Thursday, August 4, 2016

Hidden Dominion


image borrowed from 1wallpaperhd.com


Hidden Dominion

“You can have no dominion greater or less than
that over yourself.”--Leonard da Vinci.

Is there now, or has there ever been,
as we search within & without,
a wondrous land
       where pure Love resides--
       where fairies frolic and fly,
                  competing for flower nectar with honey bees,
       where most birds give free taxi rides,
                  from sparrows to eagles,
       where the rocks all sport faces
                  swathed with the widest of grins,
       where stuffed animals are sentient,
                  ready for hug therapy or family counseling,
       where stones & pebbles are heart-shaped,
                  & multicolored--some polished, most not,
       where fish are often amphibian,
                  traveling across wide beaches & hot sand bars,
                  ridden proudly by orange sea horses who are
                  off to see wizards & kings.
       where every child is perfectly safe,
                  tucked in for naps & slumber--
       where nightmares are banned,

       where every parent, sibling, stranger & group
                  have their arms intertwined, cuddling & caressing
                  dispensing glorious affection
with each breath,
with each heartbeat,
at the dawn of each day over doughnuts,
at midday over tuna salads, and
at evening’s bedside
          where the soft shadows 
                     are at their tallest, mingling mirthfully
                     with tender twilight, in preparation for
                     the delicious darkness & sweet dreams;

after which in a painful awakening, this world, this jack-
booted, greed-fueled, murderous, intolerant, angry,
dangerous, malevolent, humorless, loveless reality
re-emerges--allowing our leaden-eyed gray pallor to
return to our cheeks as we re-enter our ruts.

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub MTB

Here is the original poem:

Beloved Dominion

Is there now, or has there ever been
a Land where Love resides;
where fairies frolic and fly,
where birds give free taxi rides,
where most of the rocks sport faces
swathed with the widest of grins,
where the stuffed animals are sentient,
where the stones and pebbles 
are heart-shaped,
where fish are often amphibian, 
ridden proudly
by orange and gold sea horses,
where every child is perfectly safe
tucked within hugs within kisses 
within hugs,
where every parent, sibling, stranger, 
and group have their arms intertwined, 
cuddling, caressing, dispensing
affection first, with each breath, 
with each heartbeat
at the dawn of each day over doughnuts,
at midday over bologna sandwiches,
at evening’s bedside when the soft shadows
are at their tallest, mingling mirthfully 
with twilight
in preparation for darkness and dreams,
when this world, this jack-booted 
greed-fueled angry dangerous 
malevolent humorless loveless reality
re-emerges?


Glenn Buttkus August 2009


10 comments:

Sanaa Rizvi said...

This is absolutely exquisite :D such a whole lot of depth and emotion in both your poems..!!

Victoria said...

The original is wonderful but the edit is superior. In it you have really brought home that sense of Desire that you did Express in the first poem but screamed in the revision.

Walt Wojtanik said...

Both superb, Glenn. The revisions have taken on new life and yours is a prime example. The layers are vividly constructed and the passionate undercurrent is great!

tonispencer said...

The second version is so much better, tighter than the original. The Desire in the first as expressed whispers. In the revised version, it absolutely shouts. Excellent work in both but the second is the keeper.

Grace said...

I also like the revised version, with the form and emphasis on that pure and perfect idealistic love/world, before reality hits us once more. I also noticed that you are more experimental with the format and line breaks, over the original poem.

Thanks for the share Glenn!

Victora Young said...

The revision is exquisite! The fairy tale imagery is perfect and really inviting. Then you slap us in the face with cold reality which is also perfectly written. Truly great work!

Kim M. Russell said...

I wandered in the layers of whimsy, completely taken in, wondering what the catch was, and then I reached the end and found it! Bravo, Glenn. The revision is a winner!

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Can't choose – I love both. I like the tightness and pace of the original, and I also like the expansiveness and more leisurely pace of the revision.

Sumana Roy said...

world in dream and reality is appealing in both the poems & i echo Rosemary...

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed this post! Actually found it by searching for my own site: www.HiddenDominion.com! Wasn't expecting to find such awesome poetry also in the search area. Will have to use some of this for an article myself sometime.

Thanks for posting!