navwin » Archives » Open Poetry #8 » Wandering.
Open Poetry #8
Post A Reply Post New Topic Wandering. Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
brian madden
Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 4374
ireland

0 posted 2000-06-25 11:58 AM


Hit the curb with avengeance, every street light is
a blinding circle. Scour the pavements for a crack to
reside between. One would think there could be some
anonymous coda  in the bustling self serving tribe on the river,
these creatures with their eyes peering at you, mouths gapping
poise with questions and responses to their fears. These words
go unsaid. You think it but don't talk it to strangers.
The strange hypocrisies of urban dwellers, safe in apartments
sleeping to the chime of regular traffic, live to commute and compute.      
I wander up Grafton street, cling to the shadows, as pub regular's spew
upon my bedroom floor, my last night home. Their eyes flicker blurred
they are vomiting strange words at me a new language, a foreign insults.
"GO HOME" these words I have heard continuously.
Not wanted here can't live on my own soil. Travelled from afar for this…
Yesterday, I stared across the waters towards this emerald haven
"This mythical land of opportunity" praying for a new beginning.
I once slept in the rumble while missiles lit the sky.
I closed my eyes in terror, weeping with fear. At least there I had dignity.  

"An abyss that lasted creation A circus complete with all fools
Foundations that lasted the ages Then ripped apart at their roots"
joy division


[This message has been edited by brian madden (edited 06-25-2000).]

© Copyright 2000 brian madden - All Rights Reserved
serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

1 posted 2000-06-25 12:32 PM


Wow.  Powerful and moving.  Great job, brian.
Janet Marie
Member Laureate
since 2000-01-22
Posts 18554

2 posted 2000-06-26 01:32 PM


as always...imagery strong and emotionally deep
LOVE the impact of those last 2 lines...
this is a diffent style for you...
me likes
later-wise-gator
jm

baby dont you work so hard
for this prize you've found,
it will all be gone-when you turn around,
cause nothing lasts forever anyway.
Rick Roberts

Cerenity
Member Elite
since 2000-02-16
Posts 2637
Escondido-California
3 posted 2000-06-27 11:30 AM


Hi Brian,

I see you and now I can put a face with such wonderful poetry.

A wonderful peice of work here, very powerful and the veiw wow.

Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
4 posted 2000-06-27 12:28 PM


Yesterday, I stared across the waters towards this emerald haven
"This mythical land of opportunity" praying for a new beginning.
I once slept in the rumble while missiles lit the sky.
I closed my eyes in terror, weeping with fear. At least there I had dignity.  

......
Dignity... You have lots of that, brian...

a very powerful poem this...

regards,
Sudhir

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee,
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;

- John Donne

brian madden
Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 4374
ireland
5 posted 2000-06-27 01:23 PM


Serenity, thank you for your reply. It was on the news last week that 58 Chinese people were found dead in the cooling container of a lorry after being smuggled into to England. They died of lack of oxygen and heat.
Refugees are a "problem"  hat Ireland is now facing. They are not exactly made welcome here. It is ironic that we were once refugees ourselves in the past. I did not set out write a poem about them, it was just about general alienation but the poem became specific as it progressed. Thanks for your wonderful response.

Jan, it is a change for me. Which is good.
I don't know the conditions the refugees that are coming to Ireland are fleeing, I guess the last bit made me think of Kosovo and the news footage. I never set out to write issue poems, it is more where my mind takes me. Thank you for your wonderful reply.

Cerenity, thank you for wonderful reply.

Sudhir, dignity..I guess I have enough to do me  . Thank you for your wonderful reply.



"but for the lovers, their arms Round the griefs of the ages, Who pay no praise or wages Nor heed my craft or art"
Dylan Thomas.

Trew
Member
since 2000-06-10
Posts 365
Ottawa, Canada
6 posted 2000-06-27 01:32 PM


Brian, this is great!  I like the free flowing style behind it. Full of dark images and emotion.  A very strong poem.
Marina
Member Elite
since 2000-02-10
Posts 2245
Pickering, Ontario
7 posted 2000-06-27 02:03 PM


WOW!  Very powerful indeed Brian.  Very well penned.

Marina




It is blessing to have wings for your words, and passion to flow from pen.

Marina Crossley


Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
8 posted 2000-06-27 02:08 PM


Such strong emotion-filled writing, Brian...very well done.  Written with passion--I like that!
brian madden
Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 4374
ireland
9 posted 2000-06-30 01:12 PM


Trew, thanks for your wonderful reply.

Marina, thank you very much for your lovely words and for reading.

Martie, I can't help but be passionate. I think we all have a passion here for life and poetry. thanks for your wonderful response.




"monuments put from pen to paper turns me into a gutless wonder" Manic street preachers

OLIAS
Senior Member
since 2000-06-20
Posts 1090
Pearl city Iowa
10 posted 2000-06-30 07:46 PM


Sorry I missed this B.M. But my reaction to the imigrants death was anger, it just brought up images of belsan and treblinka, "Arbeit macht Frie" and somewhere deep below it all thats all thats being offered work,  to make something of yourself in a democracy,
I feel the depth of this poem and have experienced the same narrow minded atitudes here, thanks for sharing my friend, I think that this piece is morwe important than you know and you have my vote.

Olias

Paula Finn
Member Ascendant
since 2000-06-17
Posts 5546
missouri
11 posted 2000-07-01 11:04 AM


Brian...its wonderful to see how the worlds happenings can touch and direct how we write...to know that sacrifices made can be so powerful that we have to write...and you said it so powerfully
Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774
Ontario, Canada
12 posted 2000-07-01 11:09 AM


So powerful and moving Brian ... a difficult topic and yet you've tackled it eloquently in this verse. Very well done indeed!

Best wishes,
/Kit

Meadowmuse
Member Elite
since 1999-12-27
Posts 3263

13 posted 2000-07-01 11:15 AM


"I once slept in the rumble while missiles lit the sky."

It is in the consequences of our lives that we find inspiration...your outlook here is striking, Brian.

~ Claire


Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?......Henry David Thoreau


brian madden
Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 4374
ireland
14 posted 2000-07-01 05:18 PM


OLIAS, I agree that there are similarities with the concentration camps, "freedom through work". It is amazing what many people take for granted others are forced to go to great lengths to get. I agree that I understand little of the situation, don't know what it feels like and after this pang of conscience I can get on with my life. Thank you for your wonderful response, your words mean a lot to me.  

Paula, some tragedies can not be forgotten easily. they are usually the ones that should never have happened. Thank you for your lovely reply.

Kit, thank you for your reply.  

Claire, I totally agree, "consequences of our lives that we find inspiration" though seeing something like that on the tv there is a certain detachment. You mourn then we file it and shelf the information. It is however sometime that effects us all. Thank you for your wonderful reply.

Thank you to everyone who replied, your words and comments mean alot to me.



A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Lone Wolf
Member Ascendant
since 2000-03-16
Posts 5842
Lansing, MI USA
15 posted 2000-07-01 11:30 PM


Brian,

Powerful emotional piece.  You have tackled the subject very well.  Thank you for sharing it.

LW


Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.
--William Wordsworth

Kellsue
Member
since 2000-05-06
Posts 210
Waukesha, WI USA
16 posted 2000-07-02 12:59 PM


Wow...so powerful...so wonderfully done!

~Kelly


~Kellsue

Reflect upon your present blessings-of which every man has many-not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. ~Charles Dickens

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill


kaile
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Ascendant
since 2000-02-06
Posts 5146
singapore
17 posted 2000-07-02 09:00 PM


Brian, i dont know how on earth i could have missed this gem...Lucky me for coming across this by chance and Lucky lucky me for clicking upon it!!!

such powerful stuff penned from the soul...i feel that social issues poems are hard to write for they must depict accurately the mindset of the victims involved but you have done it with such CLASS!!

lovely piece of work

Post A Reply Post New Topic ⇧ top of page ⇧ Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.
navwin » Archives » Open Poetry #8 » Wandering.

Passions in Poetry | pipTalk Home Page | Main Poetry Forums | 100 Best Poems

How to Join | Member's Area / Help | Private Library | Search | Contact Us | Login
Discussion | Tech Talk | Archives | Sanctuary