Orion ascends
Breaking the horizon
As the tide breaks the shore.

Prepare you now
For the oncoming
And the onslaught—

Know you now
That this is the year
Of the belt and sword.

Sirius rises
Parting the waves
As the blade parts the brow.

Prepare you now
Mark your doors
With sheep’s blood—

Know you now
That this is the year
Of the aster-fall.

Prepare you now
‘Fore the blade parts your brow—

Know you now
As Woden stares
His one-eye stare
In a blink
The world is swallowed.

{the child I was
and will be fears
to close his eyes
least the world
that we have known
disappears}

Know you now
As Woden glares
His one-eye glare
With a tear
The world is flooded

{the child I was
and will be hides
to lose the sound
till the crumbling
of the world
subsides}

Orion ascends.
The honor of the past
Now the bloodshed on the ‘morrow.

The thunder-voices of the gods
Now whispers on the television.

Sirius rises.
The glory of the past
Now the tear-shed on the ‘morrow.

The lighting bolts of the gods
Now the fading flicker
Behind drawn curtains
And locked doors.

Know you now—
Still Woden stares
His one-eye stare.

In a blink
The world is swallowed.

05/11/2004

Author's Note: This is so rough that I shouldn’t even be posting it. I would appreciate any commentary or insight. My original idea was for a much longer poem, focusing more on the childhood issue than on the political one. I grew up in the early eighties—after sesame street the nightly news came on, where all they seemed to talk about was the impending nuclear apocalypse. I wanted the poem to focus on that, the fear of death and radiation, the sweats. The mythological images were to reinforce the childhood imagery and imagination, the hopelessness of a child alone in his room at night knowing that the possibility of waking up tomorrow was entirely in the hands of the gods. As it stands the poem is too abstract, needs more detail. And the rhythm is way off.

Posted on 05/11/2004
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