Poem: Possessed

 

Possessed

 

the haunt came over me,

what a frisson of emptiness.

shards of hope tinkling off.

there would be no aftermath.

no this or that.

loves, paths, myths, cares,

how my flesh took up space,

they all became a strand of time,

playable like a bent piano.

black and white,

spread and tender,

winding off

on a balustrade from Dr. Suess.

a clef so perilous and wise 

i would never figure it out,

or escape.

==================================

This poem was published in Rufous City Review in 2011.  Actually, according to my records, I published two poems titled "Possessed."  But I can't find the other, and my poor record keeping doesn't say where it was published.  

I am republishing more of my older poems on this blog, because I feel my future is uncertain, largely due to the death of US democracy.  I'm an old man.  Grief is painful.  So is incarceration.  

I hope my poems can be of worth, in some positive way, to others.  They have provided me with catharsis and sublimation as I rage at the stupidity of human conformity and its horrific effects.  They have helped me to develop both worldview and philosophy.  In the depths of despair, I have the ongoing cry of the poems, their salvation.