urban dog
08-22-2007, 02:12 PM
A World Away
Loud katydids sing constantly
As motorcycles, trucks, and cars
Roar from the highway, every tree
A bandstand for their jamboree
Beneath the planets and the stars.
As the bug and engine noises fuse
With the faint muttering of leaves,
Beyond these streets and avenues,
Beyond the fluttering bats, the news
Drones on of hurricanes and thieves.
And more remote, a war goes on
Where lives evaporate like dreams.
As I walk through these woods and lawn,
I picture jolting up at dawn
To falling buildings, smoke, and screams.
And now I hear a different boom
In space creating suns like ours
That warm their worlds, some of which bloom
With weed and beast — each orb a room
Where life will live for a few hours.
And further still, two isles collide,
Each with a planetary cache;
And as these islands drift and slide,
In arms and tails so modified,
How many suns will blaze and flash?
But now I’m back to walking round
This meadow where the air’s pacific
As the cattail pond, from where the sound
Of bullfrogs vies with crickets drowned
By rigs the birds find soporific.
Copyright © 2007 by Martin Elster.
All Rights Reserved.
Loud katydids sing constantly
As motorcycles, trucks, and cars
Roar from the highway, every tree
A bandstand for their jamboree
Beneath the planets and the stars.
As the bug and engine noises fuse
With the faint muttering of leaves,
Beyond these streets and avenues,
Beyond the fluttering bats, the news
Drones on of hurricanes and thieves.
And more remote, a war goes on
Where lives evaporate like dreams.
As I walk through these woods and lawn,
I picture jolting up at dawn
To falling buildings, smoke, and screams.
And now I hear a different boom
In space creating suns like ours
That warm their worlds, some of which bloom
With weed and beast — each orb a room
Where life will live for a few hours.
And further still, two isles collide,
Each with a planetary cache;
And as these islands drift and slide,
In arms and tails so modified,
How many suns will blaze and flash?
But now I’m back to walking round
This meadow where the air’s pacific
As the cattail pond, from where the sound
Of bullfrogs vies with crickets drowned
By rigs the birds find soporific.
Copyright © 2007 by Martin Elster.
All Rights Reserved.