Thursday, June 3, 2021

Gone, Truth, Gone



image from pinterest.com

 Gone, Truth, Gone

“We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth

Rock landed on us.”--Malcolm X.


Loss is not my friend,

rather it is fungi, virus, and herpes,

an interloper and antagonist.


Many years ago

I returned to the Cascade foothills,.

but the fallen log bridge across

Ross Creek 

was gone,

the trail mile markers

were gone,

the rainbow trout in the creek

were gone,

and worst of all

most of the glacier

at the foot of Mt. Stewart

was gone;

even the old feelings

of joy and accomplishment

for hiking ten miles straight up

were gone.


The sense of loss

permeated everything.

Even when I got home

I had to face the sad status quo,

whereby the truth

was gone,

civil rights

were gone,

voting rights were

nearly gone,

partisanship in government

and closeness of family,

were nearly gone,


as the strength in my legs

was gone,

the dexterity in my hands

was gone,

my libido 

was gone,

even my driver’s license

was gone

and shopping

was gone,


but extremely unfortunately,

the evil,

      hypocrisy,

      racism,

      fraud,

      viciousness,

      ignorance,

of Donald Trump

is not gone--

it is just

relocated.

     


Glenn Buttkus


Posted over at d'Verse Poet's Pub

13 comments:

Laura Bloomsbury said...

a powerful poem of goneness in all its aspects (though our MTB prompt is to utilize epihora - consecutive endline repeats)

Glenn Buttkus said...

Laura, you gave us some leeway. In this piece, everything between comas is a line, and the repetition is self evident.

Tricia said...

I feel the void in the "gone."

Brilliant ending. The repetition works well in this! 🥳

Merril D. Smith said...

The repetition of gone is very effective, and you are so right, Glenn. All the evil is still there.

JadeLi said...

Glenn, why is it that so many of the good and best things pass away, yet the stink of evil permeates our environments. On the drive yesterday to the castle, the number of "fracking pump stations" I saw was alarming. One thing I did see that you will be delighted with is a large fabric Tr*mp sign by the side of the road had been vandalized and was flapping in shreds. I see the mid-state people don't play! I loved your poem as sad as it is. I cannot imagine hiking miles up!

robkistner said...

I liked this a lot Glenn. Thought you drove your point home strong bro. I am certain Laura knows the form better’n me. I am not good with strict form — I jes writes me sum poetree… :).

Dwight L. Roth said...

I could feel your loss all the way through your poem and at the the nightmare of evil continues on even as everything else fades away!

A Reading Writer said...

the repetition of gone felt like deep drum beats - bam, bam, bam. and the conclusion gives me chill.

Ingrid said...

What a shame that he isn't gone! So sad to lose all of the good things and cling on to the bad. Let's hope his evil influence will soon lose power.

Kerfe said...

Gone seems to be the word of this century. Except, as you note, for all those things we can't seem to get rid of...

Helen said...

Bravo Glenn ... telling it exactly as it is.

Alexandra said...

Repeated so relentlessly, the word "gone" becomes onomatopoeic, ringing like a dirge. Very effective.

brudberg said...

So much is gone across the world... the only thing that's not gone is the idolization of the golden calf-