Shiny Baubles

'Twas gold which brought twin towers
down
from wings of steel
aluminum
through kerosene fueled clouds
'Twas gold, though black and crude

'Twas naught but heavy
empty wealth
which to this day resounds
in halls of power
trading blood
for oil

And still is that
which brings us all
to ground beneath dark soil

Time
in steady cadences
6 billion now abound
within our own lone sacks of skin
our own accounts
accruing

less than nihilist
disregard
does all this sorrow
engender
resolve for what
can not
come next
defers concerns
for Peace on Earth

Gold distracts believers
shiny baubles
luring thought away
leaving devotions secure
for the delusional
to entertain themselves
while shadows
close upon
everyone

----

I'm sorry that I can't capture the painting very aesthetically. After 5 attempts (this time around) on my little 300kb phone-cam, I finally decided that this would have to do.

It was a gift from a wonderful no-longer-red-state blogger buddy o' mine. Well, her husband is the painter, so I s'pose I owe the Skimmer the apology for my poor presentation of his excellent work.

Regardless of all that, many are the times I've sat pondering this painting as I sit at my computer, wondering of what to post, or who to read next. Abundant are the thoughts which go through my mind on what the colors mean, why the fade below, the separation from the blue skies above? Often I sadly imagine those damned planes flying into the scene, obscuring again the amazing achievement of human artifice which both brought them into being and, then more tragically (and recently too,) brought both those towers and the illusions of invincibility of a great nation crumbling to the earth. Changed forever.

I'm more of a lyricist than a poet so I tend to make my poetry without any standard metrics guiding it. I write and re-write each line as they come to me, and then work the whole to flow as feels most relevant to whatever theme they're describing. All I'm getting at is that I know that's a bit "unskilled", but it came to me and feels right as a description of a majority of my thoughts whilst viewing the painting.

I hope, though the thoughts are indeed sad and not resolved, that the poem manages to effectively convey my feelings about the painting, as well as on the state of my nation and the world of folk at large.

namaste