Saturday, January 28, 2017

Kit Kelen #389 - the idea of it


389
the idea of it
or
guess who the winner is

will it weary

is it a pendulum
goes truth to lie
does it turn the world
can it be willed

is it a ball
bounced down to flat
will it roll off to a corner

is there a picture of it you can see through
does it reflect reality

are other worlds all reached this way

inside out
or upside down
is it the wrong way round

golden egg goose
or well won't run dry

is it a bird
is it a plane

can it keep count
can it spell

does it have a territory
is it a state of nature

the road that brought us
was rebuilt
contractors must tender

does it love this planet truly
group hug

is there a rough beast slouching

can we get to it on-line
what if we go against

world's destiny
will it propel us
can we guess yet
is it the smoking gun

the floor falls out from under you
the walls are closing in

an endless list
of what might be questions

simple thing
so hard to make out

it's like amoeba expanding
cause why
cause does

it's words and more
and ugly faces
jeers and jibes and slur

if we vote against it
will it go away

how was it won
what was before

it isn't even a flag to fly
it doesn't have a shrine

everyone sneezes at it
everyone's sneezing right now
it's the same cold
you can't wash your hands enough

heads together for a pill
somebody else invents

we live in the middle
just try not to guess
it's a dare

it's all echoes
like a conversation you can't end

two vans with loudspeakers
slow through the streets
how many hearts each way today

it's always giving a speech

always stretching imagination
where you stand accused

this glass half empty
with a head on it
cause nobody really knows
how to pour

stumps at dusk
resume tomorrow
if you can find the pitch

there's weather
who won't you admit to it
who has to be us

when it kills
at least it's all of us killing
though I dissent, I do

or cast myself informally
vanish into my own illusion

there's every chance it turns on you

yes there are doubts
what works better than this

does anyone really know what it's worth
does anyone remember

where is its panoply
soft touch

how I have loved unthinking here
and have I loved too much

it's bitter to lose
when winning is work
is it better to watch

a legion of such unbelievers
believe themselves in a state of freedom
there's always a weapon with that

like abandoning the carnival
that grows up all around

who thinks that they can walk away
will make themselves a ghost

a lonely job for each of us
to cast ourselves this way

1 comment:

  1. Terrific poem, Kit. While listening to Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau's "The Watcher" on their new thing. Perfect tandem.

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