Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Dead


Walk in worlds that we don't see,
sing the songs we cannot hear,
dance the steps for us unknown;
so the dead are yet so near.

Laughing still they are nearby,
hidden though and disappeared,
sight unseen but sometimes felt;
joy resounds as we do fear.

Wandering through other realms,
living there as we do here,
travellers beyond this world;
life at last without a care.

Colours burst in different ways,
music soars beyond our ears,
mountains, fields and forests too;
no longer any need for tears.

The dead can see us living still,
within this place which we call real,
and yet which is less real than there;
in death, at last, we truly feel.

II.

There is death in life where the heart still beats,
and yet we walk as if dead, entombed in flesh,
which can no longer feel; trapped in mind which
can no longer think; held in moments of pain as

if the hurling, hurting seas would drown us at any
moment - but they do not, even as we wish they
would, to put an end to this existence where grey
time plods, dark days stack, one upon another and

bright nights bleed bitter fruits from dream-trees
which send down powerful roots into the soul,
and throw up, brittle branches which are dead
to being and bring stark, acid blossoms for a

becoming which can never be, because now I
walk and breathe and eat and sleep as a living
corpse, the flesh desiccating, the limbs stiffening,
the eyes dulled, in a closing of consciousness

that desires only the bony touch which can
bring an end to it all; a passing from what is,
into what has always been and what will be,
where laughter sounds the rhythm of heart

and where pain which passeth all understanding
is no more, but is caressed and comforted by
a peace which has been denied for so long and
which whispers at the door of the stony tomb.










http://dversepoets.com/2014/11/04/poetics-the-book-of-dead-man/

10 comments:

  1. I agree that so many of us still walk and breathe as we are already dead, a living corpse ~ I do so hope for that peace from all the acid blossoms at the end ~

    Thanks for participating Rosyln and wishing you a happy week ~

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  2. very interesting dichotomy in the two sections about the journey we all must take

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  3. I really like this...very thought provoking. Living life as a "dead" person seems like such a waste of precious time yet so many love out their lives this way.

    "because now I walk and breathe and eat and sleep as a living
    corpse, the flesh desiccating, the limbs stiffening,
    the eyes dulled, in a closing of consciousness"
    This is so dark and beautiful at the same time.

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  4. The borders between dead and alive for sure is blurry.. to give up on life and walk around.. all to common.. wonderful rhythm in your verse :-)

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  5. Two very different poems, both arresting and beautiful. I am used to thinking of you as a master of enjambment in your free verse. Nice to see how masterfully you also handle form (and end-stopped lines)!

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  6. To live as though already dead is terrible and such a waste of a life.

    janet

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    Replies
    1. Sometimes it is a temporary place which makes it possible to survive.

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  7. Groovy piece (or should I say pieces?). Love the second and third stanzas in part II.

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  8. Your first part tells me of freedom after we depart which is uplifting and hopeful and your second offering speaks of a much bleaker existence even though still inhabiting the body...and this world. I enjoyed your write very much.

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