Posts Tagged ‘extinction’

The Edge

 
The Edge

standing at the edge
feeling far below
the great tides
the ebb and flow
the rise and fall
the come and go of centuries
wave by wave
day by day
might incarnate
the power of indifference
the surge of perfect apathy
and I
as insignificant as the grain of sand
bounced and tumbled
dragged helpless in the undertow
and that crest of froth
rises up in beckon
the silk of azure [...]

Silence - two reflections

These two poetic reflections are unrelated, beyond their focus on silence. The first reflection here considers what it is to fall into the deepening silence of old age. The second reflection looks at the silence that causes, and also results from repression…

 
1ST REFLECTION
Endings

shrouded by evening in waning october
as autumn tumbles towards winter
is [...]

Aeropachydermicide

Aeropachydermicide – recklessly causing the death of someone or something by actions that result from the foolish belief that one is so smart and powerful that one can make an elephant fly.

 
Aeropachydermicide

somewhere between our petrochemical insanity
and our reckless dance with fractured atoms
we believed we were the miracle
and it all went seriously awry
we fantasized we had [...]

Boldy Go

 
Boldly Go

the great wheel of time
turns ever slow and steadily
its ponderous mass unstoppable
it presses onward mightily
climbs the mortal mountain
bearing the weight of history
of ages and civilizations
borne then razed by its immensity
our lifetimes ride this wheel
how far is but a mystery
locked in fate ’round we go
rolling bold toward hidden destiny
frail temporal beings
of a most amazing bravery
we [...]

Unfazed

This poem was sparked by the incredible power of our earth, as exhibited most recently by the devastating tornadoes that swept through the American Southeast, and with deep reverence and sympathy for those who suffered as a result. I admire greatly your courage and will to live.
…written for Day #29, NaPoMo 2011…

 
Unfazed

we live
by its [...]

Final Sentinel

…this piece is in response to the 20th prompt of 2010 on Writer’s Island,
prompt #232 at Sunday Scribblings,
and prompt #133 at One Single Impression…

Final Sentinel


I watched
as generations
moved forward
as civilization
painstakingly
progressed
set foothold
knowledge
unfolded
slowly
I observed
the millenniums
of human endeavor
as they awakened
to self-reliance
less dependent
on hive mentality
mastering machines
eliminating conflict
striving for truth
ever evolving
I saw
nature
the world
reshaped
tempered
resilient
proud
I stand tall
thrust skyward
closer to heaven
than any living thing
a [...]

You & Me

…I offer this piece in response to prompt #69 at Carry On Tuesday,
and prompt #18 at We Write Poems,
also the September 6th prompt at Big Tent Poetry,
and the September 8th prompt at Three Word Wednesday…

You &Me
(a poetic quadratych)

The Secret
what I said was
don’t touch
go away
leave me be
while inside
I cried out
draw near
stay with me
you are light
you are [...]

Machine Mind

This post is offered in response to prompt #14 at We Write Poems,
the August 9th prompt at Big Tent Poetry,
the August 11th prompt at Three Word Wednesday,
and prompt #65 at Carry On Tuesday.

“…scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could,
they didn’t stop to think if they should…”
Dr. Ian Malcolm

Machine Mind

you wink awake at [...]

Extinction’s Shadow

…these are rewrites of prior drafts, edited fresh for the June 21st prompt at Big Tent Poetry
and strongly influenced by prompt #7 at We Write Poems…

Extinction’s Shadow

smothered by big oil
our blue planet is dying
greed’s shadow falls hard

future is mortgaged
to petrochemical lust
fatal addiction

mankind is drowning
in a flood of fossil fuel
black tide of folly
• • •
rob kistner [...]

That Hollywood Sparkle

…I wrote this in response to the June 14th prompt at Big Tent Poetry…

 
That Hollywood Sparkle

it’s not so much we resent the hungry
no more than do we despise the poor
rather we avoid and dismiss them
with the dull cough of apathy
we find them disturbing and dangerous
they disquiet our comfort
we do not flow with the milk of [...]

The Key

• In response to the 3rd prompt on the newly re-opened Writer’s Island, I offer a gothic tale…
• I also offer this in response to prompt #116 at One Single Impression…

The Key


I must move quickly from this light
that pools incrementally
in this long
pungent
segmented hallway
there is some safety in the shadows
that linger tight
to the arch walls
so I [...]

Hands of Neptune

…response to prompt #12 from Magpie Tales…
____________________________________

 
Hands of Neptune

like the disembodied
hands of Neptune
reaching from a rocky confine
breaking surface
into the watery realm
seeking
grasping
needing
but entombed
in a glassened globe
a crystal cage
cruelly shut away
from that which is most desired
contact
connection
prisoner
in brutal isolation
banished
even from the lesser gods
condemned eternally
to never know
the redemption of touch
• • •

rob kistner © 2010

NaPoWriMo #27

This is my twenty-seventh post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one acrostic
• one tanka

____________________________________
• inspired by Carolee Sherwood ’s day 27 prompt at read write poem to write an acrostic
____________________________________

 
Evolution

Even in chaos nature finds balance.
Violent floods beget fertile fields.
One thing ends, another begins.
Life is a cycle of birth and death.
Untamed wildfire creates forest [...]

NaPoWriMo #24 - In Vain / Daddy’s Girl

This is my twenty-fourth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one free verse poem
• one tanka

____________________________________
• This poem that follows is inspired by Marie Gauthier’s NaPoWriMo day 23 prompt at readwritepoem to find and use a colloquial phrase — and by the current frustration I am feeling trying to deliver on my promise of at [...]

NaPoWriMo #22 - The Gaia Suite

This is my Twenty-second post for National Poetry Month 2010
• an Earth Day message
• two tankas
• one prayer

____________________________________
• • Happy Earth Day • •
____________________________________

• Go and visit the Earth Day Action Center 2010, and please — be aware!

An Earth Day message:
These are some thoughts I would like to share on this Earth Day 2010. [...]