By Mark Kerstetter http://markerstetter.blogspot.com
When not stricken dumb
The tongue turns to teleology
In a churning tide not of waves
But faces, each a cipher
Of any number of pet apocalypses
And so I invoke the Great Mother
Who cares not for end time rhetoric
For whom poems are but sighs
On a chill wind from cracked
And quivering lips
She will call her children home
And scatter at whim
Blankets and robotics her mulch
Be they sardine dolphin or human baby
She doesn’t give a Great Tsunami Fuck
When her skies smile down again
On the nuclear stuff inside
Will there be time to sacrifice a virgin
Or a Sony to turn
on a tumbling shore?
"Radiation leaked from a crippled nuclear plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan after a third reactor was rocked by an explosion Tuesday and a fourth caught fire in a dramatic escalation of the 4-day-old catastrophe. The government warned anyone nearby to stay indoors to avoid exposure."
—ERIC TALMADGE and SHINO YUASA, Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake
"The millions of sardines that were found floating dead in a Southern California marina this week tested positive for a powerful neurotoxin, researchers said Friday. "
—Associated Press, 03/12/11 02:17 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/redondo-beach-dead-fish-t_0_n_834958.html
"In the Gulf, record numbers of dead baby dolphins are washing onto the shores of Mississippi and Alabama, creating frightening spectacles for families and their kids prowling the beaches. Tourists are bewildered by scientists slicing tissue samples from the lifeless baby mammals."
—Rocky Kistner, Media associate, NRDC, March 2, 2011 10:12 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rocky-kistner/as-dolphins-die-gulf-rest_b_830200.html
"A tide of bodies washed up along Japan's coastline Monday, overwhelming crematoriums, exhausting supplies of body bags and adding to the spiraling humanitarian, economic and nuclear crisis after the massive earthquake and tsunami."
—The Associated Press, 12:30 PM, Mar. 14, 2011
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110314/WDH0101/303140075/1207&located=rss
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7 comments:
Thanks to Mark for sharing the commentary through poetry. I dont even want to say what next. Thanks to Khakjaan for sharing with One Stop
often it takes such as this to remind us how truly powerless we are...nice one shot...
i agree with brian - what happens in japan at the mo lets us feel how powerless and small we are - like the last stanza esp. to paint this before our eyes - what do we have to give in exchange..?
"For whom poems are but sighs." I found this the most heartbreaking line of all in this terrifyingly beautiful poem.
I'm shocked to hear the Great Mother has a voice. I figured deaf ears and a penchant for delivering cosmic jokes.
In the end, we are but sardines and Sonys, floating in the wake of Mother Nature and any of her whims, we are all of us struck dumb, ending even our own lives (as this poem ends) with a question. Masterfully done.
A chilling tribute to the last week of inconsolable news. The poem followed by the news reports and links further resonates our own hopelessness in the face of such radiating disaster.
I thought the irregular use of punctuation to be the soul of the piece; just as the tsunami doesn't sort its victims, neither does 'Mother.'
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