Now You, My Son

We're in an age of boring life
where poets play with rhyme,
and women paint their faces bright
and dreamers drift through time;
where all the gods have been dethroned
and pack the butcher's chest,
awaiting feasts, where those atoned
are crowned our noble best.

We're in an age of planting blame,
and dancing 'round, in awe,
an ancient flame, the very same
those slaves of pharaoh saw;
that shines its promise to the night
with visions raised to tame
and coax the beast in man to fight
and blind him to his shame.

We're in an age of ignorance,
where glaring truths can fade
and constitute no hinderance
as specious points are made,
and pliant minds are swayed,
and real is bent and twisted back
to mask, in innocence,
the laughter of those with the knack
to charm through arrogance.

We're in an age of righteous hate,
where men choose groups to cling,
and brotherhood is there for all 
who know which songs to sing;
who pack in rallies, now banal,
and rage on with their king
through spit and sweat, all sycophants,
assured what prayers will bring.

We're in an age where strangled dreams
are left in heaps to rot;
and plastic hope, recycled, seems
to double what we've got;
where proof pervades the plot,
a song of angels stuck in time,
each echo more perverse
and still the melody sublime.

We're in an age, the only age 
that man has ever known.
We've felt it swing from rest to rage
and back, and heard the moan,
as wailing ancients shake their cage
and beg us take the throne.
We offer nothing for their pain
and all their blood has sewn.

Now you, my son, were born with eyes
and ears a lot like mine.
You'll see this world of nurtured lies
and hear the squealing swine
and know that all the knots man ties
are rooted in desire,
and take your fill of everything
and let them see you smile.

Author's Note

Please let me know what you think.

Reviews

[Patricia Wedel]

dearest Poet… we had a Constitution that guided our Days… now we need Protection from the Loose Cannons that destroyed our Morals. It is a Sad Day… but Hope remains and the Sun will Rise after the Reign of Terror. tenderly, Pat

[mattavelli]

Thanks for reading, Pat! :)

[barleygirl]

This is superb! Thank you for helping me put everything into perspective. Many times I think (when pondering the yukky ways of our current world): I'm glad I'm old & I never had kids. Reading this, & then coming to the end, I saw things thru a very different prism, holding on to hope becuz you're passing this on to your son. I want to thank you for putting things, despite their yukkiness, into more noble terms, standing back & taking a more universal look, instead of letting the strife & angst color what I have to say. I admire you for being able to hold onto a distinct message like this, when my mind has been scatter-blown by everything going on in the world. Lots of times I don't write becuz I don't want to rant about it. This is a good example of how to address the mess & still have a separate, more important message to impart. I can always trust you to add a whole new meaning to an everyday clusterfuck! *wink! wink!* (((HUGS)))

[mattavelli]

Hello, Barleygirl! :)
Thank you for reading and the compliments. I haven't seen you here in a while. Hows your weather this week, fire or rain?

[barleygirl]

Yes, the past year has been one of extremes! A wilderness fire for 3 months, then 40" of rain after a 6-year drought! But slowly the rain is migrating north & the afternoons are warming up finally! Hope you're doing well, too! (((HUGS)))

[Coyote Poetry]

I did like and I understood the poem my friend.
"Now you, my son, were born with eyes
and ears a lot like mine.
You'll see this world of nurtured lies
and hear the squealing swine
and know that all the knots man ties
are rooted in desire,
and take your fill of everything
and let them see you smile."
The above lines are too true. We are the teachers of the children. What lesson are we teaching them? Thank you Matt for sharing the outstanding poetry.
Coyote

[mattavelli]

Thank you for reading, Coyote! :)

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome my friend.

[Relic]

There's plenty of truth in every stanza here. It goes without saying, the world has turned upside down, heading for destruction.

I find it hard to turn on the news without hearing negative information about world conflict, politics over common sense, and killings everywhere you look.

Society has been affected by technology in unpredictable ways. Not all good either.

[mattavelli]

The people who have the least are the least greedy. The people who have the most aren't. I don't watch the news anymore, too much Whitehouse clown.

[heartspeaks]

WOW! what an amazing work! This is so good. Not all have the power to write satire and make it sound so so so beautiful. The words chosen are remarkable and the agenda behind is so great. To expose what's happening in the society and makes the reader think. Remarkable work . Great job. I look forward to see more. All the best. Thanks for sharing. I would surely have regretted missing the read of this piece...

[mattavelli]

Thank you for reading. :)

[Ana Papaya]

I think it's super. You struck on something when you pointed out the groups men cling to, the brotherhood. We're in an age that has enabled us to do many great things, but we've also enabled fanaticals and radicals to fine one another easily.
You rhyme well, but I've said that before.

[mattavelli]

Thanks, Ana, I like to rhyme. :)
Yes, we can telecommunihate and congrihate. Haha
So much happens in individual minds when they are grouped together. The behavior becomes bizarre.

[Ana Papaya]

Exactly, this is a great example.
Now imagine if the most influential person in this community was someone terribly evil? We'd all be plotting to destroy the world with bad poetry.

[mattavelli]

ANd if that person was a saint, some among us would be plotting world destruction just to spite their reviewers. Haha
It can be difficult to deal with how we feel about ourselves, how others feel about us, how that makes us feel about ourselves, repeated to sheepdom. Haha