Dragon Fruit and Blood Spice
by Joseph Armstead
The wolf coughs,
its muzzle wrinkling
like the onset of wisdom
on an old man's forehead,
but actually
more like the cocking of the slide
on a gun,
and it breathes in a scent
from the shadows:
The darkness
smells like pepper
and sizzling honey.
The feral beast feels the wind
fanning the hairs on the fur
along its sides
and it knows
that this is the touch of its Master,
the caress of its Maker,
and the canine hunter's
primal mind erupts
with the sensations
and feelings
of a dream of feasting.
(Somewhere in a metal-hiveworld city
where I am but one more
faceless shade
out of a million,
I look at your photograph
and I feel my blood begin to burn,
my heart begin to pound, racing,
and I reach for my cell phone...
...I stop when memory, uninvited and unbidden,
replays the thundering sound
of your last angry goodbye.
Somewhere in a metal-hiveworld city
I drop to my knees, gnashing my teeth,
howling --
Lon Chaney,Jr., sad-eyed and repentent,
laughs humorlessly
as I surrender to the change,
the ravenous animal within at last
breaking free of the cage of my flesh...
Only feeding can stop the pain.)
In a brambled bush,
twisted and choking
on its own unchecked growth,
limbs intertwined
looping one inside the other,
thorns and rough bark
sliding edge against edge
under the prompting
of the night's wind,
a malignant tumor
of brilliantly colored flowers,
midnight lillies, shining red
and olive-shaped, a night cactus,
bloom in sinuous
reptilian
triumph
under the pale rain
of moonlight.
The fruit of the dragon's garden,
exposed for all to see.
The wolf smells the bouquet
from the treasure flowers
and shakes its great head,
the movement flickers through changes
in identity, in awareness,
like the light switch
turning from Off to On,
clearing away visions
of still summer nights
and wet, frenzied sex,
and the Beast-that-was-once-Man
prowls the deepest shadows
breathing in hot breaths
of pepper
and
sizzling honey.
Image courtesy of Dreamstime Photographic Stock: "Pearl Necklace & Dragon Fruit" by Lowchinhan (Chin Hna Low), dreamstime_9262174.jpg
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Diagnosing the Sickness, A Causational Wedding
by Joseph Armstead
(i) Signs and Symptoms
First a cough, then a fever, the waves come rolling in,
crashing against a dull and featureless shore,
fever unleashes the onset of dreams,
hallucinations
--- speak, cry out, tell someone, do not drown alone ---
the canon of Archibald Garrod: "our chemical individualities are due to our chemical merits as well as our chemical shortcomings..."
biopsy frequently and often with weak substantive explanation
(ii) Components in Initial Prognosis
analysis of morbid anatomy notwithstanding,
it is a crisis of biological individuality
violently betrayed
by the inherited pathology of evolutionary selection
"...even in the molecular groupings which confer upon us our individualities..."
it is a management plan for a problematic soul
unknowingly cannibalizing itself
--- the diagnosis of exclusion begins ---
IF/THEN statement
Draft One, Step One: Is it of environmental origin?
Draft One, Step Two: Can the bleeding be controlled?
Draft One, Step Three: Is it fatal?
Draft One, Step Four: Is it contagious?
Defeasible reasoning:
If NO, resort to tried and true treatment options.
If YES, inviegle, distort, obfuscate and then, in privacy, pray.
(iii) Application of Curative Hypothesis
the pain begins as an ache and then a throb,
and then it erupts to eclipse all the world,
the fever invades the brain and blinds the mind's eye
stick 'em with something narrow and sharp
inject something expensive from your pharmaceutical representative
sound educated and confident
ignore their pain
roll the dice
(iv) Results
The dreams cease and the pain lessens,
courage and a positive outlook,
combined with aggressive therapy,
help the recession
--- speak out, feel empowered, tell someone, don't give up ---
dialectics and rhetoric trump logical positivism
Tabulate the bill
... and the Piper is paid, the devil given his due ...
Images courtesy of Dreamstime Photographic Stock: "Science Molecule" and "Money Molecule" by Prawny (Dawn Hudson), dreamstime_4103561 and 4103093.jpg; "Blue Chaos Rays Space" by Sgame, dreamstime_2012722; and, finally, "3 Shiny 3-sided Mystery Dice Roll A Question Mark" by Michaeldb (Michael Brown), dreamstime_5210295.jpg
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Surrogate Melody Played for Ravens
by Joseph Armstead
Startled from sleep,
the black bird cries
and thrashes the night air,
seeking escape.
.............It was the Winter of Our Alienation...................
.............when Time and Mind cruelly conspired .................
.............to relieve us of our sense of security................
.............and enlighten us to the harder aspects................
.............of a Reality that did not want our input..............
.............and a Life that no longer needed our..................
........................participation..............................
I want to fly away, riding this Sorrow to a place without broken mirrors
The sound of the distant surf
echoes
through the trees,
winding, climbing, spinning
past twisted, bare limbs
so old
they have seen the the buffalo
vanish
and the Blue and Gray make war,
through moonlight,
riding the last chill of winter
and into the deepest shadow,
the soft distant thunder
at last vanishes,
and the forest of a thousand
forgotten midnights
holds its breath, waiting,
until the next wave
signals the hope of life
from the far shore
of an unreachable,
beckoning horizon.
.............It was the Moment of Our One Last Kiss................
.............when our hearts sadistically scripted.................
.............a three-act play we couldn't define ..................
.............as either a failed comedy or a happy tragedy..........
.............and where all the words came out twisted..............
.............written in an ancient tongue best suited..............
.........................for mourning..............................
I want to fly away, riding the cool wind to a place without broken mirrors
The black bird's
rough song
rips
the rolling silence
as it flies
into the night season.
Image courtesy of Dreamstime Photographic Stock: "Raven Landing - Charcoal" by Aliencat (Linda Bucklin), dreamstime_19333731.jpg
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