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
Powerfully haunting, Glynn.
ReplyDeleteYour words draw me in to their dream-like world..
Yes -- they do, as Joflindia says, draw me in to their dream-like world.
ReplyDeleteWhy 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'. :)
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".
ReplyDeleteOh 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.
ReplyDeletesixty minutes before seven
ReplyDeletewaves 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
a chilling end to this glynn...one illuminated book but no understanding...nice textures to this...
ReplyDeleteGreat write, I really enjoyed this. The ending really made me think of The Book of Eli. Great flow and imagery. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteopen my eyes... he may have said
ReplyDeleteintriguing and a great write...the end felt like a dream.
ReplyDeletea good twist and turn. well done
ReplyDeleteClever take on the divinity within and it's frequent misinterpretation.
ReplyDeleteLiked that first stanza...
ReplyDeletemade 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. =)
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
ReplyDeleteThe book is US...
ReplyDeletepowerful poem you have here.. gives much to think about..
thewordbar.wordpress.com
Beautiful. We continue to believe the answer is there if only we could decipher the words as we live only for the mystery.
ReplyDeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteYou ending is excellent and I just watched the book of Eli and your ending makes me think of this well done
ReplyDeletehttp://gatelesspassage.com/2011/10/04/memories/
excellent.
ReplyDeletefun trip with your words.
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.
ReplyDeleteI read that language. It says, "The BEGINNING is near!"
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your poem. Haven't we all been on that bus?
Clever stuff Glynn, clever stuff.
ReplyDeleteAnna :o]