Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Poems - Part 1

To make up for falling behind on submissions, I'm going to crank out some poetry this week.  This is the first batch; more will come later in the week.


Ice-Covered Houses
In your front room, there was a picture of ice-covered houses.
You thought I never gave it a second look,
but I’ll always remember it.
It made me feel like I was standing on a steep hillside,
about to slip and fall down an endless slope.


You believed we could stay in an endless winter
and keep ourselves frozen as we were forever.
But I could see and hear the ice cracking,
and I had to climb out
before I fell any further.
Not Long
Feel these yellowed hands   
with veins the color of a frozen sea.        
So cold to the touch;                              
you can’t hold on for more than a moment.          
  
Thin blood now runs dry,     
sedated by a dead heart.
The last traces of vigor were
shaken out of this aged body.   

It has not been long.   

Stand alone and listen.
Do not speak in this silent room.    
So few times you’ve seen   
life and death in front of you.  

Raise the curtains now.
Maintain your resolve for the ones who watch.    
They’ll believe anything you say.   
Now is not the time for starting fires.  

It will not be long.
Dreams of Being Chased
I often have vivid dreams in which I am being chased,
sometimes by monsters, but mostly by people.
Many times I escape, but then I go back

and allow my pursuers to chase me again.
What does this say about me?

A Young Girl in the Middle of the Road
A young girl stands
in the middle of the road
during morning rush hour.
Her eyes reflect light
from the yellow sunrise,
and her ears are deaf to the drone
of traffic waiting at a standstill
in the hot morning air.
The lights are green
and the engines are humming,
but the strange girl in the street
will not be shaken.
Doors begin to open
and questions are shouted.
The heat steadily rises
along with the sun.
The girl hears something else,
and all at once,
her frozen feet move
and she begins to dance
in the middle of the road.
Things Change No night leaves the world the same as it was                          
All things self-destruct and reconstruct themselves
Space sheds its old face and replaces it with newness                        
Very few normal people truly stay the same

Copyright (C) 2012 by Eric Landuyt

4 comments:

  1. Wow, I really love these, especially the first one. To me, it kind of feels unfinished.

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    Replies
    1. If the first one feels unfinished, that may be because it was originally part of a longer poem that I was struggling to finish. This was the only bit that seemed particularly strong, so I decided to let it stand alone. The last poem came about in a similar manner.

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  2. "What does this say about me?" *raises hand* Ooo ooo I know this one! I love dream interpretation. And this poem about a dream.

    I also like the last poem. Simple and truthful.

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  3. I actually thought the first one established what it needed to clearly and did not seem unfinished. The Young Girl Poem was my favorite.

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