to be said for a man who wears his heart as well as his politics on his sleeve, especially when he does so with eyes wide open.

  3. Someday when the lights go out at last on this world, evil will be gone, art will have decayed, but the very last atom in this space and time will be love. I sleep easy at night with that in my heart.

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