And so on

 

I’d apparently died, and found myself

In an elaborate open working space

With desks one against the other.

I walked along looking for mine.

Susan looked up, “Oh, you won’t be 

In here.  You’re a Program Engineer.

There are different things for you to do.

“But what if I want to be with you?”

“That’s silly,” she said smiling at the girl

Sitting at the next desk.  “You just won’t.

We’re different now – no more human

Urges or constraints.  We’re here and 

Will do whatever needs to be done.

You are different from we who need

Each other, something we knew back 

When we were one, you and me.  I like

Being here amongst the many, hearing

The sighs, the recollections.  You’ll

Sequester yourself as you always

Always have, and there’s a need

For that, which is wonderful for you,

You’ll dream of other things, worlds

Perhaps for all we know, hunkered

Here amongst so many with all their

Worries still lingering.  You on the 

Other hand are fine alone.  You’ll

Don your gear and move out beyond,

Never giving me a further thought.”

July 4th 2024

 

My blood pressure annoyingly

Up, slams in my brain again,

Commemorating one of the

Rampaging diseases that took 

Her away, and I once more, 

Agitated beyond control, pace,

A lion in a cage, raging.

Despite my opinions and

Rationalizations, I know

Everyone born of woman

Must surely die, but why

Her so many years before.

My intense examination

of whatever passes keeps me

Moving back and forth each

Passing year.  Do you hear

A yelling, a celebration? It

Will not be me or mine. 

Perhaps this steam blinding

Me will syphon the indignity

Of my continuing existence.

UPON THE WALLS

 

They stand upon their walls

Waving their fists, spending

Their wrath upon those who

Speak against them, Ukraine

Assuredly.  Poland and 

Finland should be next.

Amongst the brethren another

Rages against the Taiwanese

“Scatter you!  Flee, for I 

Shall surely pounce when

You least expect.”  Meanwhile

We fearful free count missiles

And tanks and tremble.

The end is near.  There is

A sound of grinding

In our ears, an inexorable 

Coming of evil riding 

On a devilish red horse. 

The jaunty rider smiles 

Down at us his handiwork.

TRICK OF SIGHT

Off to the left, a trick

I thought, of defective eyes,

I saw a hovering cloud, gray

Round about but black within.

I searched for a glowing 

Coal but it faded in

A slight breeze took flight.

A reflection perhaps it seemed

When I wondered what it meant.

So many things mean from

One day to the next

Then begin to fade.

She did that when part

Of her ceased to function.

Her vivacity left her

At once, leaving just

The cloud, the frailty

Of her gray tendrils

Seemed at first to reach out

But finding nothing suitable

To grasp, fell apart.

Anchored in the past

 

Off to the left, a trick

Perhaps of defective light, 

A hovering cloud, gray

But black inside, glowing

As coal might with fire

In its center.  A breeze,

A rose and it took flight.

It grasped at its

Possibilities.  My mind

Flailed, like a boat at anchor.

So many memories from one

Day to the next.  She 

Began in my thoughts

To crumble.  Her vivacity

Left her finally,

Leaving just 

A frail cloud

With tendrils 

Reaching back 

For one with too

Much substance to follow.

Celestialicity

A dream slips away.  I wake

Clear-eyed and rise to my feet

With a shining in my mind, 

God working in everything.  

I look for Jessica, a species

As malleable as my own.

I’ve learned of the various

Breeds that preceded.  If

Someone picked the best of

The lot, one dog for all 

purposes, and he killed

The rest, would his

Malleability disipate?

A celestial hand might have

Begun a choosing long

Before King James could have

Conceived.  Here we are,

Alone in our agitation, filling 

Our cities with rescues 

Enough to fill our voids,

Getting ready for war.