Threnody | France |Axisoflogic.com

    (in the aftermath of the Paris attacks
     aka another round of the Global War Of Terror,
     see: USA, Turtle Island, First Nations, Syria, Iraq, Yemen,
     Pakistan, Palestine, Ukraine, ad nauseam)

Because what they call passion actually is not some emotional energy,
but just the friction between their souls and the outside world. ...
Let them be helpless like children, because weakness is a great thing,
and strength is nothing.
                                       - from Andrei Tarkovsky’s epic film Stalker

    1
on quiet nights, if you listen carefully
you might hear the white noise of the universe,
not unlike the way a refrigerator sounds
’round midnight with the electric lights gone dark

and it feels like all that’s left in the world
is just you and the crackling air

a deep continuous humming sound
sung, perhaps, by angels,
(like crickets) rubbing their wings together,
or by angels and mothers weeping
for all the lost children

    2
they tested fear in a laboratory,
made a rat tremble then patented that tremble then
magnified it into explosives and propaganda

and after the fear factory has pumped another dosage
of fear into this bloodied but not bowed world,
pumped another dosage into no longer Gay Paree,
may the People take this helplessness and turn it
not into another ruthless revenge perpetuating
yet another round of trembling, perpetuating
yet another round of ammunition
that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq
were supposed to quench, perpetuating
yet another bad hair-trigger day where even toddlers
finger guns in a blunderbuss sanctioned world...
but turn it into fingers trembling with the fear
of softly touching another human’s face
yet touching that face anyway,
the feel of skin on skin a reminder
of where we begin,
remember how hands greeted you into this world?

turn it into mighty weakness,
turn it into humble strength,
turn it into not more fears but ears that listen to the weepings
of souls jettisoned into a night sky still faintly crackling
with the noise of stars
those shimmering light-beings
still rubbing shoulders with the gods
though science proclaimed them dead
light years ago

NOTES
- The word “threnody” is probably from a root meaning: "to drone, murmur, hum”

- “People are getting shot by toddlers on a weekly basis this year”

Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet on Axis of Logic. In addition to his work as a writer, he is a small press publisher and Turtle Islander. His recent book is “Drive-thru Theofascism & The Hero's Journey” and the newest is “Dear_______, poem-letters to friends and enemies.” You can contact him via his literary website.  

READ MORE POETRY AND ESSAYS BY MANKH ON AXIS OF LOGIC

© Copyright 2015 by AxisofLogic.com

This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you!