Treacherous as trap door spiders,
they ambush children’s innocence.
“Why is there g h in light? It isn’t fair!”
Buddha declared the world illusory
as the p sound in psyche. Sartre
said the same of God from France,
Olympus of silent letters, n’est -ce pas?
Polite conceals an e in the same way
“How are you?” hides “I don’t care.”
Physics asserts the desk I lean on,
the brush that fluffs my hair,
are only dots that punctuate a nullity
complete as the g sound in gnome,
the c e in Worcestershire.
Passions lurk under the saint’s bed,
mute as the end of love.
They glide toward us, yellow eyes
gleaming, hushed as the finality
of hate, malice, snake.
As easily predict the h in lichen,
choral, Lichtenstein,
as laws against throttling rats,
making U-turns on empty streets.
Such nonsense must be memorized.
“Imagine dropkicking a spud,”
Dad said. “If e breaks off
your toe, it spoils your potato.”
Like compass needles
pointing north, silent letters
show the power of hidden things.
Voiced by our ancestors,
but heard no more, they nudge
our thoughts toward death,
infinity, our senses’ inability
to see the earth as round,
circling the sun in a universe
implacable as “Might Makes Right,”
ineffable as tomorrow’s second r,
incomprehensible as imbroglio’s g,
the e that finishes inscrutable,
imponderable, immense,
the terrifying k in “I don’t know.”
(Charles Webb)
More Poetry from Charles Webb:
Charles Webb Poems based on Topics: Love, World, Light, Passion, Power, Hair, God, Hatred, Letters, Innocence, Death & Dying- Post-Vacation Tristesse (Charles Webb Poems)
- Enthusiasm (Charles Webb Poems)
- Blind (Charles Webb Poems)
- Giant Fungus (Charles Webb Poems)
- The Death Of Santa Claus (Charles Webb Poems)
- Reservations Confirmed (Charles Webb Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, God Poems, World Poems, Light Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Fairness Poems, Power Poems, Hair Poems, Passion Poems, Hatred Poems, Letters PoemsBased on Keywords: voiced, asserts, predict, finishes, pas, gnome, buddha, imponderable, illusory, finality, memorized
- Vision of War (Lincoln Colcord Poems)
- Songs Of Seven (complete) (Jean Ingelow Poems)
- Devon's Poly-Obion (Joanna Baillie Poems)
- A Confidant Without Knowing It; Or The Stratagem (Jean de La Fontaine Poems)
- Epistle To Earl Harcourt, On His Wishing Her To Spell Her Name With Of Catherine With A K. (Joanna Baillie Poems)