Future Poems
Duino Elegies: The First Elegy
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels'
hierarchies? and even if one of them suddenly
pressed me against his heart, I would perish
in the embrace of his stronger existence.
For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror
which we are barely able to endure and are awed
because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.
Each single angel is terrifying.
And so I force myself, swallow and hold back
the surging call of my dark sobbing.
......
The City Planners
by Margaret Atwood
Cruising these residential Sunday
streets in dry August sunlight:
what offends us is
the sanities:
the houses in pedantic rows, the planted
sanitary trees, assert
levelness of surface like a rebuke
to the dent in our car door.
No shouting here, or
shatter of glass; nothing more abrupt
......
The British
by Benjamin Zephaniah
Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.
Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
......
Carolina
by Henry Timrod
I
The despot treads thy sacred sands,
Thy pines give shelter to his bands,
Thy sons stand by with idle hands,
Carolina!
He breathes at ease thy airs of balm,
He scorns the lances of thy palm;
Oh! who shall break thy craven calm,
Carolina!
......
At The Long Sault
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Searching the pile of corpses the victors found four Frenchmen still breathing. Three had scarcely a spark of life . . . the fourth seemed likely to survive and they reserved him for future torments.
- Parkman's History
A prisoner under the stars I lie,
With no friend near;
To-morrow they lead me forth to die,
The stake is ready, the torments set,
They will pay in full their deadly debt;
But I fear them not! Oh, none could fear
Of those who stood by Daulac's side
......
Morals
by Alana Alpres
In this world of capitalism's grasp,
Where wealth is worshiped and morals lapse,
I stand at a crossroads, torn between two fates,
One that feeds the fire, and one that breaks the gates.
On the one hand, I am tempted by the lure of success,
To climb the corporate ladder and fulfill my own excess,
But on the other, I hear the call of a different way,
A path of purpose and meaning, not just chasing pay.
......
A Future Unseen
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
Will I get my dream job, car, or home?
Each instance of fate hangs upon whim,
Like that of the bluebirds, born to roam.
Will I get my dream job, car, or home?
Amidst the questing, time's often flown,
For chance dwells in a region, very dim.
Will I get my dream job, car or home?
Each instance of fate hangs upon whim.
The Year 6555
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
We're now in the year 6555, and I am feeling happy and so alive,
Above, sunshine pours like honey, as along the oceanside I drive.
Wind whips my hair around, beneath skies a deep sparkling blue,
Like the confusion all around, when colorful swarms pass through.
Amidst the glorious scenery, sea planes touch down and take off,
Like those beautiful scenes created, when sun and moon faceoff!
Scarlet, plum and saffron blooms, dance up and down this coast,
......
Revelry
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
The year had ended and we are a year older.
Based on the past, we've grown bolder.
Heart's new joys reflect the old ones,
Amidst cheers and firing of guns!
Time and Memory
by Sharmarke Nur
We are trapped in the past, oblivious to the fact, today is eternity.
The light of the past can only be used to illuminate the futures darkness
Today’s eternity provides the opportunity of perpetual growth
And to utilize the past’s light to travel through the darkness of the future
