Saturday, December 1, 2018

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



3 comments :

  1. wonderful as always awesome poetry.. You never disappoint me

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  2. Great piece! My favorite was The Ellergy for the Living. Loved these, and I'll forever enjoy your poetry!
    Keep penning! ��

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