Autumn
Leaves fall, as do Empires, in the fullness of time.
They say she wasn’t built in a day,
but Rome took generations to fall.
Will we?
In the fading dusk of democracy,
we are driven to panic by demagogues.
An empire, a lifestyle, built on finite resources,
policies built on deferral of consequence.
Fractured consensus, identities of animosity,
A groggy center holding, barely.
A revolution sounds dandy,
but a civil war is no place for innocent,
and if you think the other side will cede
without blood in the streets,
history has hard lessons for you.
Leaves fall, like lives spent in the service of empire or idealism.
But leaves grow back.
Luxuries our ancestors would have named magic,
envenoming landfills and clogging the oceans.
Desertification, rising floodwaters, resurgent diseases
spread on winds far warmer than nature provides
outside of an asteroid or pyroclasm.
We are an extinction level event
on par with the end of the Cretaceous.
We are witnessing the birth of a world
that cannot hope to sustain us.
A millennia-long harvest of dust
after a century of sewing the skies with poison.
Leaves fall, but it grows no cooler.
Music and Writing/Prompt 9 Hour 7
Music can be
Intrusive, distracting
during my writing time
lyrics carry me off topic
deep beats, groovy melodies
I’m listening more than I’m writing
Snapping my fingers and bobbing my head
I can’t get it done this way, frustrated
Something had to change
Opened up to something new
Symphonic poems, classical music
preferably slow, completely unfamiliar
symphony-style by unfamiliar composers
Now my writing flows easily
Mission accomplished
Song (Prompt 9)
Wagons
dirt roads
trails rarely traveled
were traveled by us
Memories of those times
stick to my ribs
satisfying my taste buds
I’ve been in the the eye of the storm
and its satisfying in what it provides….
Anti-mimesis
Our Big Brother is a cloud of rotten eggs
that doesn’t dissipate,
infiltrating all realms
His thought police work overtime
as his malodorous vapors penetrate
all axons and neurons
We smell it but doublespeak teaches us
that old and new creations stories
have replaced known forces and histories of nature
Our faith in brotherhood is weak and
is unable to vaccinate us from the 2 minute hate
that has become 24/7 hate
The rules are unclear
and asymmetric and
we are no longer playing cricket
Roman Kiss
Hour 5
Fiery sunset, piercing the sky
A Roman prince, a demigod
just waiting for my arrival.
I knew it was you,
Inciting the fires within.
Smoldering flames,
A fiery love.
To All the Break-Up Songs
Singing along with the car radio,
It seems like every song’s about you.
CeeLo forgot you (at least on the radio),
Carrie slashed your tires,
Taylor’s never getting back with you,
Gloria’s surviving,
Kelly can finally breathe,
Beyonce assures you’re replaceable,
Gotye and Kimbra were cut off and screwed over,
and all fingers point at you.
Surely I am happier not knowing you at all.
Tears, destruction, and malice are your souvenirs,
Broken hearts and Top 40 hits.
The rest of the world seems to relate.
Although I know all the words,
I just haven’t met you yet.
Perhaps you’ve been slandered,
Made some mistakes,
Thought that love was just an easy game to play,
Stumbled and got lost in a convoluted relationship.
I wouldn’t know.
I think I would prefer to feel the heartbreak
Than be the only one who doesn’t understand
So, take a little piece of my heart,
I need someone to share it with.
Paradox of a Fledgling
A fledgling bird won’t learn to fly with its mother always by its side. But neither can it launch itself without its mother’s constant help.
Hour 7
I won’t be able to do my usual Napping Hour haikus at this rate… but hey it’s a new way to experience the Marathon.
Another short’un whilst I get on with my date….
Over and done with
Servitude and solitude
A new life awaits
Hour 5
Oh crazy mind
Only you know
What you think
Showing dreams
In day and night
Pouring down
Like rain drops
Blocking my eyes
Filling my eyes
Closing my eyes
Covering my eyes
How can I walk ?
Can’t see these
unknown paths
Oh I hear this
Guitar playing
Far far away
Playing slowly
And sometimes
Roaring
Telling me
a unknown
Story
losing my
consciousness
listening to
story
What is the
Whole story
Who knows
Will this last
Forever
Or is it
Momentarily
Who knows
Pouring down
Like rain drops
Blocking my eyes
Filling my eyes
Closing my eyes
Covering my eyes
How can I walk ?
Can’t see these
unknown paths…