DANCING THROUGH ETERNITY

Odds and Ends, and sometimes, Gems

by

Klaus J. Gerken

(1998/1999)


Chat
~~~~

<Yoric> I don't know...how the hell do we work this thing?
<HoaTim> where do everyone going ????????/still there
<HoaTim> why there just only 3 users
<Yoric> You getting this?
Signoff: VietNam (Lost connection)
VietNam (~irc@X.lsd.k12.mi.us) has joined channel # 
<Yoric> Anyone here?
<HoaTim> hellllo anyone there
<Yoric> Huh?
<HoaTim> HELLO YORIC you know what happend to everyone
<Yoric> I have no idea...just got here myself...and everything seems to be in the twilight zone...
<HoaTim> OH then bye ok
<Yoric> No discussion...no questions...jeez...blonds surely must have more fun...
Signoff: HoaTim (Web Browser moved off 






Encounter
~~~~~~~~~

I stand naked by the window
reviewing grave uncertainties

across the street on a cluttered balcony
a  woman stands and looks at me

she wears a sari is asian and 
holds a prayer book in her hands

Our eyes meet
I say nothing she says nothing

she goes back in I return to writing poetry
life goes on without our meeting purposes...

4 nov 98





Wasted Evening
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Been raining all evening
Been drinking red wine
Been listening to Houston, Texas
And music makes the heart grow sad

Dark in this room
The Senators lost again
Somewhere out there is a fable
I might well begin

For now I wait my turn
At the rusted fountain of despair
Guess I'll never cross the road
And witness what might not be there

14 Nov 98





Song for today but not tomorrow...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

am em
am em
f - c
f - c'
am - g - c

everybody walks alone
everybody comes alone
everybody sings alone
everybody leaves alone
but sometimes we leave
together

everybody laughs alone
everybody cries alone
everybody runs alone
and everybody dances alone
but sometimes we dance
together


refrain
once you finally realize
everyone lives within their lies
then you get to know the truth
then you get to know the truth


everybody lives alone
everybody lies alone
everybody melts alone
everybody dreams alone
but sometimes we dream
together

everybody screams alone
everybody creams alone
everybody sighs alone 
everybody dies alone
but sometimes we die
together


refrain

where's the future taking us
plastic poison in a cup
no one knows what's good for us
everything is bad for us
but sometimes we are bad 
together

what's a man to do i know
there's nothing left to do i know
it's all around us when we're young
it's all around us when we're old
but sometimes we are old
together

refrain

everybody sees the sun
everybody knows the sea
everybody cries for hope
everybody longs for home
and  sometimes we come home
together...

16 nov 98






Cumberland Street Blues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Staring out my window to the church across the street
Don't know what to say and don't know what to eat
I got the cumberland blues
I got the cumberland blues
I got the cumberland blues
Starin' on down the road

Morning's kinda silly, girl I had went home
Dog's in the umbrella as the cat chews on a bone
I got the cumberland blues...

Smily's quicky corner's gettin all the action
Blonds that own a drugstore and put a man in traction
I got the cumberland blues...

Whore's come out at midnight Murray streets the place 
Juices on my penis juices in her face
I got the cumberland blues...

Cumberland Pizza's the place to buy my food
I don't know what to say it a rotten kind of good
I got the cumberland blues...






Enlightenment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wild-eyed

Eagle-eyed

Just do it!


28 nov 98






Are You Ready For Poverty?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We take so much for granted
Good health
A warm place to live
when the temperature
gets down to minus 20
Sanitation
Food on the table
A steady job
Wife and family

We dont have to rummage 
garbage dumps for food
Shiver in a tin plated hut
on the edge of what a 
mud slide could envelop
We don't have to
beg for alms
We don't have to
prostitute ourselves
as children  to keep 
the "family" together

We just complacently
listen to John Lennon
Sing "So, this is Christmas.."
and not once believe
that we might be the next
to save the world...

1 Jan 99






Indian Sunrise
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What beauty can the stars compel
When the earth has such a one as you?
What beauty can support such vision,
When the vision is what you accrue?

What storm, what rain, calamity
Can bind my mind away from thee?
Not one! Nothing will be strong enough;
Not iron, gold--I  kneel to thee--

There is a voice that beckons one request:
And that request is my approach.
Lady, thou art sun, and moon, and bright star clear,

But sometimes I collect the greater want:
I bow, and wear your beauty like a broach--
my great amulet--to have you near.

27/02/99






Fragment
~~~~~~~~

Your beauty is the truth
My beauty is a lie
I crave the substitution
You ask me why 

There is no further melting
One of one of one is one
Troubled I see laughter
Shadowed you see sun






Dancing Through Eternity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bodies twisting close together;
Your breath hot iron on my cheek.

Holding you I feel the tautness
Tight against my scrutiny.

Lithe you are: and graceful, like a jaguar.

Yet I, a clumsy unskilled labourer,
Am like crustacean out of water.

But when we dance, o dance, my love,
Our souls fuse dancing so together!





 where the road forks east
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 the kid down the road smokes pot
 mother washes dishes
 father works oblivious afternoons

 girl down the street pulls tricks
 her mother eyes the neighbour
 brother mows the lawn

 squirrels are fucking in the trees
 suburbia is quiet
 hot-rods in the alley...

 sometimes hell is hot
 sometimes it is (get the mundane rhyme) not
 sometimes we must realize

 comfort is a curse...
 curse, yes,  curse curse
 hot curse...

 i guess the poison isn't
 what goes on in your own alley...
 it's your house that burns...

18 march 99






Sybil
~~~~~

To kiss your eyelids close at night
beneath the headlight moon
I wonder what your dreams reflect
were I to wake too soon

It is as if the universe
froze desp'rate in its tracks
and like a single solid star
you hold each sailor back

from what might be the brink of war
of desperation or of truth
You lead them where the sea is smooth

and where they find a safe harbour
and they in turn do worship you
to promise them eternal youth...

20 March 99





Sometimes It's Best To Stay Home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Friday:
Picket line at work
Locked out for an hour
Until designated list could be found
So quiet in the office
One could hear a dime
Dropped on the carpet

Saturday:
Went for walk at 6 a.m.
Down Bank street to queensway
Felt good and walked to the Glebe
Then walked on to Landsdown park
And then to Billings Bridge
From there to Kilborne Avenue
Up Kilborne avenue to Kilborne shopping centre
Where my father owned a BArber shop in the '70s
It was no longer there
Then I walked to Atwater Street
Where we lived in the 60's
Still the same
Windows had changed
And the fir tree in the yard was gone
From there to Haig street and down to Hillcrest High School
And then to Elmvale Shopping centre
Took a cab home from there
A three hour walk

Sunday:
Went to work at 8 for half an hour
Did my thing 
And when I got home
Found I locked myself out
Went for walk for hour and a half
Got back  10 30
Waited till 11 when the rental agent come 
and rescued me
Glass of wine and brother
Weary of the consequence.


21 Mar 99





Why Canada Has Great Leaders
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lester Pearson on Front Page Challenge
Most memorable christmas
1940 middle of  the blitz
a bomb exploded just outside my window
shattered the glass but otherwise did little damage
i went over to drown out the noise 
of falling bombs by turning
on the radio to a german short wave station
(which i had been listening to) 
and found the most beautiful of christmas carols
emanating from the very same source 
bringing us this terrible destruction
and i thought to myself that if we could
just understand what gave us this angelic music
as well as this most horrible conflagration
we might just be able to collect ourselves 
in  brotherhood and peace...


1998/1999






The Common Church
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A saint who was a murderer
A Pope who was a rapist
Fathering more children
Than a rosary has beads

A history of slaughter
Crusades against the Cathars
"Kill them all--God knows his own"
And not a word about repentance

Two thousand years of lies
From a church founded on love
Two thousand years of inquisition

Torture narrow mindedness and rape
And where does this church stand today
More popular than ever...Christ turns in his grave...

23 March 1999






When I was young I thought life mattered
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

they slaughter you when you aren't looking
they kill you when you think they care
they aren't a friend but they will listen
and then refuse your friendship with a stare

life's a wonder where they falter
they're a frozen disrespect
life for them's a misdemeanor
no prize to recollect

one joint and doctors wonder
why aids might be in decline
one joint and the cops must ponder
what they have to  judge a crime

life's a wonder where the millions
fall without a single sound
dominions prosper falter
humans hit the ground


24  Mar 99







Dream
~~~~~

This is what i dreamed:
i was having a hard time sleeping
and i woke up toward 7 am
when i realized i had to go to work
but hadn't shaved or dressed yet
and went out for a walk
and ended up in an apartment building
they were renovating and
entered this apartment and had some 
breakfast among other things
bicycle and radio parts scattered
all over  just one bed a table
 fridge window with curtains open
to a yard
and after eating i left again
for a walk and then came back
and was there again and coming out
i saw new radio parts scattered outside
the door and also a briefcase
and the janitor was working
in the corridor and i went up to him
to explain why i was in there but said
nothing and walked down the hall
toward where the door was and entered
another corridor where everything was
compartmentalized and being renovated
and walked through another where
workmen were sitting and eating lunch
and then another and finally one door
to a patio and someone was saying "come
over here and watch the beautiful view of
halifax" which i did and there were other
tourists watching and it was very windy
and there was a blond with her boyfriend and
a spot of sand or something landed on me
and i brushed it off and it landed in her face
so i left went through the various compartments
and took the elevator down, and there was
as brunette with another girl and we walked 
out t together and down a back street and i was thinking
i still had to go to work ...and then i woke up
feeling every inch unsatisfied

24  Sep 98







Minuet
~~~~~~

It wasn't a voice that spoke to me
It was my big toe
It felt kinda horny
But it said "eat grass"

I ate grass
Threw up
And cursed the seven dwarfs
They didn't answer

But the human guinea pig got scorched
ducking paper bombs
Several months later
someone showed me "her" naked body
plump and poison and indelible

I drank a lot of whiskey
I felt around for clothes
The aurora was too healthy
beat Lennon's purple prose

I don't remember nothin
I was sobre and secure
The woman was a harlot
But the harlot was too pure

I don't think Modigliani
Thought the gate wd creak
but the oven was exploding
and the bun was in the cake

Somehow it resembled
a sacred crucifix
that shattered in the shadows
and organized a "fix"

I guessed the moment simple
It wasn't too complex
except the hot dog vendor
who just happened to fall next

into the frightened alley
of emotional accrue
he thought he could survive it
but didn't notice much

when fido offered dog food
and bid a load of crap
A modern situation
I guess it kinda heaps

solutions on environment
which economists repeat
Social economics
Oh how we love that phrase

Make one dollar perfect
Deny the tax they scrape
from dust to make us perfect
(no one knows the truth)

I guess we have to take it
like nails upon a cross
rust is never poison
like blood to rust is boss

It hurts us one religion
and forces one more bark
from a dog that has no collar
from a cat that has no dog

I feel the empty-hollow
hole of deep regret
but the pocket books are empty
and the dust they've never met

It's something like a shadow
A perfect inbetween
I don't know what to tell you
The universe is wet

Apr 99






Look Me In The Eye
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do not dance with me
The dance is death
Do not laugh with me
You will regret

Poison arrows sacrifice
Daggers get to be reused
Do not give me anything
You will be abused

I ravage every country
I pull weak hearts apart
I eat dead corpses like a beggar
I know you are not smart

Pray for me your devil
Pray for me your god
Whatever grows within your garden
Cannot be what you bought

The sun shines every morning
The blood comes out at noon
A blind man once did tell me
Do not breathe life too soon

I shelter from the moment
Lightings comes observed
I never knew a moment
Where death could not be heard

A black cat crossed before me
Not something to avoid
I struggled with rehearsals
Life's become a void

I struggled with rehearsals
I should have lived instead
Now duty is my wager
And death is my regret.

18 April 99





Chance Encounter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a lovely moment
A butterfly with wings
Of gold and yellow silver
And sparkling diamond rings

I felt you You stood near me
We touched but did not touch
Your perfect beauty suffered
My loneliness so much

But moments are repressive
They do not last but count
For so much in the future
When I cannot be around

Your beauty is too gentle
My love is old and bound.

18 Apr 99






Titanic
~~~~~~~

Blown away completely
The sun was just a mast
A ship that longed forever
To last

It sank before the moment
Of it's complete disguise
Somehow those poor sailors
Were surprised

But the dolphins were so playful
They smiled at every copse
Slowly coral gathered
A beauty crystal frost

And survivors have their memories
And the earth continues rust..

19 April 99







Last Game/Retirement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't all the records
It wasn't just the sport
Ultimately he was "Gretzky"
We bow to his effort

When money gathers money
Few can gather class
The "great one" who had everything
.Gathered most from less

Humble in acceptance
Of all the great awards 
We smiled shed tears and wondered
How he taught us "great " sport

Transcending time and masonry
His memory's a fort.

19 April 99






Littleton, USA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I was in high school
The worst thing that ever
Happened to me
Was when I inadvertently
Blew up the science lab 
One cold 
January night
And 200 kids at the
Sock  hop had to spend
The blustery evening standing
Almost barefoot in the snow
The memory still holds a smile
And somehow retains its
Fuddled up hilarity

Thirty three years later
In Littleton Colorado
Two youths dressed in black
Armed to the teeth 
With semi-automatic weapons
Shot their way into
Columbine high school 
And murdered 13 other students
Maimed many more
And scarred  thousands more
For life

Soon I will be
Fifty years of age
I am still too young
To comprehend 
such senseless tragedy

20 April 1999

(Published in The Ottawa Citizen 22 April 1999)






Where the poet stands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was surprised when they told me my poem was good
I felt that no one understood...
I revised the poem, made it better...
And no one understood.

23 Apr 99






What's the matter buddy? Time is relative
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

50 years old

I don't mind 50

what I mind is 

why it passed

so quickly...

23 Apr 99







Bright and purple apples...ought
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

she was bright and purple plenty wrought
purple apples naught on naught
some thing that was bought was not
I guess she had it in her when she fought

she fought the pleasures fought the cra-
vings childhood gathers wings of hope
no one knows how pleasure fades
when pleasure knots the twisted rope

those who think the past is one solution
have the past for one solution
the future is a loss they cannot hold

they wee and wail and somehow think
that their solution is the best
age on age, the age-eye winks...

23 apr 99






What My City Lost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The other day--having some time to myself--I walked  along Wellington 
street, by way of the Supreme Court of Canada, across the Pont du 
Portage, to Hull, and down Laurier avenue, past the grand vistas of 
the Museum of Civilization, and back  to Ottawa, via the old, creaky, 
wooden, Alexandria bridge. 
	I must admit,  the views I had of this magnificent city were 
breathtaking in the extreme.  I cannot believe there is another place 
on earth which mixes raw nature with a civilized culture better than 
does Ottawa; especially when viewing her from all the venues I have 
mentioned: which brings me to why I am writing this: having crossed 
the Alexandria bridge, past the grand shale cliffs below the Champlain 
monument, past the crystal palace of the stately National Gallery, I 
was incredibly dismayed and extremely disappointed to come across  
what I consider one of the great crimes against the architectural 
monuments of Canada.  
    Walking along McKenzie street, just below Major's Hill Park, I 
could no longer see, admire,or marvel at, the  historical grandeur 
and classical facade of  Sussex drive's "mile of history",  from 
George street to Notre Dame cathedral.  
    Often, having come here in the past, to marvel at this beautiful 
architecture,  I was appalled at having now to view the ugly glass 
infested edifice of the new United States embassy. 
    It is an appalling lack of city planning, foresight and an obvious 
(not necessarily surprising) political blindness which has perpetrated 
this monstrosity upon, not only the citizens of the nation's capital, 
but upon the country as a whole, and also, through tourism, 
visualization and perception, upon the whole world.  
    Would Paris have obscured its Champs-Elysees?  Would Venice have 
obscured its Grand Canal?  I don't think so. 
    It is bad enough to have raped the beauty of the Byward Market with 
the ugly,  mundane brick facade of the Bay (not to mention what was done 
to Rideau Street);  it is another to perpetrate destruction of the most 
magnificent urban view in Ottawa, and perhaps all of Canada, to crass 
political tunnel vision.  
    Every year thousands of tourists have come to Major's Hill park for 
the annual Tulip festival. Every year they have had the most magnificent 
view of Sussex drive.  From this year on, they will no longer have that 
privilege.  I would rather have seen a park where this monstrosity  
now stands...I would rather have seen a parking lot.
	
28 Apr 99

(Published in the Ottawa Citizen  6 May 99)





Maybe Some Day You Will Understand
What Has to Be Important 
Never mind the consequence...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

You who have the millions
Do not sacrifice to God
sacrifice to us
those who's labour
built your empire...

28 Apr 99




POISON
~~~~~~

Life is a struggle 
Not 17 pounds
A hammer an anvil
a drink upon rounds

I like to think simple
Where calm winds might blow
A rugged horizon
Has only;y it's glow

The purity of daggers
The sharpness of death
The loss of faith proper
Refuses life's breath

Alone I am frightful
of gainful acceptance
I know you don't know me
Accept recompense

There's flavour in acid
There a mountain in wine
Brandy is better
Work in decline

Fight their abusive
behaviour outright
If it rains after midnight
You might just be alright...

3 May 99





HAIKU
~~~~~

One bee
Awakes me
To duck

3 May 99






Desperation or Delusion?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shadows weren't enough:
They  needed darkness to find each other.


4  May 99





Footprint
~~~~~~~~~
					
I work in an "ergonomical" environment.
I have been "foot printed".
The ancient Romans would not have been surprised at this.
Pavlov, with his cruel animal experiments would not have been surprised at this.
Hitler, and any other dictator, would not have been surprised at this.
I work in an "ergonomical environment"
An environment where everything conspires to be the same.
Where I am "granted" the same space as my next experimental human "animal"
Where I am expected to conform to a "conformist idea"
A place where I am supposed to bow to the computer
Rather than bowing to a "boss"
Bad enough.
Blinds obscure my freedom
Dark blue gray cells obscure my purpose
Although the experts tell us
the patters has meaning
the pattern has meaning
we regret every moment
we spent now at work
where before we worked many hours
without complaint
now we grow depressed
we are not ourselves
we are not human beings
we are singular "resources"
 
and i always though 
human "resources" were people
and that they mattered
and that the government's first responsibility
was to take care of all
the people in th country...
It doesn't seem that way these days
It hasn't seemed that way for a long time

I have only this to say
the world grows weary of your economical foolishness
the world grows weary of your false ingratitude
the world grows weary of your artificial desperation
you have no struggle against inflation
there is no inflation
what's man made can be reversed
leaders can talk to each other
 

6 May 99




Review of The Mummery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It is not that the child knows the truth; 
but the truth revealed through the innocence of a child
that is the true road to heaven."
 
                              Anon.


The Mummery is an extraordinary work of depth and perception.  Both 
religious and secular, it is the realization of awareness of a man 
dying, and who reclaims his life through his own eyes as a child.  It 
is experience merging with innocence.  It is innocence merging with 
reality.  Reality merging with dream.  It is a cry, a sob, a stunning 
blast of light that leaves us breathless.  It is also a grand open and 
effusive celebration, of our empathy with the universe and how every 
drum-beat of our heart is in unison with the greater fullness of a 
merging entity that is our life. 

Every chapter has a moment which merges and emerges with and from not 
just my own but everyone else's experience. Yesterday I was this and 
today I am that but ultimately I am all of my experience and all of 
my perception and all of my reaction to the world outside.  Raymond 
reacts.  Raymond marvels. Raymond cries, despairs, is swallowed but 
survives.  Whether he survives from luck or ingenuity is irrelevant.  
He survives.  He looses, gains and masters.  He marvels. Again and 
again he marvels.  He marvels at what he finds.  Too often we forget 
that.  Too often we become complacent and we forget to marvel.  We have 
lost that sparkle in the eyes.  We have become gray.  Shades of shadows 
we don't realize have consumed us. 

Raymond's mind is both consumed and consuming. Merging past present and 
future. It transforms the smallest mundane details into a grand open 
flag-draped avenue. We become transfixed as we see him grow from the 
curious but confused wonder-years of childhood (we see his wild 
explosive imagination wreck havoc in a barber shop), young 
sexually-taught manhood (his first full all-consuming sexual 
experience--shades of Apollinaire's Croniamantal in The Poet 
Assassinated), and on through the ever more "responsible" journey to 
adulthood, and in the end, death merging again with birth and thus 
completing the great all-encompassing cycle of the universe. Through 
all of this the wild open eyes of the child never leaves the man.  And 
in the final instant a new vision and understanding of the life that 
must have seemed mundane before.  

The Mummery is a true testament to the courage, wonder and resilience 
of the human spirit.     


11 May 99




Reincarnation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's get away from "next life"
Let's just call it "open consciousness"

11 May 99



Microbes in Disguise...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I picked up these two women
Had some fantastic sex
and didn't want to get dressed
when they started making love 
to each other
I sat there on a broken chair
transfixed
They were a discovery
no fantasy could  touch
They were divine
They were great white shadows 
converging
in a cosmic evolution
And I was part of it

They gave me a disease...


25 May 99





Where have all the women gone?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This pizza junkie
has a grip on cholesterol

drink more wine
pig out

have sex with a
different women

every night you 
don't remember

being this alive...

4 Jun 99




A Midsummer's Night Dream
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream the other day. Lost as to why the 
critic pans this magnificent enchantment of a movie. The Citizen review 
states, "Hoffman can't keep the flow going without a lot of partial 
nudity and mud-wrestling...". Obviously your critic can't see the flavour 
of the moment, the hilarity of the situation, nor the inventiveness of 
the production. Perhaps I am partial to the scenario (Tuscany...Pistoia..
and the great happiness I share with the great Italian Poet, Rita Stilli, 
who, with her neighbour, Alberto Benigni, in Pistoia, Italy, revere this 
excellent festivity of a movie.)  It's a romp through Shakespearean 
ribald humour;  it's a reclamation of the lustfullness of life, the 
solidarity of love, the fantasy of youthful blossoming.  Something a 
lot of us in this "aids infested 90's" have forgotten. Love is as much 
a fantasy of dream as it is a reality of sex. I find no nudity in this 
exceptional production. I find humour, pathos, and hilarity (especially 
hilarity: which your critic grudgingly acknowledges--I grant him/her 
credit for that), but nothing that might offend or bore the mental 
faculties. Indeed, I saw two young boys sitting in the first row 
enchanted with, not what your critic calls "nudity", but at the 
resourceful of the production. After two and a half hours, I longed 
for more, and so did the patrons of the theatre I attended, who stood 
up and applauded when the movie was over. They, as I, and my beautiful 
companion, stayed until the end of the credits--a full ten minutes--
which for me is exceptional for any movie I have gone to. I believe 
there is a problem of perception...art and what is common...we wish 
all of us could have an ear for Shakespeare's rhetoric, most of us 
don't.  Over the centuries humour has changed, and humour as it is 
presented here is a classical resurgence of what was once thought real 
and true and gratifying.  We have become a vigilant society: we no 
longer revel in the moment.  We examine too much to be spontaneous. We 
no longer understand such magnificence as this excellent production of 
A Midsummer Night's Dream by master William Shakespeare shares with us.  
It will be only when we reclaim this excellence, that might we once 
again reclaim our true outstanding heritage.  Everyone should see this 
movie. Everyone has a touch of fantasy in them. Everyone will understand, 
acknowledge and acclaim, the greatness of what your mediocre critic 
loves to pan.    

4 Jun 99




Glorious world
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One more death
Caused by stupidity 
Why are we alive?

16 Jun 99





End
~~~

And we shall end these songs
Like paper clips strung hard together
Twisting in  the shallow wind
Of  history's destructive
False determination.

16 Jun 99


All poems copyright (c) 1999 Klaus J. Gerken

Published by Ygdrasil Press 1999

