KENNETH NORMAN COOK

KENNETH

NORMAN COOK

LAMENTATION

Let the sky weep!

Let the clouds blacken

and burst in a deluge

of torrential tears:

Weep for the death of children

and the loss of innocence.

Cry for the ruination of trust

and the deception of friends.

Weep for the martyrdom of compassion

and the impossibility of peace.

Cry for the betrayal of hope

and the mindless futility of faith.

Weep for the darkness of the soul

and the obliteration of the heart.

Cry for the failure of humanity

and the final destruction of love.

Let the sky weep!

Let the clouds blacken

and burst in a deluge

of torrential tears:

And weep, oh you people!

Cry, wail, tear out your hair

and weep until your hearts break!

THE DOLL

The dusty antique doll sits

in silent patience atop the

mantle with eyes glazed to

a dull cataract gray, while

the shapeless gingham dress

and the once-blonde ringlets

of artificial hair droop with

seeming exhaustion from the

unspoken secret that hovers

in the stale air of this den

of black, unimaginable tragedy.

For she had a name once, as

did her tiny owner; gone too

soon, then buried away like a

family shame and placed with

solemn dignity atop the brick

perch to be spoken of no longer,

yet left to hang in the thick air

and float about until the hard

truth settled on the doll like

the dust that covers her with

a shroud of screaming silence.

I ASKED THE RIVER

I asked the river

to stop its flowing -

To put an end at last

to the maddening rush.

I shouted into the wind

to cease its blowing -

To quiet the whistling

and the angry roar.

I begged the sun

to fade into darkness -

To let the eternal night

swallow its fiery rays.

For my heart is old

and my soul is dry.

My mind is craving

a cool, black silence

that can only be granted

by an empathetic earth.

KENNETH NORMAN COOK

KENNETH NORMAN COOK is an American, born in the United States and raised in California in the 1960s. (English is his native language.) It was there in Southern California, in grade school that he began to fall in love with words, through a sixth grade English assignment to write a poem about Halloween. His entry was selected to be published in the school newsletter and that started him on a lifetime sojourn through the creative world known as poetry. After living away for many years, Kenneth is back in California, where he continues to write daily. He is a regular contributor to several magazines, including Wildfire Publications Monthly Magazine, where he is a co-contributor for a section on tips for writers. He has been featured in numerous poetry anthologies and has released a newly revised edition of his poetry collection, Shadow Walk With Me. He is also the author of a second book, This Side of Nothing, a third: a collection of haiku and senryu poetry, titled Theater of the Absurd, and a fourth: From Dark Corners and Dusty attics, which is a combination of older poems, both previously published, as well as published for the first time. Here is a writer with over one thousand poems in his writing arsenal. Be prepared for a literary roller-coaster of emotions, imagery and intense imagination, for this is the poetry of Kenneth Norman Cook.