photoart: ralph murre
The
Center, Not Holding
after re-reading Yeats' The Second Coming
by Ed Werstein
Here is what has
been revealed so far:
That tide of anarchy
stemmed in its infancy
stemmed in its infancy
might have been
preferable
to this.
The shapes of tanks
and missiles
dim the sands of two
deserts
with the blood of
both the innocent
and the invaders,
sending even more
indignant desert
birds
into flights of
terror.
Here at home,
blind falconers on
Wall Street
cannot control the
economy,
which is only one of
many things
falling apart.
Those who have
convictions,
are full of the
passionate
intensity of
polarity.
Meanwhile, the
hungry falcon
spirals out of
control
in search of more
prey,
its hooked beak,
sharp talons
and beady eyes,
now focused firmly
on the middle class,
the center that is
not holding.
Darkness drops
as the rough beast
of deep recession,
having devouredBethlehem
having devoured
and other steel
towns
decades ago,
slouches on and on.
~ first published in
The Blue Collar Review
