Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Every man a prophet



With a crazed look
the man unkempt
and smelly shouts
to the rest of us
on the bus The
World Ends Tonight
at 7! In time for
the evening news, I
say. The well-dressed
man next to me snorts.
Fool, he says, the world
ended three days ago.

I get off at the next stop.
A walk through arched
trees becomes a walk
down a hallway void
of wall pictures, the
only decorations
waves of dark lines,
motioning me forward.
I come to a room,
empty, except
for an open book
illuminated
by a single light.
I lean forward to read
but I don’t know
the language.

This poem is submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets. To see more poems, please visit the site. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time today.

Photograph: Nacreous clouds by Alan Light via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

My reading of "Every Man a Prophet;"

Every Man a Prophet by Glynn2

21 comments:

JofIndia said...

Powerfully haunting, Glynn.
Your words draw me in to their dream-like world..

Louise Gallagher said...

Yes -- they do, as Joflindia says, draw me in to their dream-like world.

Why is it in dreams we so often are confronted by language we do not know?

(PS -- when I first read the verification word I thought it was -- peabrain -- harumph. I thought, a message - it was actually 'peabrair'. :)

Maureen said...

Your first stanza works as a stand-alone poem. It's so familiar to anyone who's ever been on a bus or subway. It also carries marvelous truth that links up so well with that final "I don't know the language".

Pat Hatt said...

Oh the sights and thoughts on a bus, can't say I miss them. Very intriguing feel to this piece and yeah many crazies declare the world will end time and time again.

Anonymous said...

sixty minutes before seven
waves of news flashed
scenes from the past
illuminating the screen
with full colour playing
gently upon empty walls
like leaves falling in the wind
speaking silent words of things to come

Brian Miller said...

a chilling end to this glynn...one illuminated book but no understanding...nice textures to this...

Uneven Stephen said...

Great write, I really enjoyed this. The ending really made me think of The Book of Eli. Great flow and imagery. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

open my eyes... he may have said

ayala said...

intriguing and a great write...the end felt like a dream.

Anonymous said...

a good twist and turn. well done

Unknown said...

Clever take on the divinity within and it's frequent misinterpretation.

Patricia said...

Liked that first stanza...
made me wonder what time it was when you got off at the next stop... but I've been doing riddles tonight with my young one. =)

Anonymous said...

Fine poem, Glynn -- Makes me wonder if we only think we speak the same language. Or maybe its just that we hear such different voices speaking between the lines. Such dreamlike, sharp despair to end up at the end of the second stanza where everything points to an opened book that can't be read. Prophecy -- that certainty of secret knowledge -- is wild -- like buckshot, but truth is much deeper and inaccessible than that.- Brendan

Anonymous said...

The book is US...

powerful poem you have here.. gives much to think about..

thewordbar.wordpress.com

Ann Grenier said...

Beautiful. We continue to believe the answer is there if only we could decipher the words as we live only for the mystery.

Tashtoo said...

I thought the Book of Eli too! I thought the finish was brilliant, certainly leaves enough of a blank to let your mind wonder, but still packs a powerful punch! Loved it!

Ann LeFlore said...

You ending is excellent and I just watched the book of Eli and your ending makes me think of this well done
http://gatelesspassage.com/2011/10/04/memories/

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

excellent.

fun trip with your words.

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Very thoughtful.... Is that the book of life at the end of that long, wall-less tunnel? Very thought provoking....... well conceived and written.

Charles Elliott/Beautyseer said...

I read that language. It says, "The BEGINNING is near!"

Enjoyed your poem. Haven't we all been on that bus?

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Clever stuff Glynn, clever stuff.

Anna :o]