Pestilence war famine DEATH
The four horsemen of the apocalypse
Of which Americans know nothing
Except what movies novels
Imagination might create
I’m going out on a limb to say
We don’t know capital letter
Apocalyptic death
Razing of Jerusalem death
Woe to those who are pregnant
Nursing in those days death
A lively subject for preachers
Repent before it happens
When it comes you’ll be too busy
Racing from the giant lizard’s scaly foot
Clinging to a column of your back porch
Lest the city-devouring gap draw you in
Hollywood can’t give us enough
These visions are laughable
Volcanoes erupting around us
Nothing convincing as if we’re immune
To catastrophe on a national scale
What we fear is personal sudden demise
The mugger who decides
Pistol whipping isn’t sufficient
Engages his weapon to primordial use
The long-feared diagnosis
Airplane subway Titanic death
MH 370 where they won’t find
The bodies and never know why
At some point along our merry way
We stop read about the kidnapped child
Pay more attention to obituaries
No more a quick glance for names
We knew reading only those
Who were our friends
Tolling of the church bell at every
Name read on the Sunday nearest
All Saints’ we somberly recall
A time when we saw them walking
Joking having a beer and we ponder
How many saints’ days we have left
Inwardly vow to make every one count
Start praying earnestly it goes well
Ever notice the Grim Reaper’s scythe
Has nicks all along its blade
More like a hacksaw than a razor
Ensuring we’ll notice the final cut
When it comes
c. J.S.Manista, 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment