Strangeness
the grotesque
the starkness
the edginess~
miraculous stories
all courtesy of
appearing separation~~
Two beginners here
Speaking softly
Relationship to steer
Both thinking loftily
Never lack of boundaries so *****
Denial of the highest sort
Never excepting emotions
Each barrier a impenetrable fort
Yet still going through the motions
Only success comes through the truth of court
The answer does not take a sleuth
They like each other you see
Open questions are uncouth
Answering to no fee
Oh the strangeness of youth
I sat on a chair completely nervous
to know where I would do my youth service.
Then came the rudest shock of my whole life,
I'd have to go up north where strifes were rife.
I didn't even try to change the posting,
I was downcast as many were boasting,
that they'd have a pleasant year of favour.
Me, it'd be a year of wasted labour.
At the camp, I hated all that I saw,
Even my strangeness was greeted with awe.
House flies may probably be their best friends,
because they surround their foods in their tens.
The harsher weather was too much for me,
Even, with dressing one can't be carefree.
Everywhere I went there, there was tension.
Trouble seemed to come by its mere mention.
I resigned to fate till one fateful day,
When my surname sake came to where I stay,
to ask if perchance we're from the same place.
And t'was a family tree we could trace.
She then introduced me to her father,
who knew my father without much bother.
So, in a strange land where all hopes were lost.
I met my lost cousin without a cost.
They've taken it away,
those officers.
There on the green it had remained
for several days,
giving off a strangeness of sorts,
strangeness, of course.
Yes, this kind of thing
happens from time to time.
The officers who have been here
will be here again. Oh, sure!
Yes, it will have to be removed,
taken away, put away in a place,
after several days.
We talk of it at times,
and to it,
of course.
Before those officers take it away.
(Written July 2022, posted 2 June 2023)
Poet is somewhat suicidal
spills and cuts the soul
in each bitter verse he writes
This strangeness can seem
so insidious and violating
Glaring at a stricken life
while assuaging
a broken lense and its tense beam
Streams peter and crawl
silently
beside intended tears
Friends till the last embrace
when the bough broke
Learning endures my trust
Each baleful of insight
ignites a trail
where something burns,
and another arises
But this summer does in deference to its blaze
require some rest,
its master, another day
Let me be open to be startled
to let the unexpected in,
to be surprised, astonished, shocked,
wide open to action happening in peripheral view.
Let me be open to strangeness
by looking for difference and oddity
with laser cutter eyes
slicing away the clutter
of mundane sameness.
Let me be startled by strangeness,
glad to be jostled and jangled,
disturbed and wrangled
to action and reaction,
by being receptive
and willingly open.
Been here for four years now
Battle hardened, battle worn, battle foul
Killed so many strangers classed as enemies as they fell
The fight is finally over
1945 sees new hope for all
This strange tour of Europe where I found another me!
Never thought I’d last through it all, never thought I’d sail home across the sea?
Now waiting for final despatch
The journey home
So many people who can’t go home!
I’m more nervous about this last step
To return home and face those faces
Those who loved and cared
Those who cried and prayed
Why the hell am I so scared?
I’d attacked the enemy with surprise
I’d fought hand to hand and seen their eyes
I’d laid them down to show respect
Now I can’t stand this one last trek?
This little strangeness, this little fear
I’ve been in hell without a single tear?
But the tears are flowing now with every passing mile
The thought of them so happy - to see their smiles
This little strangeness, this peculiar fear.
Why so happy but so many tears?
This little strangeness, this heart can beat
This little strangeness inside of me.
In the dining room
I see strange people
At my table
Always
Even if my cat is awake
My wife serves crab soup
my daughter does home work
my neighbor reads Ramayana
Sky is serene
no smoke not a ghost
no prehistoric emotions
Or paranormal scenes
At least there should not be
Any bad dreams
I am foolish they say
I must go to a psychiatrist
But I am scared of strangeness
the nowhere people bring
At my dinning table
Indolent yet, constant, the feeling persists of no feeling
How do I do what I had no idea I would be doing?
Dreams are now nothing but wishful thinking
More like a thirst of unquenched drinking
Going through the motions unsure now of things I
had felt certain about, in my mind and almost in my heart
Its a different place, shadows emphasized by brightness
Strange familiarity of how life usually is, its contrariness
This is the constant, that I am not used to, this is strageness
You call me weird eccentric odd too different
still I am me
colors are constant through seasons
no one can repaint this scene
the panorama of glamour
you see will forever be
so please take this here instruction
and get accustomed to me.
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