Photo by James Rainsford
Submitted for "Picture Prompt Challenge" at onestoppoetry.com
Visionaries and Missionaries
The forefront fodder they spew
The stew of influential transition, change
A foregone conclusion
¡Viva la Revolución!
Humanity under gods and generals
Renaissance men of self proclaimed nobility
Ignorant to the ways and means
Instincts vanished on how “to be”
To be
Free, as the winged ones
As the albatross against the wind
Persistent
Knows it will prevail
As the tom, in seasonal transition
Amidst confusion
Struts for the correct mate
As the hawk
Respectful hunter
Appreciates the meal for its young
As the eagle
Rises and has vantage
Reaches perspective, clarity
As the owl
Wise and graceful
‘Neath the moon, passes into age
As the raven, on pine and needle
His caw
A cadaverous eulogy
But we
Lost, as the appendage ones
Most cognizant of all the living
Fear death throughout life
Stay grounded, sans perspective
Embrace apathy, tucked safely in nests
Resistant.
Stagnant.
Stale.
Stoned.
Our Revolutions, our lives
Are lies.
Quite a statement at the end. I guess I would rather submit not lies, but underdeveloped truths.
ReplyDeleteGood response to the prompt....loaded with thought provoking muses.
Great use of symbolism, wordplay, and import into the human condition, both in its self-consciousness and fabrications.
ReplyDeleteProvocative, excellent.
ReplyDeleteAn intelligent and wide ranging commentary. It's amazing how you've used the photo as a departure point for such a thought provoking poem. I'm very impressed. Thank you for sharing this. James.
ReplyDeletenice...love it...i really like the change in tone...the rapid fire rap to the slow down and back again...and you strike words like the asp...
ReplyDelete"...His caw/A cadaverous eulogy..." among many apt examples, I liked that phrase especially. And your concluding point is well taken--I've often felt the knowledge of our mortality to ride us in every bad way and seldom guide us to the clearer, more encompassing view the natural world has by instinct. Enjoyed this mental exercise (and also music) very much on a chaotic Sunday.
ReplyDeleteMany many good lines here our lives, only lies if we chose to feed them to ourselves. Strong ending statement you leave us with
ReplyDeletewow!such a strong statement on the human condition.this makes me think of the struggles that our world is encountering now...history repeating.nice work.
ReplyDeleteSalutations to my friends in commentary. The critiques that you bring forth are precisely what I was intending to invoke. I thank and respect such in the aforementioned.
ReplyDeleteamazing....apt usage of the prompt.
ReplyDelete"the appendage ones" is such a dramatic term bristling with irony...gathering all the distasteful acts of human blindness together! Very clever!
ReplyDelete