Friday, July 15, 2005

Broken Teeth of Our Battlements

Prove this with your science,
Hercules, you with your trials
and madness, soaked in the
blood of the vanquished.

Prove this with your science,
facing the demons dwelling
within like nested birds in
the high parts of the attic.

Prove this with your science,
Picasso, you with your women
sporting unwholesome shapes
against the shadow, your bullfights
in the dust, your houses filled
with canvas and left behind.

Prove this with your science,
turning aside from the lamb
and the rose and all these many
ideas that don't exist for a moment.

Prove this with your science,
Hendrix, with your lefty Strat
hanging low and acid-laced
bandana tied up tight.

Prove this with your science,
method broken in the haze,
all castles made of sand now
subjected to the tides, all winds
having cried “Mary”, all men
now down from the watchtower
and headed home.

Prove this with your science,
all ye collected ghosts, pale
shadows upon the dirty floor
of this abandoned shrine,
and I'll let you go forever,
and the names of all that
has gone before shall never
touch another's lips, never
sing upon the air against
these howling winds and
any riders approaching the
broken teeth of our battlements.

(My 50th post since starting
in April!)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your continuous output amazes me. The constancy of quality in your contributions astounds me. You have an amazing gift.

Bill said...

Damn brother... you have, once again, put a piece together that took me on a journey. Maybe we share some common background, or experiences, but 9 out of 10 of your pieces seem to touch long ago memories.

Or, maybe you just have a gift of tapping into a 'universal experience' store?

Either way,I continue to enjoy each of your pieces.

Patrick M. Tracy said...

Doc,

I do okay sometimes.

Bill,

Happy to key into some memories for you. Can't say for sure how it happens. I guess universality is what I go for. Glad to see that, at least for some, I'm hitting a decent average.

Thanks to both of you for coming over.

Mushster said...

A very good average I'd say. Happy 50th ;)

Patrick M. Tracy said...

Mushter,

Well, I've actually tried to pace myself a bit. I found that it was important to give all my wonderful readers a few days to come around and make a comment. Anyway, don't want to burn out and come smashing down to earth like an errant comet. Thanks again for coming by.

Ken,

I'd love to provide a great explanation about how this one was about man and society, or the plight of migrant workers, or something, but to be honest, I think the words are notable only for the way they sound and the images they might bring up. I don't think it goes any further than that. This one, as they sometimes do, just came at me whole. I just worked the keyboard and pressed save when it was over.

At one time, the abstract nature of thie one might have bugged me, but I've learned to go with instincts and see what happens. Again, thanks for coming by. I can always count on you to be a sharp observer.

Patrick M. Tracy said...

Ken,

I think you may have ennobled the whole enterprise with your theories. For that, I can only say thanks. I don't look at it as petty-mindedness to ask what the point is. Actually, considering the question was a revealing time. In the end, though, I suppose it's just me, on the near verge of the Styx and yelling out to ghosts on the other side.

Mushster said...

Well, you've paced yourself well but methinks even if you did feel burnt out you'd probably come up with something wonderful about errant comets lol.

And thanks for your great comment at my place :)

Across Inconstant Breath

Would that this skin this frail armor atop the husk of slow departure -  Would that it held against the teeth  of night's maw a...