The Joust.

''We are locked in a contest where we must either act or perish" - Xerxes.




The air is fresh.
But stuttered.
In a way that excites our bones.
She is like a wary dancer.
But she is not the one we have come to see.

Morning and Night roll into one.
Throwing the stars into compromising positions,
And the clouds into intellectual babble.
Dissertations fall like rain,
And the earth pretends to understand.

Sun and Moon collide in shrouded whisper.
Time takes a well deserved sleep.
We wait.

Foots drop,
Like commotion.
Creating a heavy waft of dust.
An 808's thump,
To a jungle's rattle.
There is still time for music.

Heart leaves chest before it remembers to beat.
One quick respite of muscle.
A welcome vacation.

The men's eyes are low and quiet.
Fires.
Fiercely burning.
Distant,
Vengeful suns.

Unwavering.
They stand as if,
gods hold them in place.
That if they should move,
Heaven will spew chaos.
On our backs.

The gong is struck,
It's cry has been sounded.
We freeze.

The men lock in confused embrace,
Tempting the ground to give way.
Swaying with arms that look immovable.
Jostle here. Slight teeter.
There are no cheers.
Our throats are black with silence.

Blows are traded,
At prices our eyes try to calculate.
But these transactions are reserved for a different kind.
The Market of Death is closed to us,
But we know the currency.

Blood has been spilled.
And the spirits are aware.
We feel them.
One man stands,
But there is no victor.
All wear the skin of sin.
All are damned.

For he that lives,
only lives a different death.
All must perish.
Both act and actor.


Rain.


- JSL.

Reviews

[.]

~ exquisite poetry... the closing is particularly stunning... but i just really, really enjoyed reading the following stanza...

"Morning and Night roll into one.
Throwing the stars into compromising positions,
And the clouds into intellectual babble.
Dissertations fall like rain,
And the earth pretends to understand."

~ i love to poke fun at academics... so this stanza tickled my black humour cells and i had a good laugh at their expense... :P