Revolution

Gage Ahearn

(Can be read down each column or horizontally across both)

A ragged, torn doublet                                                                 A brown dress with memories of being white

He moves the clumps of straw in his hand                             She counts numbers endlessly in her mind

He was a king                                                                                             She was a queen

Unfair and unkind                                                                         Ungenerous and unforgiving

Sitting on a floor of cracked stone tile                               Leaning on a wall of rock and cement

Sunlight glimmers in from a lonely window                   The darkness spills out from a lonely cell

Coughs and sneezes break the silence                                       Gentle sobs from a far corridor

The home they once shared                                                               The home they once lost

Cheers cry out from the outside                                                     A happiness they can’t have

A happiness they once had                                                                   Never will have it again

In the cold, he sleeps                                                                            In the cold, she sleeps

Unfrequently, they eat                                                                  They had never faced hunger

They had everything                                                                                 They lost everything

They wanted more                                                                                They now have nothing

The rain seeps in on a cold day                                                            A flood so cold it burned

He was her king                                                                                          She was his queen

He ruled half the world                                                                          She ruled half the world

Now they ruled nothing                                                                          Now they ruled nothing

Except his sorrowful thoughts                                                                Except her bitter thoughts

How far he has fallen                                                                              How far she has fallen

A victim of his world                                                                                A victim of their world

In a cage made from their own selfishness                          In a cage made from their own selfishness

Here and forever                                                                                             Here and forever

He is alone                                                                                                           She is alone

Earth

Gage Ahearn

(1-10-10-1 syllables)

Sky

Brown Trees

Hundred Leaves

Shiny and green

See the dirt below

Under the sharp bushes

Covered in animal tracks

Pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, and humans

All call the shade beneath them their own    

Deep in the forest is their lovely home

Down underneath the roots, trees, and the soil

There lies nothing but stone, cold and dark  

No sunlight, no life, and no joy

Not a place for one to go

There lies isolation

One will be alone

But do not fret

Down further

The light

Core

Fortune

Gage Ahearn

Ca-Ching Ca-Ching Ca-Ching

They sit at the tables, taking their turns as the clock ticks

Tick-tock

The slot machine sounds the sound of a spacecraft, lifting up from off the ground

Ding Ding Ding

The change clashes down hard from the machines

The crushed cries of a confused man carry crude, coarse cacophony

The distressed dealers diffuse the disturbance of the daunted man

Gone Gone Gone

Chips flip as the dealer is tipped

The low payers play longer, and the high payers leave faster

The little better bides his time, lingering around, the lowest better of the better betters

The pockets empty, the prized money piles into the pool

Do the sad, somber eyes of the unsuccessful discourage thee, or invite thee

Glue

Gage Ahearn

A puppet

On the stage a beauty

Behind the stage broken

A master

A bottle of glue

A can of paint

Polish nowhere

On the surface

The perfect fix

A panacea

Down beneath

An evil medicine

A resurrection

A perfect puppet

A river of gold

An island out of reach

The stranded puppet sits

A greedy master floats in the river

Swimming to the sea

The glue keeps it together

Only for a time

The glue dries

White hairs left behind

The sliding of the pieces increases

The puppet breaks

The master glues it together again

The master drags the puppet

Show to show

And glues it

And glues it

And glues it

Until the puppet takes the stage with a smile

Perennially Verdant

Gage Ahearn

(Tanka: 5-7-5-7-7 syllables)

A walk through the hills

The sun and moon share the sky

Fields guide our travels

The sun falls below the Earth

And it leaves the moon behind