What happens when even the ghosts can't go back,
when the poison is so deep in the land that
even the memories go blind?
What happens when the streets are empty
the windows empty
the feeling empty
when you can't go back
and neither can the heartbeat that's gone from this place
never to come back
not for a thousand years?
__________
You put your stock in pioneers, those who think there's something preferable to the dismal place they torched.
ReplyDeletethat opening question really sets the tone for this piece shay...feels so desolate between the words...a thoughtfulness though as well...
ReplyDeleteI too have wondered, Shay.
ReplyDeleteNice simplicity and gravity
Aloha from Honolulu,
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° >
death of a town - for profit. how many more before we destroy ourselves?
ReplyDeleteThe voice here could be Job in front of God but redirected to the here and now where we answer . . . what? "Last Days: Hide and Seek" swells up and rolls past "it's all for the best." Spare and direct.
ReplyDeleteYou've explored this topic before if I recall correctly--this is just one town of many many in our history that have been ruined and despoiled...it makes a metaphor for some lives, some dead poisoned hearts as well, but what I feel most strongly here is just the feeling of a chance lost, or more accurately, taken away, before it could bear fruit. Mournful, and haunting.
ReplyDeleteyou hold tight to the memories
ReplyDelete"even the memories go blind". The photo and the poem together really speak to the "heartbeat that's gone from this place". This poem makes me feel like it's a hot dusty dry summer day and I am passing thru a desolate ghost town. So atmospheric. Fantastic, kiddo.
ReplyDeleteHaunting, mesmerizing ... the video and your poem. I was struck by the vivid blue of the Pepsi presence. I also saw a charming cottage (my little dream) needing a re-hab. So sad.
ReplyDeleteThis breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteThere is something deeply disturbing about a community disbanded due to local poisoning of the environment - so contrary to survival of the species and the ethics of humankind... But I guess I'm just naive to question the priority of economics.
ReplyDeleteIn St. Louis we have a place called "TImes Beach" that was "poisoned" by people, and was taken over by men in HazMat suits. Now, decades later, it is a park. The people had to move, and a community died...
ReplyDeleteYour repetition of "back" and "empty" is very effective.
ReplyDeleteSad, yet poignant and really makes one think. The video was very nice, too. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete