In political metaphors where shadows
hold the sins of time and space in
silence coiled in flight, I gather oxidized
linen with which to wrap my weary mind.
A splintered tongue consisting of sounds
like clanging metal echoes in a box of
paradoxes, it is nothing more than a
metallic clangor of a new and useless
form of language looking for adulation. A
screaming voice, echoing behind hollow
doors is painted with inane tweets and
banal thoughts. A crumbling nation
feeling the pangs of desperation sinks
into the debris of Bacchanals’ wine that
has turned to vinegar, leaving me with
little breath with which to inhale the
crumbling minutes granted to me by the
leering clown swimming in the
murkiness of lost aspirations.
James G Piatt
James, a retired professor and octogenarian, is a pushcart and best of web nominee. He has published 3 collections of poetry, “The Silent Pond” (2012), “Ancient Rhythms,” (2014), and “LIGHT,” (2016), and over 1,000 poems, in such magazines as Global Poetry, Westward Quarterly, Miller’s Pond, Poetic Diversity, American Aesthetic, Penwood, Gold Dust Poetry, Scarlet Leaf, The Linnet’s Wings and over 120 others. His fourth collection of poetry will be released this year. He earned his BS and MA from California State Polytechnic University, and his doctorate from BYU.