-
haiti & hate
there is dust on your face and arms
white cheeks, the makeup of debris
needy eyes sunlight focused
but dazed distant amidst fallen walls
and heaped home wreckage
that wishes to keep you
who knows which others lie silent & below
as arms strain to reach
you remain impassive
numb to words that cannot comfort
amidst unyielding destruction
outside and within
—-
these still forms onceholding life’s essence
will no longer bring good news
filling motionless streets
rising slightly as wheels
find traction indifferent
to substrate that
yields and softens the road needlessly
troubled by the lack of greater purpose
berefit these people
once proud sad resolute resigned
will not know the hope of dreams
—-
lone hand raised, a manrising as though from sleep
light-framed his rubble bed cradling another
grimacing in pain or death
there is enough wailing
and we are happy to comfort
the sadly seen distant suffering
more immediate somehow
than charity needed here
by wandering dirty men
wearing our faces and reeking
of piss
—-
more noble to be the devastatedthan aimless poor amidst plenty
compassion-stripping contrast
and really we have no time for this
my anger lives at your face peering up
it has wronged me
and i long to see it gone
so no empathy escapes unexpectedly
we all deserve to be killed
by a large unanticipated
tsunami of self-hate
a temblor to wipe things clean
—-
and start again.
Spawned by laconic and indifferent novelists, I did not know that writing would become my profession until a poem composed on a chilly, wet October evening moved an acquaintance to tears. That poem was not written by me, but it was nonetheless inspiration enough to cause me to submit a succession of works to my college literary magazine. Years later, after the restraining order expired, I decided to make this my profession, despite the lack of any expression of enjoyment or understanding on the part of my few, but avid, readers. I only hope you find this as fulfilling as I. All posts © 2009-2010 All rights reserved. Use without permission will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
