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Much Better Places

Much better places

It hides from the moon light
beneath the brush and thistle
of a desolate landscape of patchwork failures,
appearing one more time seething,
slicing open old wounds once healed,
blood thirsty appetites favored

Slick but imaginatively unkempt,
disguised as someone you want to know,
lurking in the reaching shadows,
leaving muddied tracks, padded prints 
circling, seeking the weak, the fearful,
licking deceitful lips 
 
Sensing the silence was just a warning
along a snake infested footpath
cut from branches of disturbed growth,
channeling stares on outcast visions
I now hear the howls, the cadence
shrieking through the peaceful night

Knowing they will never leave,
these figures in the dark looking for a spotlight,
searching for fame amidst the famine
from an unsuspecting congregation
willing to tithe for just a glance,
even if it is from evil eyes

I pass through hesitantly, 
finding the humor in the faux demise, 
risen from sarcastic ink blots,
laced with retractions and penciled in ploys,
erased, rewritten, erased, rewritten,
carved in unforgiving bark

Now ignored or so it seems,
not sure if that is a good thing
or someone’s idea of a joke,
counting numbers with nothing to say
unless posted accomplishments
require a blue ribbon trophy

And I can’t help but laugh 
at the sad state I find, or at myself
for expecting a change in scenery,
when I see the sunrise in the distance,
a cheerful glowing reminder that 
there are much better places to be

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Darren White

Date: 2/14/2017 11:46:00 PM

This a nightmare in itself, and it's scenery is the sort of thing I'd like to avoid. But to write it is something completely different. Wow, this has so many layers, Chris, it's SO well written. "Fame among the famine" is a little gem. I am not sure if I understand the poem in int's entirety, so I won't say anything about that (although I have ideas), but I LIKE, oh yes I do.

Chris Green
Date: 2/15/2017 8:59:00 AM

Thanks Darren for being the only one brave enough to comment on this angry poem. And there you can see some of the meaning behind the words. It is very disheartening here lately, the site seems be failing miserably. Thanks to you and a few other friends I can still hang on but the thread is getting very thin. Thank you so much for always reading and commenting on my poetry.