Thursday, June 21, 2012

In the land of never to be...

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:2 NKJV)


I did not die from a drive-by shot;

I did not die in a war of evil against good.

I did not die doing deeds whose saints

win rightful awe. I did not die

with faith in my fingers and thumbs.

I died daily from a raging word

that eats the brain like an unseen bug.

 

I flew in fantasy to unreal lands

where rancor falls from the sky

and cakes the sand; desolate and alone,

I faded to zero from fullness and ennui:

 

I learned to earn more of what

you should not spend or invest,

and I died bullied by abundance,

dependence without fill.

 

I knew no father with wise words

or soft embrace that shoos away

the monster in the dark. I contrived

the scary mask just to bribe the pang

that would not let me finally die.

 

I corrupted life with tender

borrowed from another’s purse.

I knew the animal fear, the death

grip on the throat, the throes that sculpt

the leer of deceit and absurd pride,

but I lost the dread that comes with conscience,

the brave naivete that does not fool itself;

 

so I did not love myself or my enemy,

or seek the ordeal where the just face

is born and good is pure and one.

 

On a day like any other, from the desert

of strip malls and pay as you go pie in the sky

a honeyed word began to sound.

 

Then the savior arose in the guise of a thief

and stripped me bare and robbed me blind.

And then I died to all that is and is not.

 

My audio recording of In the land of never to be... chirb.it/PDM7zs.

(c) copyright 2012 Charles David Miller. All rights reserved.

 

30 comments:

  1. Wow! Chaz...I'm breathless. That slow death by entropy and greed and then, pow, that final redemptive stanza. I don't know if I read it as you intended, but that's the message that come through to me. Very powerful for me in that land of never to be.

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    1. That's how I read it too, Victoria. That bible verse always struck me by its mystery, mixing goodness withnthievery. What a contrast. Into this world of illusion, comes the thief, who steals you from despair for other designs. Thank you for daring to believe there was a positive angle to this! :)

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  2. Isn't it such a weight off your shoulders when you actually 'come home' to yourself.
    Another very powerful write and read Chaz. Stunning.

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  3. You take us on a blindfolded ride to a a destination that is the place that surrounds us and that we don't want to believe we help build, then rip down the walls and make robbery seem like the best solution--I know you're not speaking of losing wealth but gaining it, yet that image of the the forcible intervention of good as a thief is perfect, quite a balm to the wounds that bleed out in that strip mall of soul where we are de-souled, stripped and mauled.

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  4. I'm so glad you found your path, devoid of the false "stuff" that many mistake for success. It sounds like the thief was not a thief at all, but left you a gift. Beautiful writing.

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  5. are you mapping our future prophet? our mall is dying a slow death itself...as desolate as the landscape (culture) you make us see in this....so many travel that road even now...i am glad you found the other side...i just we are a people could...

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    1. This is one of those Unpublished poems I should warn people about. I wrote about 2006. It is bleak, and if I have anything to say in my defense it's that I do believe there's an ugly strek to American life now. I believe it's fascistic, andbso this poem sounds an alarm that I believed was arising back then, and has grown since. One of my favorite poets saud he kept his bleaker poems in his bedroom drawer. He lived thru the keveling of Warsaw, so he saw some wicked shit. I can only say that I'm not as strong as he... but I won't see my country go down the drain without sounding more than a whimper.

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  6. OMG. I read and howled, then curled into Hedgewitch's comment for comfort. That helped. I tried to find the raging word that killed despite so many immanent deaths, and it was "abundance" and "entitlement" and "fullness and ennui" amid so much negative sensuousness that did not touch the narrator nor did affection, dread, or . . . .finally I read this as an Everyman, but nothing goes with him to "the honeyed word." OMG. What a complete and bleak vision of a land with no room for reversal, rebirth, retreat or redemption. I knew a few students who wore that mask. I do not want to see the film version.

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    1. I think you missed the part atbthe end, about the thief in the night, an allusion to Jesus. I've certainly posed here in the mask of everyman, in a mystery play on the sin that is despair. I don't know what your life is like, but I believe that many of the images in the poem reflect reality for a lot of people. All in all, the poem was meant to be a poem on despair and the faint hope of redemption, something I do not believe a movie can touch.

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  7. nothing is everything. and you say it so well.

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  8. Deep and powerful writing, Charles. Very thought-provoking.

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  9. "bullied by abundance" sticks out -- so very true--all of it.

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  10. free enterprise system, greed is good, screw your competition before they screw you, do onto others before they can do onto you, teach your children well, wonder why your wife is estranged from you and you do not know your own children, and your friends turn out to be only acquaintances--and there suddenly is the end of the trail, and you here strains of "is that all there is"; kick-ass write in so many ways, sir.

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  11. love this... love how you start with i did not die from...did not die from...and then...yep..what we really die from...you turn our focus masterfully here..and bring your personality and emotions in..but just in the right dose, leaving space for us to fill in the blanks

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  12. And not the slightest chance of looking to the rest of the world for inspiration. There isn't any anywhere.Or is there indeed a glimmer?

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  13. Charles, another terrific piece. I just love the description in this one, really painting vivid scenes as a result. Also, I love when I come across unique consistencies in writing, and I can't think of a better example of it as in the following stanza:

    On a day like any other, from the desert

    of strip malls and pay as you go pie in the sky

    a honeyed word began to sound.

    Day-Desert(noun to noun)
    Pie-Sky (noun, as verb, to noun/metaphor)
    Honeyed-Word-Sound (Adjective to noun to Noun as verb)

    I hate isolating just one stanza, but it's such a brilliantly crafted one I had no choice but to mention it.

    Terrific read. Thanks

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  14. I didn't get a sense of place from this one - or at least only only in very broad brush strokes - but I read a very strong sense of Charles Miller. The political angst you portray is very close to my own 'place'!

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  15. Well, it was that final two line stanza that knocked me off my feet, and if I have to say that I agree with vivinfrance and didn't get a sense of place, I also have to say that I didn't notice that I hadn't, not until I read her comment. So putting the composition of a fine piece of art work above all else, it gets my vote.

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  16. The opening stanzas are broad and word play, rich with details. But the last two closing stanza did it for me, more pointed and direct to the core. Enjoyed the visit Charles ~

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  17. Well, I have to say that I found the beginning just as strong as the end. Really - I found the bullied by abundance and all the father part extremely powerful, and, yes, drive-by shooting and the pie in the sky - the strip-malled pie in the sky. It is very grim - but I think what saves it for me (in terms of grimness) is not just the end, but the fact that you use the past tense throughout - and since you are still talking--well, there's a sense of a you surviving (which is comforting here.) Such wonderful justapositions here, very strong. k.

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  18. lots of interesting philosophical concepts here, like "so I did not love myself or my enemy" but really, you did love your enemy as yourself, in that case. i also like the end, the savior came, but really, didn't save you, because there is no savior, it just is.

    interesting to hear your voice.

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  19. "Bullied by abundance..." yes, that is how it feels (or feels here). Brilliantly crafted, with the twist of the thief actually giving by taking away. Awesome write, sir. Thank you.

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  20. Well done! I especially liked this: "I died bullied by abundance, dependence without fill. "

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  21. Charles: your Dverse link this evening seems wonky, unless it is me of course :-)

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  22. Your link at dVerse isn't working Chaz...sorry!

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  23. Wow. Just pulls you in. I'll have to re-read.

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  24. this goes deep, deep, deep, and living in an urban environment....I see this death almost daily in the faces and forms of these young.

    And I feel it, too, in my own life.

    This was necessary to read, Chaz....it brings me up short today.

    Lady Nyo

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  25. "I knew the animal fear, the death
    grip on the throat, the throes that sculpt
    the leer of deceit and absurd pride,
    but I lost the dread that comes with conscience,
    the brave naivete that does not fool itself"

    Well said Charles! We often are afraid of what comes next but are braver to go against it as we felt we've been had. It pushed courage to a higher level to stem off bullying. Great write!

    Hank

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  26. I enjoyed this!
    It's not easy to right spiritual poetry.
    http://kolembo.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/i-shall-not-die-by-your-hands/

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