A Yellow Dress For Doomsday

[DanBierce]

Crows don't rile the local pigeons,
'tis raptors who raise their ire
among rain-beaten avenues
littered with busted lives
downed on the poppy dope
that's got them wan and cornered.

Church bells don't rattle heathens
where Jehova Watchtowers fade by bus stop posts.
Yard-sale signs on power poles point the way
to exercise machines and National Geographic
magazines while Wanda's corner thaws.
The law has bumped her down to Tacoma.
We're both victims of yesterday's token sweep.

A folly of sirens suddenly punctures
the Emerald City
as concrete hips and steel bones
crack under blistered clouds. Blasted panes
shred pedestrians while those at home
vaporize behind irrelevant doors.

The wind is done
with these yellow dresses, boys.
Let's don them and sit among
the humble dandelions;
behold common sparrows in the weeds
as creatures wonderful and rare.

It's our last chance, oh, brothers!
Let's sing! Let's dance!
in these yolk-yellow dresses
'til we fry.

[~Sophia~]

This one hit home for me on so many levels. The imagery is perfect. I'm a falconer and used to live on Vancouver Island so was a frequent visitor to downtown Seattle. My friend makes a living doing pest bird control with raptors. I didn't even have to close my eyes to see the presence of cops scattering the addicts and homeless in your opening. The entire poem is crystal and bewitching!

Wonderful work Dan. Very Powerful! Applause, applause, applause!

[PrinceMyshkin]

If only Sophia had been a touch less rhapsodic about this [obscenity] extraordinary poem, I might have been the first to praise it to the skies. It's a poem (for one thing) that owes nothing to the la-di-da school of poetry. Every word feels like it was carved on some hard surface so that it might - as it deserves to - endure!!!!

[MorpheusSandman]

You're truly becoming one of my favorite lit-net poets, Dan, and this is another masterwork. As Prince said, every word is perfect. The imagery is so striking and un-cliched. It really feels like a piece fit to be published and read by a huge audience.

[DanBierce]

Thanks, guys. I'm delighted you like the poem so much. Sophia:

When I first started writing this I was living in Seattle. At that time a pair of peregrine falcons were raising their young in a nest they built way up high on the Washington Mutual building downtown. There was a video camera set up so people could view the birds from the lobby. Pigeons were the falcon's favorite fare.

[Sampson]

I can only describe that as a truly American poem. It evokes the great literary tradition, which has a special place in my heart. For me personally this poem is very evocative; a wonderful piece!