as brought on by the erosion of truth, and the secrets concealed in dangerous hearts.”
Dark souls entered through an open door
stirred panic with twisted metaphor
left clarity bleeding on the floor
the mystery yet is ours to find
but deepening night’s not far behind
with their secrets and our fears entwined
madness calls us to its shore
wraps around us threatening more
tearing at our gilded core
our book of darkness is duly signed
our troubled souls by chaos confined
false dangerous hearts fiercely aligned
caustic secrets we must abhors
much saving grace still to restore
uncertainty sways our final score
frail honesty is stumbling blind
truth now by smoke and mirrors defined
l fear our prophets may have lost their mind
*
rob kistner © 2022
Poetry at: Poets & Storytellers
Poetry at: earthweal
Yes, these are tricky times to navigate, indeed! (P.S. I like your rhyme scheme. I think it helps to make the whole poem sound so portentous – as is fitting.)
Much appreciated Rosemary. These thought’s have been at the core of my concerns, and my moods, in recent months. The common person has been lead so far from the truth, the past couple years especially, that tgey have lost the ability to reason to it. It is as if reason and fact have been removed from the search. Terrifying situation. Add to it all the falsehoods being spread by the anti-vacsers, and there is a fertile killing field for the COVID, in all its deviations. Frightening world we live in. Sad!
I really appreciate your incredibly relevant poem. Michael Steele said it beautifully on Deadline: White House / MSNBC ~ “How do you reason people out of a position that they didn’t reason themselves into?”
Absolutely Helen. Reason, logic, common sense — seems as if these have been removed from the everyday lexicon and ability of we normal folks. We just spout jargon, with seemingly no true understanding of what it really or fully means. We just parrot BS. Add to that the fact that so much communication in this, the cell phone short-attention-span era, is emojis, abbreviations, and acronyms — and people are losing the ability to write or express themselves in a thorough, meaningful, personal manner. With this, the need, and sadly the ability to think abstractly for themselves — or think at all… is being lost. Sad decline… 🙁
….and I’m left to wonder, what the h*** ever happened to common sense?
It started down the drain with TV commercials, then went completely down the drain with the internet, and instant gratification Bev! IMHO
Our book of darkness duly signed, indeed. Poets and artists and all of us try to make sense.
If any sense really can be made Colleen?
I hear, you, Rob, I hear you…keep singing!
I will Ingrid! The darkness is not gone, it’s mass intensifies in quiet unseen places, and the dangerous deadly secrets of their black hearts grows ever stronger. Here in the US our president Biden will likely be one term. He was the safe choice that wasn’t Trump! We Democrats need to be prepared to develop and bring forth a strong, dynamic president, quick on his feet with answers, and a strong leader, genuinely in tune with the ecology, and the good, thinking people of this country.
Rob, reading your comment above, my worst fear is that the repubs will get back in and then we are totally screwed. Our book of darkness duly signed. An excellent poem.
Unless the Dems can stop the voting rights block that the Repubs have going, and also offer a viable candidate moving forward, the Repubs stand a good chance of getting the White House back. Biden was fine for getting Trump out, hell, almost any decent Dem could have done that. However, now the Dems must present a candidate with forward vision. Who that is…?
We live amongst irrational ideas. So sad.
Your poem expresses this so well.
We do, and thank you Myrna…!
Like that rhyme scheme, Rob, I like that “tearing at our gilded core”.
Up here in Canada, it’s gone from fear of a Trump dictatorship in the US to talk of a potential civil war down there.
Thanks James. Don’t know if either side is organized enough quite yet for a true civil war, though there certainly might be another attempt, on the part of the haters, at armed insurrection. I believe both the US military, and US allies, will play a pivotal domestic role in the future of the USA. What that role may be remains to be seen. Perhaps a world conflict might rear its head? The pandemic and strained economies could prove flashpoints in the future global stability. Who the fuck knows?
This is dark, but I enjoyed it. Great rhyme scheme. 🙂
Difficult mot to dark Jenns, when trekking into this territory.
I like this many times over.
Is it weird that I read this in my mind as Leonard Cohen’s voice and guitar?
Joel, if this even remotely resonates for you in a mold similar to Leonard Cohen, then I am deeply humbled and honored. I love his work. Thank you very much!