We have spoken highly of procrastination on M3. It seems Mantra agrees procrastination is a good thing. This particular poem is not what you expect out of her, for more than just a couple of reasons.
One
This style of poem is not usually on display on M3. As a matter of fact, I can only find one other poem with a similar scheme in nearly 30 years of poetry.
Two
While this poem barely rates as a medium in terms of the length of poem I prefer to write, it is longer than most Mantra brings to the fore. Mayhap, before I get to the end of the reasons, I may convince myself this is merely my thoughts in rhyme.
Three
This poem contains no real frivolity…unless you consider the administration justice to be frivolous. Which is not to say it is humorless.
Okay. I admit it. This is what I really think, but in rhyme. We will let Mantra sulk because I have hijacked her day.
Though simply titled, Not Today is a detailed look at retaliation through nothing more than being sincere. It is an act of Karma. Ironically, even those who do not believe the carousel ever truly makes it all the way around can find justice in the end of this poem.
Not Today
There are not many reasons why I’d venture into the fray.
Like so many others before, today is not the day.
The hackles stand high as I listen to the words
Spoken not softly, clumped together in herds.
They’re drum beats of a thousand tinny snares
Yet, insufficient to drown out my daily cares,
Which tug at my memories and wrench my heart,
Pulling at nerves, giving a jolting start.
Seeking solace and silence, I retreat again
Into darkened corridors, for it to begin.
The raising of the curtain on the drama unending,
Which threatens my sanity. It is mind bending.
The contortion of convoluted crap.
The bottomless pit of a miring trap.
Lies, bigotry, charlatans: One and all.
Somehow never righteously slipping to fall
Into their own waste-strewn dumpsters,
But inviting us to toxic waters
To steep in their self-aggrandized muck,
With the diabolical wish we’d get stuck
With one free hand holding a rope
To satisfy our undying hope
Of escape from the slime,
While at the same time
From the other end loose
They tie a tight noose
To drape ’round our throat,
Bidding us, “Don’t choke.”
On the sugarcoated pellets of deception
Sweetly poisoning our skewed perception
Of the non-reality they create,
Breeding discord and hate.
There are not many reasons why I’d venture into the fray.
Like so many others before, today is not the day.
For in my other clenched fist
Is an ever-growing list
Of those who shall never see
Even the slightest shadow of me
Darkening their theatres of contrivance.
In their ill-borne efforts to advance,
I become a silent stumbling block,
Appearing at every window, door and lock.
Oh, but not as overt as that may seem,
For you see, in all interests will my effort teem,
Not at the hands of my presence or joining,
But at my insistent remote interjecting
Of truth amidst the half-truths and lies
Which inevitably open others’ eyes
To the constant stream of uselessness
Shoveled without consciousness
By the purveyors and eradicators alike.
Yet, in the end, it is truly a spike
I’d rather drive through your empty heart
Because your head is a stone, hard and dark.
Instead, I choose not to stoop down,
Choose a knowing grin over the frown.
For in the denouement of the play,
It is I the curtain call to pay.
Indeed the victory is sweet,
With you beneath my feet
Crushed by the weight of your doing
Naught by my fervent eschewing.
For you should have listened to
The original warning I gave you.
There are not many reasons why I’d venture into the fray.
Like so many others before, today is not the day.
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Miss R
/ April 25, 2012wouldn’t expect anything less from you Red. Dig it Baby!
Dark, beautiful and wondrous.
Miss R recently posted..Murder! Mayhem! Sex! Free Beer!
Red
/ April 25, 2012I thought this one may resonate with you, chica.
Angela
/ April 25, 2012“Instead, I choose not to stoop down,
Choose a knowing grin over the frown.” I like it.
I try very hard not to get involved in drama. The most highly dramatic people I know are the ones who say they are tired of everyone else’s drama lol. I have a few tricks I’ve learned over the years to check myself when I feel the suck of their powerful vacuum (double meaning intended). There is enough drama I cannot avoid, so I choose to stay out of the fray and say “not today” as well. Good stuff Anne Marie!
Red
/ April 26, 2012I really like that different parts of the poem have resonated with different people. I have always been a drama magnet. For some reason, my listening skills beg to be exploited every time drama is created.
Keep saying “not today”. It works!