poetjohncompton Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 the now& silence sweeps the nationas we wait for her to walk onto the balconyto speak.the mechanical heartticks in the back of my earreminding me of secondsthat shutteredthe ground. an uneasy:we follow the righteous lady.she rose from the dust & ash & collusionto bring the next light of peace & holyuniting life. our paradise crumbles. ruins,we told were gold, & the everlasting city:a slum. our patience becomes a second flawed apocalypse: the sixth horseman. * the during war world three whispered in the distance, coming in dreams & nightmares & realitiesyet no one recognized the reverberationsuntil the fourth horsemanrode in, hooves quaking the earth,& with a slight of hand brought annihilation. the flash came as a blinding sun, & time seemed to pause…ensuing chaos. we began again, picking up our bodies, in a desolate & raw form -you could smell the destruction,death, terror & newness.the bellows of smoke brought comfort.it carried breath that burned -our lungs were still functioning.it meant we were alive.& in living we knewthat death was also flourishing. the screams were like sirenswailing in a thick fog - beware, stay away, don’t come. * the after we call ourselves the chosen.the last standing in a blemished world. aliens, when yesterday we were human. today, in the dawn of a new generation, we guise at ourselves as foreign objects. * the now her words, crisp & tender -delicate like honey dewthough encased, penetratinglike ammunition: handle your thoughtswith love & anxiety. she clasps her hands together,turns & there are never any questions. big ben hovers like a broken fingerpointing to god, half pleading -seconds have no relevance but the heartstill prays. tick tock tick tock…i can overhear the melancholyfrom the faceless mouth. * the afterbodies melted in a concrete gardenlike gnomes - erratically placed. the structures are wintering trees,naked in their own revelation.dark crevices split the walls open. eyes liquefied from socketslike broken yokes. a silence reaps the situationtrying to discover realization in stationary deaf & mute faces. * the before seven billion people on production -never a cut & edit.no retakes. going through existenceon autopilot, we never realized:the conquest, the war& the famine.we perceive only black & white,good versus evil.* the during the way the earth moved beneath -you could hear the housesbow down. than the world was drowned in a gulf of white.neither hot nor cold, thoughit had an understanding of who: to take, to incinerated, to burn alive,to leave untouched. though there was never the answered why… * the after the odor of carcasses lingered& for months skulls split openlike coconuts the milk from brains leakedinto faces, thick & slimy.homes became tombs,cities developed into cemeteries. streets converted to crematoriums. we heaved, & dry-heaved,& vomited & ate what foodwas regurgitated:waste was a plague, starvation just a symptom. human’s became trees, hard & coagulated, then converted into soppy rot -they became shock & awe,then a museum. * the in-between courage grew in their heartsas she knelt& breathed into the nostrilsof timid & frightened. their backs erectedseeing visions of utopia.they wanted so much morethen their lost & confusion. her revelation became the new faith. Quote https://www.facebook.com/poetjohncompton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 John, There is stunning imagery in this piece. I wonder at your use of the words "than" and "then" in the following 2 lines, are you switching them deliberately? Typos? or am I just not getting it? On 1/14/2020 at 4:07 AM, misterpoet said: than the world was drowned in a gulf of white. On 1/14/2020 at 4:07 AM, misterpoet said: then their lost & confusion. ~~Tink 1 Quote ~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~ For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetjohncompton Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, Tinker said: John, There is stunning imagery in this piece. I wonder at your use of the words "than" and "then" in the following 2 lines, are you switching them deliberately? Typos? or am I just not getting it? ~~Tink I'm pretty sure they are errors. lol. they shall be fixed. I have a lovely editor that's going through the manuscript now thank you for pointing them out. and thank you for enjoying and the compliments Quote https://www.facebook.com/poetjohncompton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyv Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Apocalyptic visions present in this carefully crafted mixture of current political climate, Biblical prophecy, and sci-fi constructs. All of it is good, but the parts that struck me the most were On 1/14/2020 at 7:07 AM, misterpoet said: ... we call ourselves the chosen.the last standing in a blemished world. aliens, when yesterday we were human ... and On 1/14/2020 at 7:07 AM, misterpoet said: we heaved, & dry-heaved,& vomited & ate what foodwas regurgitated:waste was a plague, starvation just a symptom. By the end, I couldn't help picturing the scene at the end of Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston arrives to find Lady Liberty in ruins looking like Shelley's Ozymandias on a desolate shore. I loved it. Tony 2 Quote Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetjohncompton Posted October 17, 2021 Author Share Posted October 17, 2021 On 1/19/2020 at 11:20 AM, tonyv said: Apocalyptic visions present in this carefully crafted mixture of current political climate, Biblical prophecy, and sci-fi constructs. All of it is good, but the parts that struck me the most were and By the end, I couldn't help picturing the scene at the end of Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston arrives to find Lady Liberty in ruins looking like Shelley's Ozymandias on a desolate shore. I loved it. Tony late and sorry lol thank you for your lovely comment. much love. 1 Quote https://www.facebook.com/poetjohncompton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David W. Parsley Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 Agree with Tink, stunning use of diction and image. Visions of the fallen arrested in place reminded me of encased figures from Pompeii. The female redemption figure is by turns inspiring and troubling. Is she real, or a figment generated as we whistle through and around graveyards we alternately allow or create? Thanks (I think!) -Dave P.S. I shivered at Tony’s visions paired to that ending! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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