Monday, January 9, 2012

give it up


i step on tile
because i prefer the cold
the slower
the heart beat equals longer life - even grey life
is a way of living i suppose

i have always been forced
to look up to you, drown myself
in sky, wear colors that do
not become me, jewels are for spoiled dogs
and feathered whores - i want

black on black, grey
on black and the chill of ice
brilliant and blue
over a vodka soul - slow it down
burial rites have become all
to common in the land
of no-bodies, give it up for a those
creatures who walked these
streets without reservations, give it up
for a grey existence - before kingdoms
and presidents wrote
their own biographies and man
did not need rainbows of promise
or abstract art

bkmackenzie
copyrighted 2011

posted for Mag 99

16 comments:

  1. oh I loved this! genuinely - the imagery - the tone, the phrasing - all brilliantly done - the first stanza "i step on tile
    because i prefer the cold
    the slower
    the heart beat equals longer life - even grey life
    is a way of living i suppose" - that last line in particular and then - "drown myself
    in sky, wear colors that do
    not become me, jewels are for spoiled dogs
    and feathered whores" - how precise your words are - sharp and scalpel-like - thoroughly enjoyed this!

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  2. thanks OT - I have not written in awhile - it really feels good - glad you liked it...bkm

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  3. really some nice lines in this...

    burial rites have become all
    to common in the land
    of no-bodies

    and the presidents writing their own biographies...nice bk

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  4. "The chill of ice brilliant and blue over a vodka soul."
    Brilliant is right...

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  5. thanks Brian and Berowne...good to make the rounds again...bkm

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  6. i like how you saw the textures and color of the pictures. i just looked at the characters in the pictures. we looked at it at a totally different way, which is so interesting that people do that, don't you think???

    days of cohan

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  7. I'm with OT... that first and second stanza really stood out. So glad you're back to writing again.

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  8. Oh for the days of black and white and grey!
    Had a laugh when I first read the title, laughed a bit more with its refrain.

    A true Minnesotan:

    "i prefer the cold
    the slower
    the heart beat equals longer life"

    :)

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  9. Fine poem. It makes brilliant sense even without the image - always the test, I've always thought.

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  10. Way to make a comeback, this is great!!

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  11. It feels good to me, too. Perfect, if that is possible!

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  12. Is it the distances between, or the way the soul becomes what is too near?

    I love the last line especially in what is intense and beautiful throughout.

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  13. This is brilliant Bkm.....i love it as always!
    :-)

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  14. the chill of ice
    brilliant and blue
    over a vodka soul - slow it down

    just beautiful.

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