Miracles That Happen (only) at Dawn
Strike two stones together and the dawn is born
I wanted to breathe so I opened the door
to a stranger’s car parked in a field
and the world was small again.
Fog filled in through the cracked
window as if dawn and masked my only way back
to my father. It’s okay the stranger said
“he’s only your father
until one of you forgets.”
So when the sky appeared, bloodshot
red as god’s eye pressed down on me
searing my shadow onto the sweetgrass
my skin calm with
submission, I was suddenly
more,
in hope and in words and to be more
is to be a dissolving prayer, ready for extinction.
So I ran, ran into the light
enough to drown in but never enough,
always empty and holy
as a new word stopping only to
dance, even when the music stopped just to feel
my knees weak with
autumn. Terrified of being good
only sometimes but being loved always.
The day opened the size of my fist,
which is to say it could finally hold
my heart and my eyes were wet still
blue from last night because
this field turned my pain into
poppies & honestly, what a blessing.
I see a void and call it longing but
no one told me that at the end of it
I’ll always find a tongue, that limits of my language
are the limits of my being. I am wrong often but I too
need a place to hold myself. That my back was never
meant to be bulletproof but to shimmer
at the sight of the decadent sunlight. That I can be touched
by alcohol and still be true. That to want something else
is just to be human. So it’s okay. There’s time.
Time which folds on itself like the page
from my favourite book, pointing towards the good.
So it’s okay. It’s too soon to know the meaning of my hands.
No one was free without breaking open.
About the Creator
Mesh Toraskar
A wannabe storyteller from London. Sometimes words spill out of me and the only way to mop the spillage is to write them down.
"If you arrive here, remember, it wasn't you - it was me, in my longing, who found you."
Reader insights
Outstanding
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Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Excellent storytelling
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Arguments were carefully researched and presented
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
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Vocal Bonus Leaderboard: 05/08/2024
Welcome to the weekly update of the Leaderboard! We're thrilled to showcase Vocal's most discussed stories, popular picks, and rising stars. Let's dive into this past week's standout contributors and their remarkable achievements.
By Vocal Team3 days ago in Resources
Comments (23)
Lovely as Mckenzie says. One gets lost in the words and journey.
Congratulations for your TS! This was a moving reflective poem that cleverly visited the myriad of emotions that emptiness and uncertainty can bring. Simultaneously, I saw glimmers of hope and acceptance. The symbolism was expertly moulded into the poem’s narrative—sometimes with deceptive simplicity, as in the first stanza, other times, with rich complexities eg. my back was never meant to be bulletproof but to shimmer at the sight of the decadent sunlight. That I can be touched … this suggested that there is beauty in opening ourselves up, to rendering ourselves vulnerable, because it allows us to be ‘touched’. I loved the dissolving prayer image; I saw it as a positive image because to dissolve into something means to become part of it, part of something bigger than ourselves. I’m sure I could sit with this poem more, could say so much more, but you get the gist … I love it 🤷♀️😍
This is simply beautiful! What else can I say! Congrats on Top Story..
This is lovely -
What an absolutely gorgeous poem full to bursting with complex emotions. Congrats on the Top Story!
Very inspiring. Congratulations on your top story.
This is simply beautiful! What else can I say! Congrats on Top Story.
Great job on this one📝♥️💯🧡🍁👍Congratulations on your Top Story🎉
Congratulations on your Top Story,
Nice!
I have read this more than ten times now and there is so much brilliance all through it! A highly deserved Top Story!
Your poem is beautiful! So surreal and deep.
This right here in incredible! Blown away I am! Congrats on Top Story and penning such a masterpiece!
🥹🥹🥹✨ you are unbelievable! What a talent 👏🏼
Beautifully written and cleverly evoked
Yay!!!
Congrats on the TS. Well deserved.
Mesh, your poetry is always so multi-layered that I never know what to expect. And it's great, because many poets are so predictable these days. I was at my local bookstore today, and found Rupi Kur's famous book. I opened it and within two minutes, put it back where I had found it. People like her are overrated, while people like you deserve a huge audience. You don't just have a knack for words, but you also reinvent impactful poetry with every piece you publish. Please don't stop.
your subtitle made for a long pause of reflection…. ! Brilliant work Mesh 👌🕊️🙏🤍
Tenebrous and eldritch! Great job!
Wow. This is amazing. Every line made me stop and take a breath. Bravo.
Powerfully poignant, Mesh, capturing the sodden guilt of succumbing again to dissipation, wondering if you've burned too many bridges, being good only sometimes while always being loved (praying that's true), only to find glorious reassurance in the breaking of dawn, the breaking of your heart, the breaking of your soul &, at least for the moment, the breaking of these bonds. That's all you can do, one moment at a time, one day at a time.
Well, I need to let this wash over me and erode my prose brain for a time. But holy shit, Mesh, wowowow. I wasn't expecting a more positive poem from you! This is a good thing to behold. "The day opened the size of my fist, which is to say it could finally hold my heart and my eyes were wet still blue from last night because this field turned my pain into poppies & honestly, what a blessing." OMG I've not seen such a profound metaphor for sleep before. These lines are astonishing. Rest assured, I will return to this. But goddamn.