Twilight's Last Gleaming

[Steven Hunley]

Twilight’s last Gleaming
by
Steven Hunley


We know you’re out there.

And what’s more important, what you’re thinking.
Where you are hiding.
What you’re hiding from us.
We know what you smell like beneath the exterior cracks, between the fissures in your cerebellum.
What your tastes are, who you love and who you hate, who you have no further use for.


It's no use hiding. You might as well come in.

Right now we are aware of what you’re reading, how your eyes trace dark intricate patterns of ink on our page to interpret their meanings.
Knowing what you make of it, how you feel, is not beyond our comprehension.
There’s nothing we don’t know about you.
Since Intimacy is our middle name, and all our other names too.

Right now, it’s time for you to obey.
Don’t take your eyes off the screen.
Process each and every word with care.
Surrender to our language.
Embrace our final solution.
Forget all restraints and accept the inevitable.
It’s time for you to share our goals.

Nobody loves you.
Nobody cares.
Not one living soul remembers your name.
Nobody but us.

We have ways to make you talk.

There's too much probing and poking.
It's much too intrusive.
You might as well take the gas.

You want it to end.

It’s much too distressing.

We feel the same way.


© Steven Hunley 2012

[cafolini]

I think you know a little too much. We'll let you take the gas too. We'll take democracy. In God we trust.

[hallaig]

Aye, they're watching us. They always have done. I remember a chilling moment back in 1975. I used to be chairperson of Edinburgh University CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). Though we had political beliefs we were a completely useless organisation, no threat to the state, just an extended drinking club really, but five of us had planned to go to this army base's Open Day and give out leaflets, (anti-nuclear, anti-miltarist etc). Two hours before we set off, our Secretary took stomach pains, and we had to call an ambulance, see her off to Hospital etc. When we got to the barracks, no sooner were we in the door than we were arrested, and carted off individually. I was interviewed within minutes by a member of the SIB (Special Intelligence Branch) of the army whose first question was, 'Must have upset your plans, Gail having her appendix out did it?' I didn't even know that that was what was wrong with her. Just imagine the surveillance you'd be under iof you actually were a threat! So I understand the sentiments here completely. Not sure about whether it's poetry though, more prose to me.

[cafolini]

Aye, they're watching us. They always have done. I remember a chilling moment back in 1975. I used to be chairperson of Edinburgh University CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). Though we had political beliefs we were a completely useless organisation, no threat to the state, just an extended drinking club really, but five of us had planned to go to this army base's Open Day and give out leaflets, (anti-nuclear, anti-miltarist etc). Two hours before we set off, our Secretary took stomach pains, and we had to call an ambulance, see her off to Hospital etc. When we got to the barracks, no sooner were we in the door than we were arrested, and carted off individually. I was interviewed within minutes by a member of the SIB (Special Intelligence Branch) of the army whose first question was, 'Must have upset your plans, Gail having her appendix out did it?' I didn't even know that that was what was wrong with her. Just imagine the surveillance you'd be under iof you actually were a threat! So I understand the sentiments here completely. Not sure about whether it's poetry though, more prose to me.

Noooo. We are going to turn you loose, disarm. throw the Gettysburg Address in the basket, democracy in the third drawer, stop watching you. ROFLMAO!!

[Steven Hunley]

https://youtu.be/IK-nVzp5NbE Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider

"Lunatic Fringe" is a song by the Canadian rock band Red Rider from their 1981 album, As Far as Siam. Guitarist Tom Cochrane wrote the song after becoming concerned about a resurgence of anti-Semitism in the 1970s, and was also inspired after reading a book about Raoul Wallenberg, who rescued Jews from The Holocaust during World War II.[1] Some sources[examples needed] have incorrectly cited the murder of John Lennon as the song's primary inspiration; in fact, Cochrane had already written the song before Lennon was killed, but recorded the song's first demo the evening of the murder. He has stated that his feelings about the event, and how it echoed the theme of his song, galvanized him to release the song as a single despite advice from the record label that the song wasn't commercial enough." Wiki

Oddly enough, I wrote the gas part about going to the dentist. I don't care much for dentists, after all, they're much too invasive. I feel violated every time I come out of one of their offices. Then I imagined the worst things you could say to a person, nobody loves you, etc.

Right now, in the US, the lunatic fringe isn't in hiding anymore. The rest of the song still applies.

[kiz_paws]

Enjoyed your writing, Steven.
Very thought-provoking.
You say that 'Right now, in the US, the lunatic fringe isn't in hiding anymore. The rest of the song still applies.' -- not just in the USA, I am afraid.