Edmund and Luka's Poetry Request Corner

[luka]

Picking up ghosts on the radio dial.

Numbers through the static
Orpheus on the radio
Have we found the frequency
Of the past?
The myth pushed into the present
as voice


I was on that field that day
and saw Hector run rings
around those walls
saw the birds of carrion
gorge on corpses

 

[luka]

The media.

What we know is
Nothing but what they tell us
We who live our lives within the walls
what we know is
Nothing but what they tell us
We who have never been outside.

That a whale beached in Santa Monica
That Maoist guerrillas control the only bridge over the canyon
That the princess was married and
A plane crashed
In Borneo.

 

[luka]

Coronavirus.

They put the metal towers on the roofs
They were able to control it, to trigger it
I those they deemed a threat
In those they considered
'Surplus to requirements'

They put the metal towers in the high places
And controlled the air
Were able to send the signals
Through walls, through stone
And brick and steel

And we died in our millions
So that They
could enjoy
The fruits
Of this earth

For Mr Tea.

 

[luka]

Cashless society.

After the cash economy
The moral economy
And the survival tokens
Distributed or withheld
According to behaviour
Whether abiding
By the Laws
Written and unwritten
Or contravening them.

The Mark of the Beast
Is on us
We cannot buy nor sell
Without it.

To be a slave
Or to starve
In wilderness

 

[luka]

Las Vegas on Lockdown

And all the lights go out
The showgirls peel off their sequinned leotards
The crooners sip one last whisky sour
And stare at the empty stage
The slot machines fall silent
And no coins cascade
In jackpots

The croupiers shuffle the pack
One last time and deal to the empty table


I'll finish this in a sec I'm on the phone

 

[luka]

And all the lights go out
The showgirls peel off their sequinned leotards
The crooners sip one last whisky sour
And stare at the empty stage
The slot machines fall silent
And no coins cascade
In jackpots

The croupiers shuffle the pack
One last time and deal to the empty table
The johns cruise the empty streets
And the coyotes overturn the rubbish bins
All the lights go out
and Las Vegas
falls asleep

 

[luka]

It's not high art lads but it keeps me busy

 

[luka]

The Truman Show

We have internalised both camera and audience
That smile we flash to an empty room
The way hold ourselves, how we push out our chest
And pin our shoulders back
The way we wink
To an invisible eye
The way we hide
our secrets from ourselves
There is no moment
Unobserved
There is no privacy
No nook
To shelter in no shadow
To melt into
Nothing that is not part
Of the performance

 

[pattycakes_]

Shakespeare

 

[luka]

I'm out of practice. I'll get into the swing if I keep it up.

 

[version]

We have severed effect from cause
So that punishment precedes
the sin, or follows the pious act
So that words issue from closed mouths
So that the stone moves by itself
So that the time sequence is disordered
So that we get worse with practice
And perfect without effort
So that thrift bankrupts us
And largesse results in riches
So that no logic solders
Any act with its result
We have been set free
The great chain of necessity
Has been snapped
we are saved

Yes!

Numbers through the static
Orpheus on the radio
Have we found the frequency
Of the past?
The myth pushed into the present
as voice


I was on that field that day
and saw Hector run rings
around those walls
saw the birds of carrion
gorge on corpses

Yes!

What we know is
Nothing but what they tell us
We who live our lives within the walls
what we know is
Nothing but what they tell us
We who have never been outside.

That a whale beached in Santa Monica
That Maoist guerrillas control the only bridge over the canyon
That the princess was married and
A plane crashed
In Borneo.

Yes!

 

[luka]

Thanks for some good suggestions

 

[luka]

Intricate machinery of palm and epiphyte,
parasite and host, symbiotes, predators and prey.
Intricate machinery of seed to root and shoot
Leaf to flowering, growth and sweet decay.
Rotting heat, plant mulch, dense hummus
birds fall from the sky, ants
pick apart the corpses,
March in columns, armies on the move
Jaguars fractured by shadows, anacondas
In the trees, tarantulas, birds
of paradise.
No part out of place, no movement
not precisely governed
by the necessity
of this intricate
Machine.

 

[luka]

Give us more you miserable gits!

 

[woops]

coronavirus

this is the revolution you've been reading about
twenty first century transformation of everyday life
not on the barricades but in isolation
so where are the slogans, signs that say "you are not alone"
the shops are shut and the churches are empty
no marx or manifestoes, just a detailed description of how
to wash your hands. skulls in medical masks,
just a few on the frontline.

 

[woops]

cashless society

begone you banknotes and temporary tokens
the value of a life is now virtual
your savings are stored in some darkened data centre
atm no longer necessary, all
that's needed is a transient tap
of plastic on plastic payment complete
like some french theory now can understand
the non-place transaction takes place
in the imaginary, a simulation of sale
with real results / the network needs
no normal contact cash gone the way of hugging and holding hands

 

[luka]

We need at least ten more topics to see us through the night

 

[pattycakes_]

Gangrene
Gangnam
South Korean Wrist Band
Peter Rabbit
Eggs

 

[luka]

At last! Someone has thrown the lads a bone. Thank you!

 

[luka]

Peter Rabbit.

Don't go into the garden.
The injunction is the temptation
To transgress is sweeter
than any anticipated carrot or
purloined cabbage-
The thrill of setting foot
on forbidden ground
defiant of death
and danger.
To prove ourselves
our father's better,
triumphing
where he fell.