World Poetry Day

[serene]

Apparently, it's world poetry day, and I almost missed it. autographedcat posted a reminder, and a call for folks to post a favorite poem.



Against Entropy
by John M. Ford

The worm drives helically through the wood
And does not know the dust left in the bore
Once made the table integral and good;
And suddenly the crystal hits the floor.
Electrons find their paths in subtle ways,
A massless eddy in a trail of smoke;
The names of lovers, light of other days—
Perhaps you will not miss them. That’s the joke.
The universe winds down. That’s how it’s made.
But memory is everything to lose;
Although some of the colors have to fade,
Do not believe you’ll get the chance to choose.
Regret, by definition, comes too late;
Say what you mean. Bear witness. Iterate.





remember this moment
the one that makes you stop on the stairs outside your one-room apartment
and turn to let your vision rest on the hotel-california sunset,
layered
rust orange red brown
the beginnings of teal-gray
hurrying to cross the pacific,
to turn its glow on that girl in hawaii you had a crush on once

remember, later, when your ankles are swollen and tight
and you've got eighteen dollars in the bank
that a moment can be nothing or it can be everything

remember how it felt to stride to the laundry room,
unable to suppress your own reasonless smile
how it seemed to fill your arms and chest and stomach and pelvis and legs,
like a macy's inflatable.
remember that moment when duty turned to consciousness
spilling on the iceplant, rolling down the embankment,
covering the highway like warm honey
and muting the noisome steadiness of traffic spending itself into the night

we're born with too much to do.
too many moments die unremarked.
so remember.
write it down or don't, relive it or move on to the next one,
but
don't forget.

Comments

[bastette-joyce.livejournal.com]

I like your poem! Not so sure about the first one, although I do like the rhythm and rhyme scheme.