“The Ancient of Days” by William Blake
if I think it
it is
if I write it
it lives
keep your coins
you may pay me in wishbones
the wealth may be yours
but the power is mine
From my book Bohemian Scents
Power
All posts tagged Power
“Deception” by Denise Sedor
too much trust in the eye
for an insincere world
all is not what it seems
in this prodigal plague
of mistaken identity
more than an unforced
unwitting illusion
reality hides inside
hoods of deception
four estates of the realm
each exhibit a rampant
political scorn with impunity
better to live in the mind
with ideas of democracy
notions of faith hope and truth
undisfigured by power
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“Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” – T. S. Eliot
“Autumn Evening” by Emil Nolde
unafraid
I walked among storms
standing bold
to the wind
until menacing thunder
asserted itself
“Delusion of Time” by Mahnaz Baikzadeh
the slow heat of whiskey
induces a counterfeit courage
be careful of dreams
made from fortified figments
delusions of power
have ruined more souls
than the devil’s own hand
“Choices We Make” by Lynne Taetzsch
term of art
social contract
default preservation
of natural rights
an enshrinement
of two-party choices
enabling a freemarket
freehand employment
it underscores truth
about systems of
capitalist economics
that freedom is risky
acknowledging
he who has earned
the most choices
possesses real power
Book Illustration by Stefano Navarrini
one flick of the lance
should unhorse your conceit
ink can overwrite
even the blackest intent
with a legible triumph
(originally posted November 2013)
“Atlantis Sinking” by Regina Valluzzi
did Atlantis dissolve
in an ocean of shame
salty crystals corroding
her decadent footings
of empire placidly
mindless of once sturdy
virtue now quaking with
woken-mind grasp of
its negligent stewardship
bringing down stout
high towering ramparts
in one fateful night
cataclysmic dark hours
of torment and terror
sun worshipping stones
pulled by punishing gravity
into a mean steaming hiss
under waters unmarked
and unnamed lost forever
her grandeur and conquest
her burnished ennobled
confederacy of wise
law-giver kings so keenly
impressive to Plato
then all but forgotten
to maritime mists from
which shadowy legend
is all to be drawn of
brave people who once
lit the pillars of Hercules
white with benevolent
beacons of world saving
hegemon shining exemplar
of once sacred liberty
(original posted January 2014)
Model of French Warship “Le Soleil Royale”
the worm in the wood
subtle seaborne invader
soft mouth who makes meal
of hard lapstrake in deadrise
of commonwealth destinies
hinders the smooth sail
of maritime conquest
pernicious bold parasite
given to stubborn defiance
unfazed by the theater of
thrones under ukase of kings
here is ample example of
seemingly powerless creatures
the homely and humble
whose instinct is honed
to create with destruction
the only skill left to its
primitive purpose
a thwarting impediment
though it be small
to the brazen advances
of unreserved arrogance
speaking resistance
to undeserved power
“The Ancient of Days” by William Blake
if I think it
it is
if I write it
it lives
keep your coins
you may pay me in wishbones
the wealth may be yours
but the power is mine
“Powerless” by Tommie Olofsson
temperamental utilities
bane of a rural existence
dead lights and well taps
phones caught uncharged
ill-suited for life off the grid
bones and being unable to
move through the dimmed
cold milieu of old age stark
reminder that powerlessness
is the province of youth
Poesy plus Polemics 