Speechless

by J. W. Cassandra

I wrote the poem yesterday, and translated it today. But the opposite of the usual: I first wrote it in English and translated it into Hungarian.

Its theme is surrender, retreat. The lyrical self realizes that compared to the supernatural power, he or she is a speck of dust and admires it with silent reverence, speechless. While his earlier futile striving for victory runs through his mind, the idea of reckoning is already maturing in him. The poem is surrounded by a frame however, in the second stanza of the frame, the order of the lines is reversed. With this, the poem emphasizes the turn of the lyrical self, the metanoia. *

The illustration is a bending rose: a flower instead of weapons, reconciliation instead of fighting, and also a symbol of secrecy, which was still known to the ancient secret societies. This is metanoia and what lies behind it.

*Greek word meaning 'change', 'turning', 'conversion'. In philosophy, a person's thinking and value system change, in religion, his faith changes radically.

Speechless surrender,
Speechless confession,
Speechless devotion,
Speechless, stand in awe:

I was ignorant to this day,
I was blind and deaf to this day,
I was mute, lame to this day,
I was stupid to this day:

I was fighting for nothing,
I was fighting: the nothing.
I was predestined to loss,
I only thought I am a boss.

And now I know clear,
I see and hear sharp,
I can speek and move:
I do not fight anymore:

I was born to win without battle,
I was born to suffer for all the beggar,
I know: it is good to suffer,
I know and surrender.

My spear falls to the ground,
My knife is chipped against thou,
My sword returns to its sheats,
My arms all seem as blind sheeps.

Speechless, stand in awe,
Speechless devotion,
Speechless confession,
Speechless surrender...

Written: 29 / 08. 2025, by J. W. Cassandra
Translated: 30 / 08. 2025, by J. W. Cassandra

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