LAST WORD

I think that each of us has a set of archetypes that we mine repeatedly to explain the world around us.
Here is another poem involving Yuri Gagarin and for once it has a title.

Last Word

A terrible loneliness

was how Yuri described

being the first human in space,

up where no one can hear you...

what?

Scream, shout,

or gasp

because you are unable to take in the panoply?

Space is noisy though,

it crackles with hard radiations

and murmurs the echo of the Big Bang.

Wired up wrong, cloth eared,

we just don't pick any of it up

too used to sonic waves in fat atmosphere.

But I don't want to go to space any more,

as I did when I was young.

even as it falls to pieces around me,

I like this place too much,

to ride a controlled explosion

far beyond all that is familiar.

Yuri said that from up there

the world looked so beautiful,

and pleaded we should preserve that beauty.

Down here you can't hear the planet scream,

so we go on killing it.

One day it will speak in a language we all understand.

I do worry that in the developed world we are ignoring climate change at our peril. How many instances of freak weather do we need before we wake up?
On a lighter note Paul Mortimer set the pair of us a task the other day to write a poem using two randomly chosen prompt cards.
Mine read ripped upholstery and a supermodel holding a cat. This is what I wrote.

Artful Entropy

Even the ripped upholstery is displayed with taste.

Tres shabby chic.

Take in the blond waterfall of perfect hair.

She sprawls at ease,

mirrors the cat on her lap.

The fashion edition photo shoot.

The first Saturday of the next month,

sperated as we are by the Pennines,

we will both glance at the magazine's cover,

then you will read the letters page,

while I file away the gardening tips

for a time when they might prove useful.

No idea where it came from. We set ourselves ten minutes for the task. Sometimes a very tight deadline can inspire in unexpected ways.
I leave you with Nature's Way by Spirit.

Thanks Randy, we miss you.
Until next time.