twenty-five hundred years
of lost objects, spit and trash
split and bashed,
devils and angels
corners and angles
ground under the firmament
by carts, tramping feet and chariots,
covered by layers of stone and tears
worn smooth, remodeled, invaded,
sweat upon, bloodied on,
beaten down, burned,
demolished, polished and paraded over,
made new again
into the boring years and motorcars
when time passes evenly, eventually
like watching a candle burn,
artisans , widows, beggars and whores
Publicans, demogogues, farmers and stores
teachers, dentists and shopkeepers daughters
make bread, make wine
tend the animals
keep them fed and in line
crushed stone rolls well and blows like dust
in the wind on the sweeping wings of time
theirs, yours and now mine,
clamor carries on forever
in the magnificence of proper order
the significance of restructure,
honorable poets, let us drink to life
sing songs with laughter,
chatter long and loud and stall the vandals
Friday, February 20, 2009
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3 comments:
I like this poem and your closing line, though I'm still deciding what it means: "... and stall the vandals." I also like "clamor carries on forever."
Jack, this is excellent. I would love to hear you read it. The form is fantastic. I love how the rhythm builds, hits a crescendo, then stops. One very powerful example:
"worn smooth, remodeled, invaded,
sweat upon, bloodied on,
beaten down, burned,
demolished, polished and paraded over,
made new again"
I have read this poem at least fifteen times just now (no kidding) and have studied that form. Beautiful.
Of course, I love what the poem says, too. What a vivid portrait. If you haven't already done so, this one would be perfect for a reading. Wonderful work.
Yeah, I came back to read this again, I thought I commented before, maybe you de-moderated it anyway...
This is really good to read poetry and I enjoyed the layers of history unfolding here, thanks for posting it!!
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