trains running on time but off the tracks | Poetry of Mankh |Axisoflogic.com

we need to convene
not fear lack of convenience,
maintain serene
not listen to the mainstream,
turn the status quotient (division)
into the ecstatic immeasurable (whole),
flip the scales that bind
like water off a fish’s back,
trains running on time
but off the tracks,
they keep saying there’s no going back
but tell that to the tree’s hundreds-of-years old roots
to this day
making new shoots

why reach for the stars
when we are already stardust,
they discovered water on Mars
but where’s the respect for the living-liquid here?
why follow a timeline
when the highway curves,
why be programmed online
when the vine curls,
lay lines and Aboriginal songlines aren’t exactly linear
but not-sees march in straight lines saluting
with straight stiff arms causing bodily harms,
seems the world’s on the verge of losing its magic charm
not-seeing the forest for the toilet paper
not-seeing the shooting stars for the flickering mall parking lot light,
not-seeing the brother or sister
for the skin-color/religion/country of birth/name brand apparel

yet another dualism added to the mix,
another of those divide-and-attempt-to-conquer tricks,
wrong and right
good and bad
vaxxed and unvaxxed
trains running on time but off the tracks,
packages on time but who’s thinking outside the box?
surgeries can make the blind see but who has a vision?
people drive like crazy even though cars with steering precision
messages delivered in a split-second
but it took all day
till those geese i prayed to
showed up and beckoned

bay water glossy as a rippling mirror
ducks gliding by never heard of a führer,
above the grey horizon a cloud horizon
rocks at the shoreline to keep your eyes on

vaxxed and unvaxxed so who dares mention herbals
but this is more than just playing with verbals
this is about the taproot

if i don’t move now
i might miss the boat
but if i stay put
i’ll still stay afloat

if i don’t jump now
people might talk smack,
i’m no conductor
but am telling you
trains running on time but off the tracks

To hear Mankh reading this poem, click here.

Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet at Axis of Logic. Check out his newest book Moving Through The Empty Gate Forest: inside looking out. In addition to his work as a writer and small press publisher, he travels a holistic mystic pathway staying in touch with Turtle Island. His website is here.

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