Saturday, 16 March 2019

a matter of stars

a matter of stars 

It is a waltz, feet un-designed yet ruled  
by a pattern as music covets control, 
discharges freedom within the structure; 
there are flimsy walls, trembling floors 
and other tumblers also dancing. 

In the dark, we feel the chains, 
discern the cage; alcohol-infused tongues 
lick the fur, hands sharpen blunt claws, 
we pretend to be human, 
rather than bears dancing to a tune 
we never composed. 

In the morning, we brush away the blood, 
gargle words of advice to any and all 
who will listen, hide our screams  
behind train rides to and from the city. 

We coalesce into large collections 
of solitary beings, sunspots for eyes 
and minds that can never remember 
when we were brilliant stars. 

Bereft of the god’s face, our psyche yearns, 
strives to listen to the atoms within, conscious  
that one day the smallest parts will journey  
to places thoughts can only imagine. 

I see my father in the tail of a comet. 
I remember my friend in the sunset, a sky pink 
and promising all is well. 

I dance in the construct called time, 
to protect the mind from the vast 
that cannot be grasped. 

All we have we must lose, 
all but the particles first bequeathed 
when the sun exploded with a howl 
no one heard 

Is that it, 
are we the ears made to listen?

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