“Empathy” by Sergio Maestrini
no such thing as
invisible illness
it’s right there
behind unfocused eyes
under fricative
sighs of speech
in detached
helpless gestures
if only you
care to notice
From my books Bohemian Scents and Legacies (vol. 1)
Suffering
All posts tagged Suffering
“Agony Doubled Over in Flames on Wood” by M. Zimmerman
look for me underneath rocks
heavy maladies crushing my bones
behind desiccate trees where I
carved my pain into the bark
listen for stiff labored breathing
amid soundless sobs of the night
when you find me
be gentle but kill me
I won’t love you
but I’d still be grateful
when a star burns its last
it curls into itself
becomes small in forever
black speck a cold cinder
unseen but at long last
now free of the fire
From my book Bohemian Scents
“Survival” by Abe Weiner
the fight keeps the pain alive
hurting and living synonymous
suffering gives proof of life
wars of body and spirit waged
balls-to-the-wall without mercy
determined unwavering fearless
clenched fists steel-set jaw
gnashing teeth fury red in the eyes
ruthless weapons of weaponless
combat the courage entailing the
fight is what gives life its worth
at least that’s what I’ve come to
discover about my own truth
From my book Ephemera
“Imperfection” by Jen Evenhus
what sins have been mine
I’ve done no more and no less
than to be human
wasn’t that the grand design
manifest imperfection
“Sideways” by Carol Redsprecher
tantrums of time
take their toll
harsh bereavements
of shuddering pain
lay their bindings
to tissue and stone
truss immobilized
muscle and bone
within cellular agonies
agents of aging
alone never make
complete conquest
but allied with anger
annihilate health
creating coincident
torture and torment
for merely the unholy
hell of it all
(originally posted October 2013)
“The Wounded Man” by Kurt Wollheim
flaming spears
from the heels
to the sacrum
pierce hamstrings
and buttocks
subject them to
ischial tortures
that cripple a body
and punish a mind
a bilateral agony
twisting sharp
outbreaths of pain
into desperate
pleas for relief
for that final release
of a blessedly
permanent peace
“Kneeling Man” by Julian Voss-Andreae
falling from hope
onto knees of despair
so much pain
from abated belief
from failed faith
in the power of prayer
a convergence of
miseries ravages
body and soul
piquant reverence
of youth become
bitter with age
and resentment
resigned to this
supplicant posture
of bone upon stone
bent in sin of misgiving
no promises offered
a simple agnostic appeal
to that ghost of a god
for empathic release
sweet relief of release
“Out of Agony Comes Beauty” by Carla Saunders
chain reactional
morbid explosions
genetically flawed
broken helical strands
carry cruel obscene
mutated seeds
predisposing a vile
self-destructive
dividing devouring
triggered by terrible
infinitesimal clocks
black and bleak
with grim biochem
sprockets and springs
body turns on itself
time and treatment
its weapons that
painfully hammer
a life to its knees
crush the spirit
maul dignity
sharp tragic irony
casting the specter
of death
in new light
of the hero
to bring sweet relief
and in the relief rises
beauty unblemished
regained of humanity
healthy and whole
and forever
remembered
“Dumb Pain” by Alexei Jawlensky
the time before pain
when fingers of birds
groped the poisonous skies
when fish walked on legs
from the fiery seas
I was man with a roar
in his thunderclap chest
a leviathan skeleton
smashing down mountains
in powerful moments
exquisite of truth
the time before pain
when the brain was
uncivilized stone
bleached by victories
tearing uprooting
huge primeval trees
used as clubs to beat
earthquakes on
cooled molten ground
sending signals creation
had proved quite sublime
the time before pain
oh so brutal and lovely
removed now by eons
too far to revivify
leaving me modern
but broken by hands
with seductive new
powers of mayhem
elite among healers
and murderers deaf to
my screams in the night
(originally posted January 2014)
“Pain” Japanese Watercolor – Artist Unknown
can I kill it
deprive it
of power
by stealing
its name
a dead center
corruption
by altering
letters
a homely
deception
intent on
denying its
infamous rule
over jargon
of morbid
pathology
pray tell
what choice
do I have
but to try
given all else
resulting in
chronic cascade
of unbearable
failures
Poesy plus Polemics 