Waistland
There in that dry desert,
that flat expanse of thirst and want,
live the empty people.
They have no nourishment in human food,
they drink little, laugh less,
their faces are worn and parched from smiling,
but all of their emotion has long since dried.
In these people we never see the cracks, the crags
beyond the present dunes-
we never see the rivers, which run deep,
for they are silent.
We see them glory in their desolation
we see the empty splendor, and believe
we see them whole--
but we are fooled by a mirage,
and when we dip our heads to drink,
to intoxicate ourselves with their clear beauty,
we taste the dust
and know ourselves deceived.
There in that dry desert,
that wasteland littered with the bones of misspent youth;
there in that uncharted landscape of self-destruction
live the empty people: they are dead.
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Canary word: Present
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125,020 Literary Works • 672,861 Reviews
Wow, I loved this. I'm not very knowledgeable about poetry, but I can tell when an author is clever. And indeed, you were--both with the title and the images in the poem. "but we are fooled by a mirage, / and when we dip our heads to drink,
to intoxicate ourselves with their clear beauty, / we taste the dust / and know ourselves deceived."
Again, wonderful job with this. Kind of reminds me of "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot, theme wise and stylistically. Altogether, it's a well thought out, powerful piece that I enjoyed reading.
XD
I thought I had read this, but noooo...
I liked this a lot. The meaning, etc. was so... poignant that it reminded me at once of those who live in the waistland.
Ah. very good. Very deserty.
I applaud this. it was beautiful. the title was very...er...wity (sorry for all spelling mistakes - i've misplaced my backspace key) i loved the images and the last line was very moving. the only part that i didn't like h was when you started with "there is". i don't know why, but for some odd reason it turned me off.
god, i'm being to picky
nevermind.
good job.
Me, trying to be clever.
I know, I know. But someone's misspelling of "wasteland" (i.e. as "waistland") set me off. I take no responsibility for the errors of others, and what bizarre splurgings of creativity they may result in!