Once,
We had nothing to fear
But vampires and zombies.
The night fell and we
Locked our doors/
Boarded our windows/
Hid in our cellars,
As that undead pestilence
Raged about together
In search of sustenance—
Our blood, our flesh.
But night turned to dawn
In this veiled war
And with homes invaded,
We retreated to the familiar—
Churches/Hospitals/Malls.
And those once-bitten split,
Separately driven
By a fear of light
Or an insatiable hunger.
The latter outdoors,
The former shut in—
A strong tactic unplanned.
Then dawn turned to day.
Famished and depleted,
We bunkered deep
In military abandonments,
Dreaming of deserted islands,
As those daybreakers devoured
Animals/Others/Earth.
And day turned to twilight
In a land overrun:
Our literature infected;
Our silver screen infested;
Our affections ingested—
Their new world order.
We survive off the grid,
Lifeless among the dead.
And one fear persists:
The fear of not
Joining their horde—
Today’s true bloods.
2 comments:
I wrote this one over the weekend. I'll be in San Francisco for the next few days. Should be back by Thursday and will probably post something then. Have a good one!!!
I really like all the poems today. This poem, although zombie related (another one of my favorite subjects) reminds me of conformity. The zombie arch is perfect for this subject. More importantly, I can really see your personal style shine through in the poem. For example: in stanza five, you use the cataloging technique with the same sounding end words. Then, in line six of that same stanza, you provide the word "order" which references the previous lines' order as well as social ordering and hierarchy ( yes even among zombies there is hierarchy I assume). In the same stanza you also use the word "overrun" another "o" word to sandwich the cataloging. There’s several of these techniques throughout.
Are you doing this intentionally or is this sub conscious? Whatever it is, it's crafty and admirable.
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