ANNULMENT

Tags

dark, death, Life, Light, Metaphysical, poem, poetry

ANNULMENT

death be
not divorce

be more
annulment

of all
you ever were

but wait, the air
so cold

cold as the bleakest
darkest spot of
the Universe

sub-zero breath of
your new lover your
new true partner

finally, yes,
the perfect ice
of this embrace

it gets to last
for all eternity
(there
foreshadowed

in every word
dark muse

of life itself, all
its poetry)

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BETTER

Tags

death, philosophical, poem, poetry, Universe, writing

BETTER

it is always the
case with
thing not
followed
to the
letter

the Universe
closing
your book
wiping your
thoughts

swearing next
time
will
do better

SHELLING PEAS

Tags

Britain, British, childhood, memory, poem, poetry, War

SHELLING PEAS

peas in a pod
I popped ’em
one two
three

my young eyes watching
the bowl fill
they had
seen so little

pop, pop,
pop

pop

my grandfather has been dead now
almost long as he lived

I remember him only fleetingly
as people remember me

but he was
a young man once
in different circumstances, entirely
different

world of
blood and death and horror
squalor

of war

those pea pods bursting
pop pop pop popping

and the chatter
of machine guns
rat tat tat of
their death news

the bowl half full, so perfect each
little pea so verdant, special green
uniform

I have
done enough for my country

OR NOT TO BE

Tags

being, death, philosophical, philosophy, poem, poetry, Universe, writing

OR NOT TO BE

at last
the Universe
is letting me
out of my box

in which I
waited my
whole life
waiting
for you
to open

something no
doubt to
(be or
not to
be) do
with
the wrapping

STORM

Tags

death, meaning, philosophical, poem, poetry, value, writing

STORM

why if
life is
lesson

do you
rub the
blackboard
clean

the dust we
were
truth

we said

the entire classroom
there to learn
gathered
in this
storm

that we
might forget?

2019 OK

Tags

apocalyptic, death, Ending, irony, poem, poetry, Space

2019 OK

I was sitting in the cafe
drinking coffee
waiting for asteroid 2019 OK
to show up
wreck the place

but as per always
something happened, just
missed its appointment
left me
alone, apparently

just missed me, just
a breath away

what a show it
would have been

now it’s all going to
be so painfully slow
empty, and alone.

https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-flies-close-to-earth-surprising-scientists-2019-7

AS REQUIEM

Tags

elegy, Johnny Clegg, Juluka, love, Music, poem, poetry, South Africa, South African, writing

AS REQUIEM

“I’m sitting on the top of Kilimanjaro
I can see a new tomorrow”
Juluka “Kilimanjaro”

I’m sitting on a mine dump
hoping for a clean slate
or at least
where we are not
weighed down by
our mistakes

finally recover from
the tyranny of
Empire, all
dreams of imperialism
learn to embrace
everything about
our human race
yet understand its evil

You sang of
the impi that stood
foursquare against
the machinations
of a foreign power
had their day
in the bloody sun

the one that they hoped
would never set
of their ships, their
factories, their mines
their railways.

So let me
play that song
once more

for
old times, great future,
thrill of enjoyment, and yes,
as requiem

DIFFERENT

Tags

Consciousness, death, farewell, loss, poem, poetry

DIFFERENT

when I said
my goodbyes
not a soul
was listening

and now you
peer through alcoholic haze
something cooking on
small circle of fire
with crackling flames

seem in your
less than circumspect state
to feel that the stars
are here
to pay their respects

a tad
too late, but
their timeframe
so very, very
very different

TEMPLATE

Tags

Consciousness, death, Metaphysical, philosophical, poem, poetry, soul, spiritual

TEMPLATE

is this thing soul
inner
essence

or just
a template?

what will I recall
when
as joke

of consciousness

I stride and slither
from life to life

looking for
meaning, truth
beauty

still
(forever
and ever)?

in this feeble
last bit of
here
and now

managed to
convince myself
it must
be you

AWAY

Tags

death, poem, poem poetry political moral, poetry, surreal

AWAY

a sparrow
and a worm

came to my
funeral

which left the sparrow
and a sparrow hawk

sparrow flew
like a missile
but hawk
had stealth

and so, just
the hawk
(which I forgot
about though
it pecked
my eye out)

and since a one-eyed
friend of death
is not much
to see
she flew off,
pragmatically

soared high and true
from where, if she had desired,
could get an AWACS view

sparrow, worm, hawk
came to my funeral but
forget them, they
are unimportant

let’s concentrate
on the time machine
arriving suddenly with
can of worms
(unopened)

now,
you are talking!