A broken heap of shattered statues sprawls across the wide wide floor.
I stand.
And look.
And see that all the silent sentinels are nought but strange
“Tis passing strange.”
Defeated idols of shattered gods.
The One came down upon the ground
To save the suff’ring servant sold in slav’ry shorn
“Will you walk out of the air my lord?”
He came beneath, below, between
To save the part of man, unseen,
Which in the scene has lustrous sheen
Which—
“New low prices—latest devices
Harder, better, faster, stronger
Higher, longer, tougher—“
DO NOT TEMP THE LORD THY GOD.
The fire fell on Sodom, Gomorrah,
The water fell on Noah’s ark
The earth fell on the Philistines
The air,
Oh the air,
The air is there without a care
A simple substance, careless rhyme.
Such a poet—sitting still—above some ancient ruin; still
Will hear a deaf’ning buzz
Coming down the mountain of God
But what!
Oh what?
Nought but a blue fly?
Beyond the blue the thousands wait, the
Fly-man showed them all to me
Beyond the blue, therein resides
Inescapable eternity.
Dark and dreary,
“Come follow, follow, Follow!
Come follow; follow me.
Buzz, buzz, follow, Follow—”
I would prefer not to.
So....you are epically good at formal poetry....this one I like at the beginning, but it doesn't seem as strong as your others, but that could be that the tone of the others sounds much more like YOU to me and this one is a step out.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely some great moments especially in the first half, but not as tightly packed and precise as most of your work.