Hours
3:00 a.m. stews me in its terrors
of sightless moon and breathing shadows.
In this hull of bones I pick my skull
trying to mine enough halcyon
to fairytale my eyelids into soundless sleep.
Hours hang from the ceiling fan in a dust mobile
teasing lullabies with sand.
Thanatos puts his ear to my chest.
&
“Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum”
December’s moon sings a lullaby
to the childless, but anger roots in
tongues nursing words of resistance.
Autocracy spins the coffers will go dry
if patriots don’t produce a cradle roll
large enough to sustain the wealthy.
Love will not hive a womb with worker bees.
No rages against the icy call of twisted procreation.©Susie Clevenger 2017
Friday 55 ~ Holiday Edition
"In this hull of bones I pick my skull.." good grief what a line--and I feel all the hollow anger and emptiness it echoes which this year, a culmination it seems of many downward spirals into an unspeakable maelstrom, has brought us. Your second is a superlative exercise in irony and bitter realization; (inspired I am thinking by the words of Republicans for women to have more babies to fuel the capitalist machine)that all the minor demons of Hell have come to their moment of glory, and rule us, or at least, so they think. Like you, I hope we see a new twist on all this darkness in 2018. Thanks so much for playing, Susie--two exceptional 55's.
ReplyDeleteThank you... I'm hoping there will be more light in 2018, but Orange Oz is busy with his minions tearing apart all things good for our country. You are correct about the inspiration for the second piece. Paul Ryan's words are so straight out of Handmaid's Tale.
DeleteOkay look, you! ;-) I love this blog but it keeps slipping under my radar. Fortunately, Hedge told me how cool your 55's were and I scooted right over here. Now I have email subscribed to this blog so you can't slip nuthin' past me anymore, girl. I enjoy your writing too much to keep missing it.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much and for subscribing to it. I hope to not disappoint. This is definitely a place where I can stretch my ink as far as I desire.
DeleteAs I rarely sleep the night through I find it to be much friendlier and more intimate in my skull than most folks.
ReplyDeleteIt is the 2nd piece I found to be the most compelling, especially after I looked up the phrase, (sorry A Handmaids Tale never made it onto my radar).
Ryan's telling women to have more babies to fuel the need certainly reminded me of another time in history when the same call went out. It does fit the new American agenda though doesn't it?
What is most striking to me about the technicality of these two pieces is the masterful way you use words, succinctly & Directly. One of the reasons I love 55's they are like a constraint until you blow the lid off one (in You case 2).
You kicked some wonderful ass that needed (and still needs) kicking.
Thank you so much...
Delete"Hours" reads so chilling, as if you smeared every word with the sense of eerie exhaustion that shrouds a mind after it has gone hours and hours without sleep--both beautiful and terrifying, certainly sublime.
ReplyDeleteDear goodness, Susie, “Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum” left me snarling in agreement. I want to read an entire novel on the topic. Better yet, I would love to watch the faces (and actions) of certain people as they read said novel.
Thank you... I normally function on insomnia, but lately it has been excessively tiring. If you haven't read Handmaid's Tale, you should. It gives plenty to snarl about. :)
ReplyDelete