KENNETH NORMAN COOK

KENNETH

NORMAN COOK

AN ELEGY FOR THE LIVING

He looks up into the dark night

and watches the stars blink out

as the moon begins to weep -

an icy wind wrapping around him,

numbing his trembling fingers

and turning his skin to leather.

(“Where have you gone

my beautiful lady?

Did you set sail for some

undiscovered exotic land?

Did a handsome young man

steal your innocent heart with

a charming, disarming smile?

Did you hear some secret song

riding across a warm breeze

that quickened your blood,

sending you floating into the sky

where songbirds serenade

and the clouds laugh and roll?”)

He turns away from the autumn wind -

his eyes filled with darkness

and his throat stuffed with loss

as the blackness begins to drip,

shrouding his head in sorrow

and driving a burning thorn

deep into his aging heart.

KENNETH NORMAN COOK

NO, DO NOT

No, do not look at me with

those red weeping eyes

and that wet trembling lip,

for my feet will stick to this

spot like heavy iron spikes

driven deeply into the cement.

No, do not speak a single word

into my fire-filled throbbing

ears, for my face will be

paralyzed like the ancient

statue staring patiently at

nothing through the long ages.

No, do not reach for my hand

with those pale shaky fingers,

for I will surely drop to my

quivering watery knees like the

wounded deer bleeding alone

on the cold dark forest bed.

KENNETH NORMAN COOK

YOU CANNOT TOUCH ME NOW

You cannot touch me now.

You reach out

with razor-claws

and hiss at me

through blood-stained fangs

but I'm just outside your grasp

like a forgotten dream.

You cannot see me now.

You peer and gaze,

squinting your goat-eyes

of liver-disease yellow

but I'm safe inside

my darkness,

out of sight and alone.

You cannot hear me now.

You hold your breath

and quietly cock

your hairy, waxy ear

but I'm like a rumor,

for you sense me

but I'm a whisper

lost in the winter wind.

You cannot reach me now.

You jump and you grasp

but you might as well

reach for the farthest star,

for I'm gone... I'm safe...

and you cannot touch me now.

KENNETH NORMAN COOK