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

[Morgan Storms]

Looking backward walking forward
Always one step ahead
A parade of screaming demons
Tormented by the dead
I really like your poem. It was powerfully descriptive and had a nice easy flow. Although, I like your description, I love lilacs and was sad to read they were rotting. But it was a great description and really set a good visual. Baby Ricochet that is what good poetry is all about and I believe you accomplished it! Thanks for sharing!

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Morgan

[Rhea752]

I felt like I was in the poem, and it was so vivid. The details and imagery are amazing. This is beautiful, haunting, ethereal, and perfect. I loved it :)

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Rhea

[Rita L. Sev]

This is an amazing piece. I am reminded of both Poe and Dickinson reading this; the images of death and decay; the shedding of one's own life... Death comes to us so many more times than that final time - you have faced that fact with this write, and laid it out for all to see. Excellent!

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Rita

[Emerald Seas]

The imagery is vivid. Lines are full of powerful, thoughtful, and deeply prodding life moments. So different from what I have read of your work thus far. It is dark, yet there is so much to be found within the lines to find the light in it as well. Really wonderful penning, Mark!

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Serah

[Emily B]

damn!

you are a force to be reckoned with, you know the power of the living word, the decayed one, too, apparently

proud to call you poet, friend

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Emily

[Will]

You took me to the cemetary here. I walked beside you as you went through this place. The imagery here is stark and vivid, making it feel as if I was right there. I could feel the tingles going down my back as I read it, and I can feel the demon pressing up against your skin. The third to last stanza really got to me, and I love this piece as a whole. Well done, Mark.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you will