Saturday, May 29, 2010

Valence 11



11.

pharaohs haunt the tight tendon of night
it is dreaming that makes us human
footprints tracking their own unstoppable destiny
fighting homesickness you wing across the void the planet
hollowing on the verge of collapse while some human-made
god keeps on with his incessant dictation

is it the dead who keep you awake at night
a vision of a planet’s suicide attempt
limbs severed life hung in balance
what kind of shaming will it take to unpurse the future
in the moments before the noose tightens a gutful
of interglacial moments to ruminate on the planet’s past

a species whose collective search for jewels took the wrong
road in pursuit of furnaces and smelting of iron
instead of firelight and song the drying tips
of trees turned into barbs and missiles
overhead sky anvils crash and blast presaging the drop
of earth’s floor faster than a game of drop the hanky

1 comment:

  1. Recently I was reading about the rapid demise of the leatherback turtle which only 20 and then even 10 years ago were found in rather great abundance and now may disappear altogether. These wonderful seal creatures have been around for 50 million years or so.

    Your poem brings them to mind. What are we doing?

    Lilith Rogers

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