Limes with Orange

I've already posted four of the five poems that I'm considering for the open mike night:

"Echoes" (in Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition)
"Ground War" (in I'm baaack)
"When your body betrays you" (in Open Mike Night)
"Hunger" (in More Open Mike Poetry)

So here's the fifth:

Prophecy

A dark mind,
a beautiful mind,
the stuff of nightmares,
my breath of life.

Where is the cosmic battle?
Good versus evil,
the apocalyptic themes that make my heart soar with meaning.
My prophecy,
my destiny.

Such dreams I have,
blood, breath and death pulsing…
orange sky over a dead planet;
smoke and steam and clouds of dust;
fires sear and rage, purifying;
furious winds twist and swirl;
and blood rains down as the world ends
filling me with the power to lead the way
into this strange new day.

I think I envy Nash…
his beautiful mind,
his fantasies so full of worth.

If I need to be crazy to make it real,
I would gladly lose my mind.

My waking life seems the dream,
numb and meaningless,
blank walls, white space,
empty, airless, nothing.

I am not of this world.
My heart beats strangely here,
my blood runs sluggish through my veins,
and my soul finds no purchase.
I will suffocate if I stay.

For I must dance in chaos to gain strength,
face mortal fear to find hope,
feel pain to know I'm alive.

The burden or the gift…

But I need the wild horses,
the tribal drum,
the beating, black, breath-stealing wing.
As others need air and water.

So here I stand,
arms wide to embrace the coming darkness.

And here I wait
to begin my life…
your nightmare…
my dream.

cm
june 17, 2002

Labels: poetry