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Hip-Hop Groove (change)

The world is a tilt-a-whirl
And it makes us dizzy, every one
We stand and stare as round it twirls
This merry-go-round is never done

The dance of the heavens, yes the dance of the stars
Is the dance of my eyes and my heart
When the seasons come spinning by, yes change comes rushing through
Then I know I'll soon be trading the familiar for the new
(And sometimes loving it
And sometimes overcome)

The ceaseless pace of change comes ever pulsing on:
The basso beat of a hip-hop groove in a car with its windows down
Cruising round through the town until it's vibrating in the ground
I grind my teeth at the sound, knowing that the future can't be found
It's already here, just waiting to be unbound

The past is not lost, just gone,
        and the future's flight has been delayed
And with all that's lost, how do we carry on
        in the churning slipstream of so many todays

In tumult and in thunder
Silver lights the rims
        (of the dark)
        (of the rolling wheels)
Promises
        (of blue skies)
        (of destinations reached)
And the drawn-down darkling brows of the heavens
And the gone-round sparkling weights of the driven
Remind:

Today was not worse than yesterday (no:
        better in almost every way,
        even the ways that were worse)
And tomorrow will not be worse than now (no:
        better in almost every sound
        even the sound of slowly-breaking curse)

4 comments:

  1. "The past is not lost, just gone,
    and the future's flight has been delayed
    And with all that's lost, how do we carry on
    in the churning slipstream of so many todays"

    Beautiful. I love this stanza! This poem is full of imagery and interest, and it is quite engaging as it makes me think about both what you're saying (interpretation, that is) and the truth of the things you're saying. The fact that you *changed* rhyme scheme isn't lost on me. Clever.

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  2. I like it.
    It really seems like several poems all tied up in one.

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  3. I really like this one Chris. I like the variety across the stanzas.

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  4. Jaimie, thanks! Strangely, I did some of that unintentionally; I just pumped this one out.

    David, in a lot of ways it is. It was all my reflections in the course of half an hour, one idea tumbling into the next with the same sort of rush that happens when you're rolling down a good hill on a mountain bike: the particulars change, but you just keep moving, sitting light and flexible.

    Abi, me too!

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