Monthly Archives: July 2007

Why Things Burn

A moment of brilliance,
shot through the heart and left for dead
on the side of the road;
An instant of insight,
unclouded by the circumstance of reason
as the teardrop explodes;
A spark from a fire
too long extinguished, with no memory
or meaning of flame.
A blink of an eyelid;
unconscious movement without conscience
or the concept of pain.

What is the reason why things burn?

A moment of madness,
illumination that burns through the curtain of dawn;
A second of shadow,
fogging the mirror before it is faded and gone;
An inkling of brilliance,
one shining hour that dies as the minutes decay;
A spark of electric
current that waxes and wanes as it travels away.

What is the reason why things burn?

30 JUL 2007

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Epiphany

Brace yourself. Epiphany
does not arrive in slow reveal;
long years spent over ancient tomes
will like as not have no result.

The right idea, when it comes,
is more like lightning than the storm:
a flash that cracks the sky with light
and then is gone without a trace.

29 JUL 2007

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The Dead Room

I wonder why you come to hear the blues;
there is no recognition in your face
of any depth beneath the music’s steady pace,
nor rhythm to the rare tap of your shoes.

While those around you sway and nod their heads,
acknowledging a lyric with a shout,
you sit in awkward silence; and no doubt,
imagine yourself somewhere else instead.

And yet you come, and sit, and watch me play,
absorbing the crowd’s energy, and mine;
you leave no tip, no word of thanks, no smile.

Where did you learn to act in such a way,
a black hole dousing every light that shines,
that counters all catharsis with denial?

24 JUL 2007

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Mailing List

Remove me from your mailing list:
that one that keeps me well-informed
of all the wrongs done in the world;
I either should already know
these things, if I would give a damn,
and having lived quite long enough
in search of any kind of truth
could not have helped discovering some.

Because what’s wrong is plain enough;
it needs no leading story type,
no eloquent reformer’s tongue
to wrap its fact in velvet lines.
The simplest fool could vouch for that;
only an educated mind,
that learns pretending as an art
and would deliberately insist,
“There is no wrong”
could fail to see it.

Remove me from your mailing list.
The world is full enough of woe;
to think that learning its extent
will change those who react, is mad.
It’s just a question of degree:
if I accept the little wrongs
that seek me out in my small life,
and would not fight injustice there,
what use is giving me a cause
out in the world to rail against?

Because what’s wrong is plain enough:
and either I already know
the depths to which the evil runs,
by simply being in its path,
or else I am a part of it
that being silent, gives consent,
and profits as it does the things
you would note in your mailing list.

16 JUL 2007

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