Veritas – dVerse

If I had the belief
had the guts to be street-wise,
could save my own spirit
from those pernicious, damned white lies,
I’d grasp it with both hands
and take the world on my plate
adopt the mentality,
eliminate the disparity
that pervades every alleyway, back street and door,
I’ve said it too many times
from down here, from the floor
that the shadow that dogs us,
pulls us down to the ground
is the vague sense of emptiness,
the lack of completeness,
the dullness, great sadness,
the all-pervading madness,
no – there ain’t no Messiah
at the bottom of that glass,
or in that last chocolate chip cookie
I’m adding to my ass,
no, where we’re all going
– those silent, straight rows –
won’t give us the second chance,
we can’t repeat the romance,
do it all over again,
have just one more, sweet last dance,
excuse our poor ability,
blame our short life’s fragility,
nobody will do it for us, it’s a tragedy
of giant proportions
we can’t believe the distortions
the hard work is necessity
and we must do it ourselves –
be our own self-believers
and lovers, and fighters
for at the end of my journey
when the white light is calling
the one, the last judge on my mind
will be me.

 

Veritas

———-

This week, on dVerse Poetics, Anthony has asked us to write a poem using at least 5 of the words below:

 – Messiah, Allegory, Luminous, Plate, Shadow, Door, Persona, Glass, Vitiligo, Epochal, Pernicious, Warmth –

What a collection! I didn’t really have a particular idea in mind before I started, but then, as is often the case, my poet brain took over. It’s a bit of a rant – about trusting yourself, about not buying into consumerism, about feeling free to be your true self… Lots of issues, mixed up in one, big old chunk of words. I think I’m still considering Claudia’s question yesterday about how real we get in our writing. And I just know that each poem offered up by the dVerse community will be vastly different. A great prompt, Anthony!

Please pop over to dVerse to see how others have taken the bait – and enjoy!

 

 

Friendly Fire

Don’t come cap in hand with your right-wing agenda,

your mouth is an organ, a vile pretender

to intelligent, thoughtful, democratic ways,

you spew forth your sound-bites, earn thoughtless praise

from a populous dulled by consumption and greed,

mesmerised by the box in the corner that feeds

them with ‘news’ that is passing for real information –

celebrity gossip, face transformation,

lose weight in days from your vast corner couch,

buy clothes, shoes and skincare, perfect your pout,

get two point four children and a four by four car,

ferry them everywhere, see the world from afar

through the screen of an iPad (other brands will suffice),

you can’t let them outside, but will never think twice

about letting them surf the wide world late at night

just as long as your kitchen and garden are right,

because the neighbours are watching, your community cares

if your house lets the side down, and you’re caught unawares

by a marginal rise in the next lending rate –

you must make those payments, you cannot be late,

there’s the store cards, the credit cards, your salary’s too low,

there’s no extra income, watch your hard-earned all go

on taxes as immigrants flood across all our borders,

they sit with their hands out, it’s so out of order –

or they work for nothing, or much less than you’re worth,

but –

is that the true picture, are you blaming them first

before looking in the mirror, and believing the lies –

it’s easier to lash out, to turn a blind eye

to a broken down system that allows hate to be dressed

in a suit and a tie and a smile that at best

is trapped on the lips, gets no further beyond,

who’s to blame if, not thinking, you vote for them wrongly

believing that everything will be better, ever after –

nothing sounds quite so hollow as victorious laughter.

 

Friendly Fire

——

OK. We’re on the other side of the European elections and I feel like we’re going to hell in a political hand-basket. Turn out at voting is so damned low it makes me feel ill. I don’t think I’m an alarmist, but I do worry that we’re sleepwalking into something very, very dark. Voting turn out is low, low, low and it allows political extremists to rise to the top like the scum that they are. A disproportionately low turn out allows for a disproportionately high representation of the so-called marginal parties in the European Parliament. It’s downright dangerous. Get your behinds off the sofa next time, please?

Say Cheese! – VisDare 62

Alec spotted them frozen in time, the swingboat held in place as if by an invisible hand. Clearly, they hadn’t expected to be seen, what with the photo booth being so far away at the other end of the fairground. What were the chances of him pressing the shutter release just at that moment?

He screwed up the photo and threw it on the floor, wishing he could unsee the whole, sordid affair. What to do? Jonny had stolen a kiss from his girl, and probably more besides. He hated to admit it, but Gloria was a very popular girl.

Alec sat on his haunches, hiding in the shadows as the sun rose over the motionless rides. It would only take one turn of a bolt – just enough to make it fall loose when Jonny did his early morning test ride – to solve this particular problem.

Gloria, he would deal with separately.

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Photo Source

I’m back for another entry into Angela’s VisDare prompt, where the challenge is to respond, in 150 words or less, to the photo she puts up on her blog each week.What a cheeky and daredevil moment – health and safety would have a thing or two to say about that, I’m sure!

I hope you enjoy it, please do take part.