I want to pawn my grave
but they tell me it is worthless
and want my skin instead.
the sky meets a pickpocket
who lifts the sun and sells it on eBay.
roosters' GoFundMe falls short.
the world spins but produces no cloth.
naked world, let me know you, and love you.
it responds with acid ink on sandpaper.
I buy the sun and slaughter the roosters.
I set the world on fire but die alone.
I miss my skin but have lost the ticket.
________
Shared with Word Garden Word List--Shy Creatures
Wow. This is amazing. The world spins but produces no cloth.....and acid ink on sandpaper. Feels about right.
ReplyDeleteDamn that's good. The first line of each stanza in perfect balance with the last. And having lost the pawn ticket for your skin!!! What a way to end.
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant poem - surreal, a little bit disturbing perhaps with the missing skin! But as ever highly Original and thought provoking- Jae
ReplyDelete"I set the world on fire but die alone..." Not an uncommon fate,but in this poem it seems like a banner headline. The metaphors are starkly simple, but all the more jarring and effective for that. Roosters, who announce every sunrise, falling like dead leaves, and the grave that is worth so much less than the skin are also visceral images that push the boundaries. In the end, life boils down to a very plain declaration here, unsettlingly hard in the way that life is hard., that action is hard and uncompromising...or so I read. A fine and extremely forceful poem, Shay.
ReplyDeleteI buy the sun and slaughter the roosters...Love that line. This is dark and powerful writing. I feel so many things lately and your poem speaks to some of it. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant. I thought the second stanza was my favorite, and then changed my mind to the third, and then back again.
ReplyDeleteInteresting perspectives and imagery, Shay. I especially like "The world spins but produces no cloth."
ReplyDeleteThe pointless, seemingly random cruelty of life, time, comes at us hard in these terse stanzas, Shay. It's hard not to feel like a pawn in the world's game.
ReplyDelete