poem 254 of a poem a day for 2012

my arrested kingdom of purgatory

the child-like savagery

in my eyes masks

the iron bars that

are on the Sun

outside the window

it is said that cancer

reaches every cellular birth

and that the Earth

is only a waded cesspool now

with too many flags

and too many lies that

fences are built upon

Love tries

to champion

something

beyond definition

but has failed

when it has come

looking for me

so I sit here

and soak in

every imagined beauty

that has me paused

in the tremble wait

of not quite

good enough for life

but not quite

bad enough for quick death

so I slog

I mud roll

and cling to

the bellies of things

write my poems

as if I were throwing stones

in every direction I can

in order to count

the ripples of cause and effect

to get my kicks now

failure builds great towers

in these modern times

in this world that moves

too fast for me to catch up

so I’ve become the fox

with a dictionary

chasing the sour grapes

not willing to climb a tree

to see something

beyond reason

and I go on

ever searching

for more comfort

to fill a dark

while I slowly

leak a faith

that knows

the sky will

fall down 

someday, full

of ripe crowns

with one that

even fits me

EJR ©