Anchorite Cell II

Anchorite Cell II

Desmond Kon

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” ~ Mark 1:35

I wanted to write milky
to issue the sense of something denuded.

Whitewashed, memory as blank slate.

Stripped bare, and never bartered.

Unlike the old days, where everything could be sold.

Even my thoughts, my words—this, I thought.

This I thought to mean.

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Psalm 141:3 reads itself to me,
as readied as in the old days:

“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord,
keep watch over the door of my lips!”

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Nevertheless
—nonetheless, intently—
meaning means
something different
these days.

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This silence is not that old presence.

For all intents and purposes, is what is thought.

For all the cares of the world, is what is meant,
for what
thought and words are worth.

This silence is not that old meaninglessness.

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This silence is not nothing, no being of nothingness.

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This silence is but its own state of sounds.

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This silence is
but its own backlit stage,
soundlessness

—of
and within
love’s own eternal epiphany.

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Desmond Kon
Poet

DESMOND Francis Xavier KON Zhicheng-Mingdé is the author of an epistolary novel, a quasi-memoir, two lyric essay monographs, four hybrid works, nine poetry collections, and a creative guided journal. The former journalist has edited over twenty-five books and co-produced three audio books, several pro bono for non-profit organizations. Among other accolades, he is the recipient of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Illumination Christian Book Award, National Indie Excellence Book Award, Poetry World Cup, Singapore Literature Prize, two Independent Publisher Book Awards, and four Living Now Book Awards. Desmond is Senior Lecturer of Creative Writing and Publishing at Nanyang Technological University. He can be found at: desmondkon.com

Photography by Matheus Viana