poem 306 of a poem a day for 2012

Mare Tranquillitatis

under the wane of a blue Moon

Labor Day is a passive way

for the official rituals of Summer

to end in the United States

and though I know where

I might look for the curls

of my humanity receding

bleeding through the leaves

so that my tranquility can

stay with my eyes fixed on Her

the schools have now opened

and millions of bright young minds

are being grounded with recitation

and a slot system that measures

their worth outside their dreams

while they are sold a continual cycle

of hope and decline for something new

that begins again and again in this land

touting its freedom to be who you want to be

that doesn’t seem so free as the brochures

that we call textbooks and news organs, sells it as

no freedom isn’t free anymore

nor is it good enough for me

I want salvation

I want ecstasy

I want a Goddess next to me

whether weathering weather

by the open window leans

with the feel of Her flesh

between my lips and the seams of lust

that night rips open gently at first

staining Her name against my sky

this is what I want

what I need

my inner child to be done crying

these songs of something I am not

something that fits a spot

somewhere on the stage

where aging is part of

a telomere breakdown symphony

we have woven into anthems

with fast cars, open roads

and the endless oceans

of our mouths wanting 

more than all our

purposeful hungry souls

could ever eat into

I wonder as I look out

at the low slung clouds

blanketing the memory 

of last night's shine

could She ever be just mine

to pocket and to fine

or am I just another poster child

like Uncle Sam

saying I want you

to understand

you are nothing here

without your hands

bound by these ritual chains

and behind the glass tides

that once kept beauty

still sleeping

EJR ©