My Maw- Maw used to tell me stories about growing up during the Great Depression when I was a little, little girl, and I remember being fascinated by them. That and the plague. Lots of different plagues. That’s what I loved as a kid. I was terrified by her hurricane stories tho.
I can feel the convulsions of the soul, the aching revolt against alienated and puppet like society, the blood fermenting, rebelling, on top of every verse. Poignant, itchy, sweetly alive…
Anybody buying the ND Collected Patchen needs to but the late 80s or newer editions 20 years worth of Collecteds were published as perfect bindings. 300 plus pages, just fish flakes in the house. If you have one staple gun it from both sides.
Patchen described as 'a sincere assassin'. That one will stick with me. Thank you for sharing this powerful piece.
My Maw- Maw used to tell me stories about growing up during the Great Depression when I was a little, little girl, and I remember being fascinated by them. That and the plague. Lots of different plagues. That’s what I loved as a kid. I was terrified by her hurricane stories tho.
I can feel the convulsions of the soul, the aching revolt against alienated and puppet like society, the blood fermenting, rebelling, on top of every verse. Poignant, itchy, sweetly alive…
We deserve this anger
Honesty involves facing facts.
as of 7 Oct, perhaps before: we have madness. floods of madness. let us have peace instead.
Anybody buying the ND Collected Patchen needs to but the late 80s or newer editions 20 years worth of Collecteds were published as perfect bindings. 300 plus pages, just fish flakes in the house. If you have one staple gun it from both sides.
In a different time he would have become a monk.
End of the Road Madness:
Approaching the Big Blink
beyond the End of the Road
where the pavement crumbles weeds take seed
beyond the pools of poison and piles of bones
a few wild ones recover into mutation
salvation from space itself alive
every drop and breath swarming
viral encoding DNA synapses
sparking the brand new
birthing the betweens
ushered by the planet
remembering the madness
crowded herds of humans
burning everything choking joking
partying and parading to the end
all warnings buried in delusion
as the Sun came blazing down
upon burning naked ape flesh
they kept building higher
killing everything
in their reach
those we call "the Wasters"
why did they destroy it all?
blowing evil clouds
grinding down mountains
injecting all life with death?
their "War" like a nightmare
from which they could not wake
living a lie about greatness
while the world withered
beneath their machines
lost in electronic distraction
detached from reality
pretending at godhood
while unleashing horror
upon the last deforested outposts
a sense of hopelessness drowned
instincts denied nature screamed
elemental forces pounding at them
still they accelerated their machines
waved their flags clapped their hands
while their priesthoods preached
fear and torture and hating the enemy
the enemy the alien the other
at the end of humanity
the blanking of everything in a cosmic pulse
hide your memories but they too will melt
returning to the delicate interwoven web
mortals uncoiling as well as machines
synthetic scientific horrific monstrosity
crashing collapsing terrifying
plastic coils cold and senseless
on millions of miles of superhighway
to nowhere
Bedlam z. Breakbolt
EarthSeed Studios Hawai'i
this slaughtered age.............................................................................
Timeless words. Sadly still too true.