in darkness he went down
in a braille of feet and saltwater sand
to the sea awayed he
from the so-called promised land
who would be torn if not he for he
for the span of what was and never would be
his tears only added to the plan
a gram worth nothing, impotent man
in silence he laid down
under veil of nori and saltwater cran
to the sea awayed he
from a post-coital life spent in remand
who would mourn if not he for he
for the span of what was and never would be
his fears only added to the plan
a gram worth nothing, impotent man
child of god
he prayed for something good and true
slave of god
swallowed instead by the reckoning blue
in parentheses he drowned
into vale of drib and saltwater dram
to the sea awayed he
from the parochial feckoning hand
who would have borne if not he for he
for the span of what was and never would be
his tears and fears added to the plan
a gram worth nothing, impotent man
child of god
he begged for something good and true
slave of god
swallowed instead by the beckoning blue
child of god
into a sea of no avail
slave of god
to the reckoning sea travailed he
by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2019
Beautiful well written poem. Anand Bose from Kerala
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Thank you so much, Anand. You are very kind.
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I always appreciate writing from people who left religion because it so clearly expresses how I feel even if I can’t articulate the words in exactly the same way.
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It sounds like you may have escaped from religion at one point too, Tia. It certainly takes a lot of processing, that’s for sure. I’m ten years out, and still sorting through the detritus of that time. Thanks so much for visiting and reading me!
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Ah,
It’s good to know that feeble eyes often miss what faith sees clearly. Circumstances of a Godly sort are layered. We see it better from a different angle or mindset.
Gary
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Thanks for reading, Gary!
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{[(I love the idea of drowning)]}!!!!!!!
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{[( 😮 )]}!!!!!!!
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This is so evocative and haunting. It stays with you after you have read it and plays in your mind. I love it. Very inspirational.
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Evocative and haunting… Now, those are qualities that I definitely strive for whenever I write poetry. You have made my day!
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Very nicely done — asphyxiating. You know somewhat where my convictions are, so you know this isn’t a compliment from the choir. I have known this feeling, too. Well said.
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That means a lot coming from you, Gregory. Thank you!
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do not go without swimming trunks, into that good sea…
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True. I do not wish for certain bits of me to become mere fish bait!
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I was channeling dylan thomas (as I thought your poem was) but you took it in another direction, touche…. and in all seriousness, as you are not quite serious many times, great work man, this had verve…
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Thank you, good sir. You are an officer and a gentleman!
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Rage! Rage against the waves with your pee.
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And I cry “Wee! Wee! Wee!” all the way home…
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are you the inspiration for that goddamn geico pig ? goddamnit… first smokey the bear tasks me to prevent ALL forest fires “only you”, ok, I get it.. and now this.. fuck, my week is turning to shit….
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This comment makes no sense to me, and I love it. Who is that geico pig?? and that smoking bear?
I googled GEICO and turns out, it is an auto insurance company.
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I love to deconstruct humor… see, Tony said wee wee wee all the way home, now there is a specific GEICO commercial that has a pig doing exactly that… so yeah, really scraping the bottom of the comedy barrel there… and Smokey the Bear is an Icon! his tag line is “only you can prevent forest fires” … if you take that literally as a kid that is some serious fuckin pressure there… so, there, like a chef I can reduce down the comedy into digestible bits, take an alka seltzer though I tend to repeat on people…
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well, I live in jersey so… I assume there is worse in the water… Rage Rage against the dying of Ecoli… I think it is on the state flag or something, probably in latin, I could be wrong…
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Seriously strong, Tony.
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I really appreciate that. This is one I’ve been planning to write for some time. I didn’t have the courage until recently.
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I applaud your courage, sincerely.
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Brilliant!
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Thanks so much, Lish!
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Wow…heart wrenching
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Thank you, C. This is essentially the story of how I left my faith.
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Sometimes it’s too much to keep going, turning away was the obvious option of there were even options. It sadens me truly. The words and the setting of the poem gave me a glimpse of the darkness you trod through…😥
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And I think it’s realising that there’s only one real option in the first place that can be quite hard too.
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I saw that immediately, Tony. Anyway, this piece of yours is beautifully written. Love the flow, the rhymes and the weight you have given to each word. Repetitions give more emphasis to your poem. So good to come back to your blog when I have a bit of time. Send my regards to Tati. – Marta, from Moments.
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Thank you so much, Marta. It’s always lovely to have you here. I will pass on my regards!
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You are welcome and yes, pass them on!
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