Home   Home

Man Poem One

by Bruce W Niedt

 

A cough in the sleep of life brought me here..

               Among suddenly in the ages of earth I am born,

                                       belched out from the warm sea,

                                            gasp from the rocks as the

                                            fish are my fathers,

                                       regurgitation of wet new fur,

                                                    the flashing sea,

                                       the gleam in the dry sun.

 

A pain in the breast of earth are my bones.

                       The calcium seams in layers,

                                        the fossil-heart,

                        the movement of the old, dark

                                     shadow, my father’s

                              teeth, the struggle of form in

                                              the primitive,

                                        the piled rocks,

                                        the hard sky.

 

                                                               And I

Uncoil, sweep my self over sun-scoured sand,

             My scales erect with crust of seasalt,

            feather-fur stands on my back-like-needles,

                   limbs grow taut with muscle

                                                           and

                                                               I

                                                         stand,

                                       earthen my brain,

                                       the rocks and sun

                           brown, the world posed on

                        a stone-killed valley, crushed

                        rubble down the gray-bitten cliff,

                        an immense

                        listening.

                                                   My eyes spring from

                                                   my cliff, my valley

                                      lies quiet and

                                      brown, my sky rumbles

                                      blue from its dome, and I

                                                                     scream

                         I scream like a first and last animal,

                               on the dry, laughing land.

 

 

[1971]                      

 

 

 

 

             

   

06/25/2003

Posted on 06/25/2003
Copyright © 2025 Bruce W Niedt

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Agnes Eva on 06/25/03 at 05:33 PM

glorious rise of man, you must have felt magnificent writing this 30 years ago!

Return to the Previous Page
 
pathetic.org
FAQ
Members
Poetry Center
Login
Signup
 

pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online
All works Copyright © 2025 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)