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Saturn’s blues.
When the moon is in Fresno
And the sun sets a purplish
Haze over early-autumn skies,
The cold winds of Hell
Breathe heavily against
The hopes of local heroes
And the women who made them.
Farmers stare off into the fields
Without realizing, and housewives
Pull their young close to their
Bosoms – suddenly and
Without explanation.
Intuitively they sense the onset
Of a long and severe influence;
A time of hardship and hindrance
When the faith and courage of
More than a few good men
And women are put to test.
The carousel is out-of-control,
And in the whirlwind confusion
Crops will fail, loved ones will
Pass away, jobs will be lost
And the simplest of dreams will
Be stifled by Saturn’s blues:
A mocking nursery rhyme telling
Of horror and despair, and sung
Over and over again with endless
Variations on the same cruel theme.
Le Gibet (The Gibbet).
The stench of five-dollar perfume
And embalming wine wafting
Around the barfly’s sunken eyes
And drooping cheeks held a
Bizarre mystique that I
Couldn’t quite place at first.
But her incessant cackling and
Swaying from side-to-side
As she talked to herself
Soon set me to thumping
My foot and humming knowingly.
Goaded by cat-like fascination,
I slipped into her consciousness
Surreptitiously, and together
We conjured sublimely bittersweet
Images of Ravelian desolation:
Her swinging from the gallows ..
And me waiting to cut her down.
Tightrope.
I swear they make this tightrope
Thinner each time I attempt to cross.
I remember how my psyche could once
Dance endless sommersaults back and forth.
And how every now and then I would
Laugh mercilessly to myself at how I
Astonished and sometimes even
Infuriated others with my devilish
Dexterity of mind and wit.
But now, having fallen all too often,
I quiver at the sight of both
Challengers and supporters; and
Look upon success in reaching the
Rope’s end as another day’s survival
Rather than a demonstration of prowess.
I know a good sport never complains but,
I swear they make this tightrope
Thinner each time I attempt to cross.
(Image: "Tainted dreams 2", oil painting by Adam Donaldson Powell)
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