Language and the Human Race

Day XXIX
Form: Mondo


The Forest


Why does the forest
seem so silent in daylight
when night is swarmed by sonnets?

The sun guides loggers
armed with plans and policy
to gag the gambolling winds.

Spoiler

Here is the free verse version I wrote that inspired this mondo:

I think I hate language politics
All the words thrown like spears
For the sake of other words

All the words thrown like spears
Whittle away the forest of meaning
Behind those words

For the sake of other words
That are just like any other word
Living and dying in a forest of minds

I think I hate language politics
Run by lumberjacks in the forest of meaning
Living and dying, relentlessly.

Day XXX
Form: List poem



Things to Remember about Living and Dying

One, that they both are action verbs
grey in inaction, nothing in traction
and too little thought is given
to the song you sing sauntering along the beaten path
that it ebbs and flows, with no preset direction.

Two, is that they are two, be it
on ceramic tiles, locked inside a waltz,
or spinning out into the green grass bullets
atop the wars of earthworms,
beneath the peace of stars.

Three: heart, body and brain are flickering
constantly, though stone may be the face.
Do yours not? Call yourself imprisoned
when love and hate their tails untangle
and thoughts no longer torpedo
across the fluttering page.

After this, is that these things weigh
much lighter on your skin than on paper
much brighter on your days which meander
sideways steeped in soil, smelling and scenting
much more on the way, with more on the way.

Five – remember how the fingers of your hand
tremble with all the joy and terror
of being lifted off the land.

Six, is that the world will never carry you;
it was not built for you, it was not built
at all.

Seven, is that heaven is a dog
because she lives in the same time as you
because he breathes in the same air as you
because they will match their step with you, and
are good for that reason enough.

Last is the dappling shade of the leaves,
of people swimming through evening walks
groping the wind for conviction; they are
Living and Dying together with light
receding and rippling out of your sight.

Congratulations on making it to 30 Liminality!! I enjoyed reading your poetry this month & being your NaPo Buddy, you've got such a great handle on poetic form & flow. I like the idea of ending a collection with a poem themed on "life & death" and I think the list form really worked for this piece, especially in the points where you made good use of repetition - I liked stanza 3 in particular. It's also neat to see poem 29's free-verse & mondo version and the little changes you made here and there. Thanks for sharing all of your poetry (I will definitely be returning to your thread the next time I want to look for a fun new poetry form to try out)!

Thank you so much, @alliyah!