Lilac Coffin

Oh you'll figure it out.

 Walking through old cemeteries
        Catacombs full of dust
    Coffins blooming rotting lilacs
          Crucifixions of rust

      Finding an empty solitude
            in a survivors grave
      What was spent so long ago
         What we readily gave

   Angry ghosts rip up this house
      I don't know their names
     Parts of myself I had to kill
     Buried in unmarked graves

Looking backward walking forward
       Always one step ahead
A parade of screaming demons
      Tormented by the dead

Burning spines ride twisting cordite
    Dancing with flares and rounds
       Mutilated rotting corpses
  stomp dead feet on the ground

The ghost dance never seems to end
               always a reminder
   A world of shadows of what was
             Growing ever louder

Crawling out of my own dead skin
       Ripping tendon and bone
Dancing with my flesh uncovered
          So I can dream alone

There's beauty in the weariness
        of eternal struggle
A bittersweet dead monument
    to ebb and flow of cycle

Where we are what we become
         on for an eternal
Seeking relief from a life of lies
     Truth within a kernel

Reviews

[KAOlmsted]

I see what you mean...this is really quite a departure, Mark. I like it a lot (except for the rotting lilacs...I don't care for that :-p) We all need to shed that dead skin, though. This is a truly excellent piece. That third stanza especially. Really great work here.

[Baby Ricochet]

The line was originally "Coffins blooming purple lilacs" but once the whole decay theme was formed purple lilacs didn't work in the piece. This poem was written out of the rhyme and meter, not a set premise like say "Bully" was. Thank you for reading Blooming Coffins Kimmer. I appreciate it.

[KAOlmsted]

Always my pleasure, Baby...(and, obviously, my offense to the line is personal, not artistic; it's a powerful line. Wish they had been lilies though) ;-) xoxo

[saratogaparty]

I think this is my absolute favorite of yours. You've got metaphors, imagery, and so much to f*****g say.

It passes every test, it's literary, beautiful and loud all the same.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you. I'm pleased you liked it

[Tai Ryens]

Scars of conflict are often the deepest gashes of all; and you propose the latter very vigorously. Good job.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanks Tai

[Commanda Panda]

I see necrophilia! Dead sex everywhere! Perhaps it's just my mind being in the gutter about everything.

[Baby Ricochet]

Maybe

[Thomas Fitzgerald]

The fierce punch of "normal" alighnment to people is hit upon here quite well, well done, good read.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Thomas

[Nia Hope]

As always, loving the imagery, really deep keep it up!

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Ankara

[TL Boehm]

This thing circles back on itself getting deeper and deeper with each read. We are in a state of perpetual death and regeneration, sloughing off our old selves - sometimes by choice and sometimes because the skin is torment. I admire the way you can move easily between a somber piece like this, and something lighter - sarcastic - well done.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you TL

[The Girl That Let You G..]

I didnt feel like I was sitting on my bed in my room when I read this, I felt like I was a ghost like shadow walking around a graveyard. The imagery is beautiful Mark. Love it

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you

[Monster ^.^]

This piece... is just too picturesque! I just see myself walking in a graveyard! Eerie, but calm. Perfect descriptions and metaphors. One that should be read if you're looking for a bit of reflectional creeps :)

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Monster

[BlueDreams]

I am amazed by these lines "Where we are what we become
on for an eternal
Seeking relief from a life of lies
Truth within a kernel "
.. Beautiful poem :)

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Swapz

[Marie]

I don't think there's anything n a cemetary except stones and the decay beneath. Spirits are alive; they don't belong in a place of death.

[Baby Ricochet]

For sure. Thank you Marie