Mene mene tekel upharsin

[DieterM]

We’ve seen this before.
Those dark men standing in circles,
Susurrating first and humming their glacial mantras,
Corroding our dreams,
Defiling our sacred hopes,
Dripping their sulphuric acid in our ears
Drop
By drop
By drop
With the placid patience
Of those who know they will vanquish.

Gradually they make us understand
That words are futile.
Only our words, not theirs of course.
The shift they work is steady and subliminal.
The terms we cherish—
Love, exchange, debate,
Freedom, sharing, tolerance,
Wisdom, reason—
Turn slowly sour in our mouths
Until they ripen into pathetic expletives
And finally are ready for the jumble sale.

Then they come forward openly.
They march up, heavy boots on cobblestones,
Brandishing their toxic truths like banners of hatred,
Whispering no more, but brawling in public places,
Proud and fierce.
Vermin, rats, eradicate, they say.
And they are aped by comic strip politicians
Who lead us down the slope to degree zero.
And we listen now, mouths agape, eyes shining.
Nodding. Including ourselves
Into the consenting stream.

Words become weapons,
And weapons arguments, solutions.
We substitute reason with bravery and legend.
We heap writings in Main Squares and light them
As purifying bonfires for our old misalignments.
We stampede on crystal.
We brand with fire-heated marks those
Who remain on the outside,
Who try to argue, whose faces and looks
We’ve learned to dislike.
We revel in a new millennium
And hail our new heroes.
We cheer, masses of lifted arms,
And we cheer and cry…

Strange that the first time,
It ended in tears already.
Strange that we’ve seen this before.
We’ve paid the price.
And yet, we seem so eager
To pay again.

[Danik 2016]

I enjoyed this poem very much and suggest its submission together with "In the summer, in the city" for the Lit Net Book.

I don´t know if I am being to finicky, I would say "To pay it again" in the last verse.

[caddy_caddy]

very impressive and touching .
And the question remains , why do we listen and repeat the same mistakes ?

[desiresjab]

Very interesting to read. I've never heard of a jumble sale. Is that what they call yard sales where you're from, or a phrase you created? Either way I like it. If you get a chance to reply, how does the title translate?

[DieterM]

Thanks everyone for reading, glad you liked it.
dj, a "jumble sale" is just a normal English word for "a sale of cheap second-hand goods, usually held to raise money for charity." Normal English meaning (for an Austrian lad who would never have been allowed to speak or write American English at school) British English ;-)
As for the "Mene mine tekel upharsin", it's a quote from the Bible – here's a link: http://www.gotquestions.org/mene-mene-tekel-upharsin.html I found this title more intriguing than using "The Writing on the Wall".

[desiresjab]

The title cinches it up nicely, now that I know its origin and history. Much is implied, of course, merely by the origin of the title and the geo-coordinates of the wall. I would have to call it an excellent title for your piece. As usual with your work, many startling and evocative expressions. We stampede on crystal is a beauty. Just enough is left open. No one is named. Any party feeling aggreived could claim another party was dripping their sulphuric acid in their ears. The whole tenor leaves no doubt of the speaker's position on current issues, I believe, but both sides could claim particular language as representing their point of view. This is not weak but a strong trait. When poets get away with it they produce art, when others try they are usually accused of things. It might in general bolster either side of an ideological fence (wall) about to go wrong. Here is what Frost said about leaving things open and not naming things.


'Tis pity if the case require
(Or so we say) that in the end
We speak the literal to inspire
The understanding of a friend.

--Frost

Admirable results from leaving things open and closed at the same time, poetry style.