Mark

Mark, his name was.

It was Mark.

The word is hard to get out,

Echoing, as it does, from

Caverns of forbidden memory.

 

That single syllable

Came to symbolise

Brutality, barbarism

And exultation in

The draconian display of power

 

As though David,

Scrabbling desperately in the dust,

Came up empty handed

As Goliath, gloating now,

Bore down upon him.

 

And yet,

There was sometimes a sense

Of tenderness,

Only ever able to be expressed

In the graceful arc

Of a backhand,

Full force.

Reviews

[Ari]

Always love your work, Z.

[Zugzwang]

Thanks, Ari. I appreciate the review.
Z.

[Gaia Octavia]

Naming our demons is a brave and bold venture. A powerful statement and a deserving indictment of cruelty. As always, well done.

[Zugzwang]

Thanks, Gaia. I don't like the second stanza very much but hey...I guess I'll come back to it. Thanks for your comments!

[Gaia Octavia]

I always write impulsively and then sometimes go back to change a bunch of things. As I write by hand first, my notebook of poems hardly ever matches what ends up on here ☺

[Zugzwang]

Yes...I do the same. Very messy!

[Firebird]

Well written. Im still feeling sick.

[Firebird]

Oh! I thought for a moment we had a friend in common. I know a Mark too and this poem could have been written about him. :/

[Zugzwang]

Sorry to hear that. Nobody needs a person like that in their life. My advice is to run and not look back.

[Firebird]

Yeah..I was lucky...it was only cyber slaps but that still sting

[Zugzwang]

Still, we don't need that, do we? Flag, block, delete, forget. That's what I do.

[Firebird]

Good advice Z thanks

[jacob erin-cilberto]

reminds me of bukowski...the only good side to him, seemed a backhand slap in the long run...

or can we excuse behavior due to circumstances? does everyone have a good side? and for some it just stays hidden?

hard to know for sure.

[Zugzwang]

Yes, I was reading some Bukowski a while back and loved his style. But like you, I did not like him.
I think there is some good in everyone but for some people not enough.

[DirectTangent]

This one causes me to pause even longer to consider your write.

Maybe I am way off here, but seems as though you stepped closer to separating an individual from his behavior - perhaps a willingness to consider the understanding of the person while still drawing a line to condemn abhorrent, brutal acts. Very possibly you may find the forgiveness of one a far reach, but excusing the other should not enter the realm of possibility.

As Acoustic pointed out, this shows the depth of your humanity, and I much admire you for it.

[Zugzwang]

Let me claim poetic license! (Once again, bad habit I know).
The simple truth is that he was not a beast all of the time...just most of the time...but sometimes he was nice.
Forgiveness is not possible now but perhaps someday...

[DirectTangent]

I think I may have some understanding of how that truth may make things more difficult, not less. It reveals he had a capacity for humanness of which he did not appear to avail himself. It implies choice. And I think I have some understanding of how that may make a far a reach for forgiveness.

[Zugzwang]

He had a choice. We all do. This is why forgiveness is such a long way away for me.

[alifeacoustic]

A glimpse of humanity within the actions of the inhuman. It says more about you, the writer noticing humanity, when in the midst of pain, than it ever would about his actions.
Wonderfully captured perspective my friend.

[Zugzwang]

Thanks, Acoustic. It just came out that way. I appreciate your kind and thoughtful comment.