the Zapruder film

by this point in the film, Kennedy had already been hit by the first shot....and the crazy clock just kept ticking

we spent the night together 

arguing

 

you 

just wanted to

discuss 

the Zapruder film

but I was already

bored to tears

musing about

the dark invertebrates

that well up inside of

sewer pipes and

thrive on 

neck 

cheese

 

please

you said

do not bite

into the light bulb 

or pump 

blood

into the 

Linzer torte

do not talk of

unicorns

how

their horns are

not bony 

after all

but 

are more like footballs

surrounded in

a kind of 

tough

leathery 

skin

you only wish to

slice down

through the length of it

and

watch as

the dark meat

spills out

in a puddle

like boiled

liver

why not instead

drink in the

beauty

to be

had in 

turning 

back the clock

and 

watching 

the scalding pot water

cool

the

lobster

change from

bright red 

to sea green

and

smile

as it

crawls out and

away 

onto the sandy bottom

Reviews

[Eilis]

The notion of turning back time all while being fascinated by the barbarity and darkness of humanness.

Of course, the natural processes are barbaric in their own way, but perhaps it is because we fail to understand them properly. We sense our own superiority, but I suspect we are the only if not one of the few species who looks at death and its clean-up crew as reviling without understanding the importance of all of nature’s processes. Yet we also manage to kill the most out of pure malice or carelessness.

The dichotomy of being who we are and so often misunderstanding. Maybe this is partly why we are so fascinated with conspiracies. The mysteries consume us, but only when they inspire passion. And again, so often only when we miss-understand them. Your poetry is always thought-full.

[SkinlessFrank]

Thanks for your thoughts on this one Eilis. The juxtaposition of conspiracies and biological decomposition is right on. Sometimes, when a coyote in our part of the woods has killed a wild turkey or deer, I go back to the scene for weeks to study the progression of nature's work. There is a steady and predictable chain of events. I have always wanted to leave a camera there to capture it and play it backwards....a project for retirement maybe?

[‘Thoughts In Time..]

Excellent- yes sometimes it all needs to just be a bit more simple- love the crayfish- great write🌹

[Richard McLin]

Damn dude this poem just blew my mind. I was going into this thinking,

"How do you write a poem about the Zepruder Film?"

But this was about so much more than that. The images, feelings, and thoughts this poem instills in the reader is insane. This is one of the best pieces I've read in some time. I'm not only going to favorite it, I'm going to request all my friends to read it. Damn, This is a great great poem.
-Richard

[Beccy]

Be nice if that lobster did change from bright red to sea green and smile its way back into the sea.

Might even earn us a pardon from upstairs, though I'm not holding my breath; either for the pardon or any hope of stemming our lemming like rush to the edge.

Beccy.

[. serah .]

-- i just saw the film on youtube... -- i remember seeing a part of it in a documentary but seeing it right now helps me sort of travel to the moment captured in this poem... -- for me, this is about the other point of view... meaning that i'm the kind of person who would be completely consumed by a historical moment... -- i'm incapable of being "bored to tears" when history is unravelling... and yet this poem tells me that it's perfectly possible for someone to be in another zone... thinking and talking about things that are consuming for them... -- maybe the person who is not in the moment is more enlightened... maybe they're the ones who are a more evolved... -- maybe they know that ultimately--historical or not--an event is just an event... -- you've given me plenty to think about... thank you for that...

[...]

I'm not really sure, in trying to figure this out. I have never seen the film, so I have no idea how it plays, if it plays, into this wild free verse. Instead of trying to figure out what you are actually saying, I'm just gonna comment on the way it makes me feel. It makes feel like saying, just marvel at what things are instead of wondering why they are what they are. Let's cool the water and let life...live. Why argue about the differences. Shrugs...I'm probably way off, but that is the emotion I got from it. Interesting subliminal piece, SF. For the record, you are NEVER a "boring" read lol

[MOON]

I am not too sure what this means but a beautiful read none the less.

[wordaddict]

Cryptic piece but it drawed me in trying to pick things apart.
To me great writing makes you think.And this just has me puzzled

[Kenneth The Poet]

Tough piece to analyze, but a wonderful one at that.

[bill]

And Kennedy rose from his grave to identify the shooter on the hill? Quirky and interesting. Well worth reading and pondering.