Flatlining

People ask how this yearlong will come
to pass, of which parts are the triumphs
and stench of learning... of why blossoms
drop on cobblestones ravaged
by a wildfire tearing velvet buds,
flatlining: the male stamen and female pistil
barren from incessant drought. 

And why of all things, must god-children
endure anxieties trapped in houses
yearning to grasp a firefly on the lane,
to hug grandparents, not from a distance
but...but in the flesh of every day--
Add into this equation an insatiable need
for human connection where friends, kin gather
like a warm herd exchanging intimacies
skin to skin, mouth on mouth, arm in arm---

This is limbo within the inferno of the living,
while Pilates from urban jungles rinse their hands
absolving themselves from mortal sins...
an epoch of how time's pleasure or pus could pass.
 


Craig Cornish's 2020 Contest
5/23/2020
Copyright © | Year Posted 2020


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Date: 6/2/2020 1:35:00 PM
Wonderful write Nette. well, considering the subject matter, congrats on a top win, well deserved!
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Date: 5/28/2020 11:44:00 AM
You describe what happens in urban jungles so aptly Nette, your poem is superb - congratulations on your win my friend. Blessings, Jenny.
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Date: 5/25/2020 8:38:00 PM
Wow! Congrats! Ang galing! God bless you. (Thanks for my placement in your recently-judged contest).
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Date: 5/25/2020 5:04:00 PM
Congratulations on your win. Sure hope 2020 will end on a high note. Enjoy your win and day.................
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Date: 5/25/2020 2:24:00 PM
This is a powerful message with real imagery in times like these Nette! Congratulations on your top placement! :)
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Date: 5/25/2020 11:39:00 AM
Nette, congratulations on your awesome win in Brian's contest with this outstanding write _Constance
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Date: 5/25/2020 10:13:00 AM
Nette, you certainly deserve your first-place win! The "Pilates" metaphor is especially memorable. Janice
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Date: 5/23/2020 2:27:00 PM
It is indeed on opportune time for civilisation to pause and reflect upon where it is today and where it wants to be. Perhaps the coming USA elections will make the difference? Aloha! Rico
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Date: 5/22/2020 9:45:00 PM
You can say this sixty thousand more times "This is limbo within the inferno of the living," - EXACTLY write!
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Date: 5/22/2020 8:02:00 PM
Oh WOW, you have described these times with such vivid, powerful imagery and emotion, Nette! I don't know what is worse the disease or the fear...could be the loneliness of it all. I do hope you are staying well...xx Rhonda
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Date: 5/22/2020 5:19:00 PM
Purgatory on limbo of the living, powerful verse Nette. Hope you're well. Good luck in the contest. Tom
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