an old show in present perspective

an old show in present perspective

 

 

time is a bandit,

and there is no "have gun will travel"

evidence 

of a hand that can get the drop on it

and shoot it backwards

 

the robber takes years in seconds

and sometimes innocent bystanders

find youthful siestas

in wooden boxes

premature sheriffs too late to save them

 

good people wear black

marching behind the victims

and time watches from above

in clouds with white hats

 

"wire God,

another one's coming early."

 

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

12/26/15

Reviews

[M. Shepherd]

such a poignant last line, a tug at the heart, an audible "ugh" from my throat in this coffee shop. the professional apathy to it injects the melancholy just that much deeper. time is professionally apathetic.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Marcie.

j.

[Solar]

This is a poem one wants to playback in slo-mo - loved it!


good people wear black
marching behind the victims
and time watches from above
in clouds with white hats

The ugly reality of Time's bad sense of timing - 'the good wear black'

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, Solar.
j.

[Jimmy Yetts]

Ah, the erudite Paladin, I remember him, well! A poetry-spouter with a keen sense of justice who was fast-on-the-draw! Heaven, in that heyday of cowboys-and-Indians entertainment.
(Aside from all of that, I also really enjoyed this show because my grandfather had looked so much like Richard Boone.)
This piece is a sobering statement, Jacob--creatively and brilliantly conveyed. A stark reflection, by the way, of our "grey hat" times.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Jimmy....i always liked when Paladin would say..."don't make me kill you"--but then the bad guy would draw anyway.

happy new year, my poetic friend...

j.

[Jimmy Yetts]

Happy New Year to you, Jacob, everybody's poetic friend!

[Tate Morgan]

Time is the most precious of things that because it is the rarest commodity We begin losing it the day we are born

[jacob erin-cilberto]

that is so true, Tate.

thank you for the visit...
j.

[Tate Morgan]

you are welcome

[...]

Your metaphors always carry a lot of deep emotive substance, Jacob :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, lynn....

j.

[jesserose99]

well this perspective most certainly seems true. time takes what ever is in it's vicinity and has a field day with it to true!! Time must be hungry.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, jesserose.

j.

[redzone]

Mr. Time and Mr. Death always have the fastest guns... not even Paladin could defeat them (I watched that show all the time)... a "timely" poem Jacob with the great battle of the Times Square Corral looming at 11:59 this very evening as Time quick draws 2015 to a bloody death, though your poem feels more ominous in texture... especially since they have no need for a TV show to reek havoc on "innocents" perhaps sitting in a cafe, or attending a wedding ceremony in a far off village, or perhaps just going to school... too many of them "wooden boxes" getting made these days...

Jacob, you have created another wonderfully rich, metaphorically textured poem with tiers of meanings... do you ever just read one of your poems to your students and then say: "Discuss".. seems like there's a whole semester of education in just one poem...

Oh and I'm strapping up, Time is not gonna get me just yet, my guns are pretty damn fast and I'm watching for them... ain't gonna be like that guy in one of Clint Eastwood's movies where Clint walks into a bar and offs an unarmed man, just shoots the man dead and someone says "you just killed an unarmed man" and Clint replies, "well he should have armed himself"... sorry Jacob, got carried away thinking about your poem..

And have a Happy New Year!!

redzone

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, Paladin...great show...and so ironic, the theme was sung by Johnny Western...ha ha.
thank you again for all of your perceptive insights...always appreciate your visits, my friend.

happy new year.

j.

[andrew mitchell]

A world of guns and crazies (isis )polluting the world in their made up ideology killing the innocence for what! So their leaders can gloat!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, andrew.

j.

[Sophia Moosmann]

I feel like this has a nice slope to it, beginning very oneiric and then gathering clarity and severity.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Sophia..
j.