BAYONETS OF MORNING
Richard King Perkins II
With muted amber lament
somehow I have lost your image
in lowest clouds
where the bones of complacent mountains
cling to the first bayonets of morning.
Ungrasp with difficulty the ebony fire of sunlight
and arrange diagonally the bodies of weed—
the ground gives silent warmth;
stagnation in yellow, subdued castings
brittle blacks of yestertime
circle and release
in fields that harmonize and weep.
Yet the bloodflow of your form
is a luminous crest of plumage
almost within reach of my embrace
and if offered the choice of infinity
in the barest fraction of all that is possible
I’d ask only for the simplest understandable
good-bye.
EYES OF AUTUMN
Richard King Perkins II
As puddles
accumulating inward
depression after depression
circular insect seas,
depths resistant to dawn;
a conclusion: an October grey
portends
in the bounce of light
off the wraith surface
found in every fleeting
pool.
THE MOCKERS
Richard King Perkins II
The mockers of fine words pool in the city parking lot
while you and your supporters stand in the center of oblivion;
in the very center of everlasting oblivion
as if you were a collective pulp
delivering messages which require no response;
if there was even a message to deliver—
but there is nothing to say in a world of outthrust palms
and this is like a pause of reason; there is only the need
to be heard and then the ache ends almost immediately
without direction or result and it is mentioned again once;
only once, in a news cycle most brief.
Author's Note: With regard to "The Mockers," it's just a reminder that the only type of free speech one must avoid is the type of free speech which tries to drown out or shut down another person's free speech. It's always best to hear and perhaps even suffer divergent opinions rather than attempt to snuff them out altogether. I spend most evenings intentionally searching out political viewpoints that differ from my own so as not to limit myself with what seems obvious and factual to my own experience. Of course, no matter how important the media tells us today's headline may be, it will soon quickly fade to be easily replaced by some other equally vital and passing "breaking news."
Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL, USA with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart, Best of the Net and Best of the Web nominee whose work has appeared in more than a thousand publications.
