Friday, February 10, 2012

3450. NO LONGER THERE

NO LONGER THERE
Well I brushed off my Honegger and
my Heidegger too  -  my year of living
as idle ended with the poems of Frederick 
Seidel. High on a horse, I clutched and 
hung on  -  tightly  - for the heave was 
both great and heavy. Oh the chest that 
rises and the chest that falls, like a nun 
a'swoon for Jesus' balls. I grabbed 
my heart : it was no longer there.
-
I was once an idle stallion, a man of
mark with a pure sensation. Now, by
contrast, I bristle instead with a faint
elation  -  of being here, of having been,
of passing by that room. There is nothing
more than what more can be. I see women
holding hands; holding hands is all I see.
-
I find now that I can understand
time passing, time displaced. This
curious reverie of relativity is all
that's left within my space. I am 
over, with the bells still ringing, 
I have run my race.

2 comments:

nighthawk said...

Great words. I don't know, when I read a poem with a horse in it it seems to have an impotency theme unless I misread it.

gary j. introne said...

Hi Greg. I'm really glad to hear from you and to know you're still looking in. It's been a while, and I wondered of you often enough. I get the point you make, and have to admit I did not think in those terms, though I can see what you mean. My point was to approach more from a world-weary view, dragging through circumstance, as it were. Maybe your view works better, I don't know. As a vigorous young man I rode the wild steed of aggression and power, now all I see are women holding hands, 'sorta like that. But, hey, what's a poem anyway 'cept what you make it for yourself. Regards, Gary