Salutation

SALUTATION

 

They shalln’t scare you off, My Dear!

No, they shall not.

Now

 

Lift your pale palms before the world

Prepare for perpetual salutation

Of the proud hands at hand

 

Greet this day’s governors

And

Do not give the world thy frowns and growls

Get in line for prominent encounter

 The proud, promised, preliminary handshakes

 

You have been preordained to greatness

 

(I thought I’d let you know)

So

Be patient, placid, prudent and proud

Thy shivery shiny bones shall sprout

Thy leaky heart shall be thoroughly fixed

The gold-frame, merrily-accompanied

 

No,no,no,no,no!

They shalln’t scare you off, My Dear

 

Sneering women at subways and city-halls

The snoring of city-men, seeping through

Leaky, thin city-walls

 

Regard!

And

Greet!

Silent, reserved receptionist

Remain modest

In the vast unparalleled modesty

Of the wind

Which moves

With varying caresses on your skin

 

Stay stoic, still and strong

And let the world unfurl its staggering salutations

In your clamp wind-clutched palm

 

NOS VICTURI
MORTUOS SALUTAMUS

NOS VICTURI

MORTUOS SALUTAMUS

WE, WHO ARE ABOUT TO LIVE

SALUTE THE DEAD

WE, WHO ARE ABOUT TO LIVE

SALUTE THE DEAD

 

Reviews

[S]

It's like a romantic anthem. I love it. :)

[TL Boehm]

a surreal poem - hinting at all those institutions that control under the guise of the promise of things better. Well penned.

[Blue]

This gave me creeps. In a positive way. Makes me think of a marching army with an air of reverence around them. The last stanza is amazing, powerful, moving. Touched my heart, that one.

"egard!
And
Greet!
Silent, reserved receptionist

Remain modest
In the vast unparalleled modesty

Of the wind
Which moves

With varying caresses on your skin"

I so adore the above lines. I salute you, K.N.

[icelandicblue]

Salutations! Your poems are also intriguing. We tie ourselves up in red tape and wonder why we are so gullible so easy to control. We cannot fight the system whether it be social or political instead we become part of the fabric and lament that we are so frayed from all the abuse that we welcomed into our lives.

[John Ryan]

i get a real dickens type feel with this, which i love.

very interesting. It has a nice twist on an old favorite

[K.N. Lorenzen]

Thank you so much, John! I am honored by the "Dickens-asssociation"" ;)

[Inda]

Again another flawless piece which i will read over and over to understand every bit!

[Mark]

Very Victorian, which I normally don't care for.. but the voice of this work is easy and unaffected; very natural even in the rhymes. An excellent work. :)

[K.N. Lorenzen]

I'm so glad you like it, Mark. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts!

K.

[Thaddius]

This is my favorite passage:
Sneering women at subways and city-halls
The snoring of city-men, seeping through
Leaky, thin city-walls

it evokes the ubiquitous metropolis (by golly, my working vocabulary is improving since getting on this site), the balance is just write in this imagery. Lots of people struggle with imagery, and my theory is this: they think imagery involves describing something in vivid detail, when it really requires a looseness with the language that makes it accessible and therefore, vivid. It's unusual pairings of words, words that pop, but bleeding into other contexts. The intelligence is 'associative horizon'. How the snoring mutates into sewage water in a paper thin subway channel is superb, visceral, affective.

The poem involves lots of direct address, and seems like an esoteric pep-talk. I like the fervor in your style. The reprise at wind is a very strong way to end the poem, as you know. Clamp as an adjective is cool.

This passage:

Be patient, placid, prudent and proud
Thy shivery shiny bones shall sprout
Thy leaky heart shall be thoroughly fixed
The gold-frame, merrily-accompanied

Has much for me. Placid makes me think of a lonely lake (the movie 'Lake Placid'), then you go to 'shivery bones', a cadaver in that lake, 'sprout', now flora, creeping, twisting vines, 'leaky...fixed', it's artificial, a 'tin man' type association, to 'gold', something precious and gleaming, so far from the bones. I appreciate the experience.

[K.N. Lorenzen]

Wow, Thadd. A very well written and inspiring review! Thank you so much :)

[K.N. Lorenzen]

You have an eye, refined for detail, just as your pen.

[Kristina Moulaison]

I feel this as a call to live, despite all opposition and doubt...to enter into an inheritance, a right of birth... to embrace this which is given to us and against all the nay-sayers and unbelievers to wholly embrace all that life offers and believe we are worthy of every second of this fleeting life...to pick up our flag whatever it may be and unfurl it in the wind, with grace and deference, being truly that which we are. Just my thoughts. Really good!

[K.N. Lorenzen]

Thank you so much, Kristina :) Thank you for the interest in my work!

[Sami Khalil]

I sense a political message here or military one before death. Whom do we salute, which cause do we value, at what cost you are trying to sacrifice???...A splendid poem..:)..........

[K.N. Lorenzen]

I'll get back to that soon :) promise!

[Sami Khalil]

NO problem...You are welcome...:)..............

[K.N. Lorenzen]

I'm flattered by your interest! I want to put it well though ;)

[Sami Khalil]

Just simple and not extravagant...Take care...:)....................