I am every man, an infinite regression
of mirror men who watch from over my shoulder
and out of the ageless generations of
humanity's deluge. Metempsychotic tides
inform my broken decisions, and yours,
archetypal wrestling matches and politicians
touring America from flag-festooned caboose platforms,
and berserker soldiers racing into open wounds
that smell of pus and gangrene. I am the collective dreams
that spill and chain out of Cain, wondering
how things might have been different
had Abel prevailed.
We sail on our little boat by night
across a dark sea, sensing
rather than seeing the hungry whales
not too far below the keel. Our bodies are broken,
our corpses half-decayed. Our king is slayed, and we're
cast up on the dirty strand to confront dawn's onslaught
naked, with no weapons or talismans, but only our
feeble wits and imagination. May God
have mercy on the sleepers.
20090827
The Sleepers
Copyright © 2009 Ernest Bloom.
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"I am every man, an infinite regression
ReplyDeleteof mirror men who watch from over my shoulder
and out of the ageless generations of
humanity's deluge."
What a fantastic vision. I could easily visualize a million men receding into the past, the picture of the generations- changing, but still- the same.
It is so true- we are naked with no weapons but our intelligence. We count on our self-awareness and perception for survival and if we let ourself slumber- we are verily done for. "May God have mercy on the sleepers"- this is a heartfelt and sublime conclusion. May God have mercy, indeed.
I loved both the "I am every man" and Cain/Abel parts. My favourite line, however, was "our bodies are broken." There's something so heart-wrenching about this poem. :)
ReplyDeleteuh what jung unfortunately called the collective unconsciousness..............archetypes..........mythology............the night sea voyage.....................those who concretize the symbols......
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