Friday, 14 August 2015

In Cemeteries (Cheryl Penn)


In Cemeteries 

what are you doing here?
why did you come?
do you want the true Truth?
the irony of upside down?
the nature of our world?
Its what every character says
before they die
just ANOTHER
secret story. 


visions and war, flags
burdened waters
you will help me?
I plead the mercy of a King.
your fate is your design
no one
to guide me through

off world dreams.


no other serious applicants -
and therein lies our future -
there are no other
candidates
for dust to dust
except us,
humanity.


he killed for her
he loved her
and she him.
BUT the gaping hole
in his heart
he never saw that coming.
she floated
to the top
of her secrets
Open your ears
they NEVER stop hearing
there’s a world in your world
dwellings
this place joined
here
to
there.


this is
the music of my head
I heard it
and suspected
you heard it too
the only thing of value
I could have written
meeting again and again
in different ages
it is not yours or mine,
it is ours.


Out you come
the biggest mistake
of my life
I was worried
before I decided -
I’ve seen too much of the world
- death
been too long a slave
the pain is strong (so strong)
how can we be friends?


what do you need?
what are you reading?
Old letters
the plot has taken
a sensual turn
a ghost writer
a mystery.

the explosion
the music of my dream
the fragment
that killed me
I fell
over the bridge
hitting the water
running
the manuscript drowned.


belief like fear
climbing rocks
in one direction
headed two ways.
Forces remaking
time and space
continue
after we perish
moment to moment
we understand
a new potential direction

is this possible?



tombstones
set in cherry blossoms
new life
sweeping the dead.

the silence between the notes
the best sound of all.

death
its an old recording -
honestly?
He cant stop listening to life
a symphony of beauty
a handful of copies
I know I know it
4 days of paradise
what were the chances
she still breathed here?
its cold among the granite.


There WAS a choice
continue as planned -
or die.


Most of the report
was destroyed
If I help it will be worth the war
take me to the secret garden
where weather is whether
the trip is fall.
A hunger in their hearts
for what?
for more.

you need to rest
let me concoct
the secrets of death
vaulted relationships  
past lives
laughing
at each other
and yet,
I cant explain
when I opened
that door
I knew your secrets.

While the past may call
with enchantments
of Sirens
a coward chooses
the weak way
the secrets of his heart
known to all
except himself.
touch the controls
reveal the sepulchers
if the tides keep rising
the world will be under water
in 50 days
so - that’s the secret?
throw the bones
see the seer
through here
its not what you’re used to
but
I think you will like it.


Why did you cover for me?
Freedom?
the seductive nature of civilization?
what should we do with you?
 - The problem you create
 - is a celestial problem.
Intriguing that
beneath
there are thoughts
that
terrify (Concord),
The Truth is
what happened
to the agent of Discord?


Chalice on a grave
I found her,
looking for the answers
take over,
Introduce our tribe
I was supposed  
to be at war
a minefield of secrets
the setting sun
made EVERYTHING
nervous.

did you know the secret of him?
no,
but it wouldn’t have mattered
it was the first time
I was shown kindness.


The sobbing
the holding
the secret trade.
the blossoms fall
and you look lovely.
his life in video
and the coward didn’t know.
What are you doing in my room?
Reading my books,
pinching my pockets
a disappointing start.
I am ( . . . . .)
you do NOT wish to cross me.


bare chested
he
f
e
l
l
a victim
of eternity
PLEASE DON’T SHOOT
as he flew
and we set sail
as soft as lead
an addition to our crew.


No bridge!
FOCUS!
the gap
the yaw
stay with me
I wont let you go
as we cross
the abyss
and haul a stowaway
from his hiding
a shot
machine guns
steady - solid - fire
I have you
I will hold you
as we set sail
like never before.


Are you leaving?
Yes!
Tidal Styx
To the land of the dead.
I have better things
to do
than turn to dust
this
planet is flying
and the castle glowering
robbing a man
of everything.

//How do you know about
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn//?
Kok Terek and Cancer Ward
a single drop
in a limitless
Anguish Ocean.


in my life
it began again
 - wait!
it was all
so clear a minute ago -
the secrets are slipping away
a gulf between these bridges
transcendence of language
what are you doing?
they’ve found us!

Your heart is slower
than ours
its comforting
what time is it??
I’ve heard a melody
grab a pen
a dream
a nightmare café
no way out
the waitresses
the same face
not like any I’ve ever seen.

The mark in his neck,
the scar
it was a secret
the mountain way
a mirror
and for the first time
I was allowed to see
who I was
and who I might become.
I.E.
Their last hope
of genetically modified support.

Who will walk you through
the details of your questions/
That closed door -
THAT was what death would do.


Have you ANY idea what time it is -
I’ve invested for 12 years
you’ve had your fun
put an end to this game
why are you doing this?
the better question -
what have you done to deserve this -
I didn’t mean to hurt you
sorry
your penance is too late
     he sends his love.
     O the perfect horror.



Book made for
An Encyclopedia of Everything - The Expanded Version,
May 2015.

A series of chapbooks of 9 chapbook and 1 book. 
Online Version available on:

Photographs  courtesy of Marie Wintzer (Japan) taken in Yanaka cemetery, Tokyo.

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