They called me fossil
and got the chorus singing
the old mossy song -
not yet a specter
not yet dead fish to flush down
the lead pipes of Rome.
The whirlwind cometh,
so they say. Sent with an SASE,
I will return soon,
mountain flesh in shroud,
having remembered how to
pun on buffalo
water or famine,
keeping glue or some white paste -
what a tragedy
I've become today.
The streetlamp dims and throws light
all across the floor
in the colors held
in reserve for flags of states
of hope and prayer.
Saplings love pirates
beyond the sound of clawing
and the marks of scales,
the bruises in deer
eyed stares, emptiness or God
or magnolia
brush, the chromosomes
all aligned today, my boy.
The mountain tree,
one single green leaf,
the hot air balloon, they all
conspire to hold me,
even wildflowers
will wind around my left foot
if given a chance.
April 21, 2014 11:32 AM
Written for We Write Poems "We Wordle, #15"
All 33 words are present in the poem.
Pretty darn good, doesn't feel forced. Spectacular in fact. I think I gravitate towards stanza 4 most of all.
ReplyDeleteWell actually, I had to get the whip out this time because the brass knuckles did not cut it. This was that special nine tailed whip with the nails in the end of it. These words are cleaned up but at one time were a bit bloody. I am really sick of hearing them whimper too. I threaten them, the only reason they stay still. One tried to escape and I had to kill it... It has not yet begun to putrefy.
DeleteSo drama huh?
ReplyDeleteShit. Five of them got away. The three that started laughing about it, well, they're dead now too.
DeleteLove where this wordle took you...great imagery in the closing piece especially! Well done, Christopher.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that, Hannah. You are a palindrome. HannaH.
DeleteChristopher, I love this! I am used to your poems being spare though packed with mysticism and a mythical feel. This is packed with the pull and tug of living and dying. I. Love. It!
ReplyDeleteWell damn! I try for terse but what are you going to do with 33 words?? How do you fit all those in?
Delete