COLLOSEUM by Klaus J. Gerken 1993 Coliseum We didn't come to die like dogs; We came as those ambassadors Who care - improving functionality. We entered the city like an obscure mouse, Avoiding confrontation with the cat - But the cat was searching for us - And our hiding brought the scent of Rumor to its ears. We were prepared to die - but not Prepared to die like this: In the arena watched by drunken fools Shouting their frustrations in a prejudice Of hate. But nothing is as ever seems: This illusion is our death - their dream. 6/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Fanatics It was incredible: they waited, Waited for destruction: waited for the end. It never came. They went home - Broken hearted that they had to live another day. 6/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Angle half a circle round Bicycle Jellyfish Violin Hand clapping Slapping Hoedown Actually I frown Window Open To the breeze I sneeze Freeze Hold me Please In your arms I am warm I am safe In your arms Nothing fazes Oh it's crazy Life is lazy And I'm crazy Crazy, lady Crazy for your Love Bicycles Jellyfish Violins Happy happy Southern Winds... 6/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Lazy crazy hazy Something like a pony Basking in the summer Morning dew Morning dew Beautiful young princess Lounging in the sun Meeting me at dawn Is it true Yes it's true. 6/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG I was offered Broken saviour on a cross A cross I could not manage A cross that faded in the rust Of nails embedded in my flesh But I was never holy I was just a doubting mortal Semi in subsistence Drowning in the shifting Nether sands of History No one knew my name So they called me Joshua The "resurrected" one - the false Osiris For a false community To rally round King, Messiah, Christ Lies, my friends, - all lies. 6/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG I got a woman She's like ink upon a register She's like water in a well She reflects the universe She's the mirror of the world. I got a woman She's like wine poured from a flask She like diamonds in a black coal mine She understand impassionedly She knows a man's a child of time. I got a woman Taller than the Eiffel Tower Sending waves of inspiration everywhere Every artist paints her portrait Every poet writes her songs. I got a woman We get on together well She kisses me goodbye when I leave in the morning She kisses me hello when I get back Other then that we don't see each other She works the night and I the day - what luck! 7/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG The ritual of the sacrifice Stalks a living entity Terror in the night Neath a clear flat moon - It was the wedding of the shadow to a desperate light Which somehow made me realize Something was amiss - Slowly like a faltering eclipse The frost of continuity evolved - And we, a painting on the wall Of life and death, Survived. 7/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 klaus J. Gerken .PG The usurper is dead The vote is in The murderer resents it The winner is too thin - The public is awe-struck They fire this fuel And now there's a dying Ember - life's cruel! 7/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG I draw the line Black thick line Upon a white canvas I call it Intersection To the Spheres - Left and right Hemispheres of mind... And think about it Left must cancel right Right must cancel left - See - we just got rid Of politics - No one argues much. 7/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG One was I or her or you and me I met her on an Autumn leaf She was a caterpillar by complaint But in a cocoon she metamorphosis Into the wildest butterfly on any plain. 9/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG It was a dark night beneath the bright lamp And we waited While the insects circled The moths were insecure And the sharing of a cigarette Was so much an uncommon more - It was a chilly concert of retreat The moon was like a raven Shiny And we were past regretting Ashes neath our shifting Ashes neath our creed - It was like a surgery preformed Without an anesthetic Without the will to live As we turned into lamp posts Like lot's wife turned to salt - And still we were alone. 10/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Oh little pert and perky beauty Swing your purse like violets Swing their senses in the field - Notice how the men adore you Notice how they twist their necks Oh but you must try ignoring them And watch them fall into the shadows When your sunshine burns them all away - Oh and where do then do you go to In the one and only night Where we fell together dreaming of the parting of endeavour - Do you think of me when you are near me, Or do you think of others? Or do you think of nothing - Oh sweet beauty? 10/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Oh I faltered for a moment When the sun of your quick beauty filled my heart - Like a dart - Like a dart - And the centre of the Universe appeared To open like a vanished god - And I shivered - And I feared - And it left me there With a vision I could never comprehend - Death was like a pretty puppet But reality was real - Floating down impassioned rivers A flotilla flag of waste - It was awe struck I could hardly stand I reached out for your hand A Bible and a dagger Fell into my arms - The Bible served no purpose But the dagger drew its blood - Feasting on the blood Like a vampire pirate Tasting unencumbered victory Mighty in its trembling Oh I faltered for a moment Then you kissed the dream awake. 10/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Major migraine Topples buildings Fluctuates Tween life and death Away Away Thou black cloud Hovering Away! 11/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Listening to the ghosts - Songs that make no sense - Songs that make all the sense The world might ever come to know - Had they listened - No one listened And these tapes are 23 years old Rotting In an atmosphere of dust... I listen to them I nod Yes It is a crime... 11/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG I was in your favour I was the flavour Of the month - And then discarded like a saviour - Hung up on a cross - Hang me anywhere you want - I am at a loss to explain the cost... 12/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG NEO-CHRISTIAN MADNESS America never had a messiah: It's time that Elvis rose again. 12/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Write me a letter But only when you are here: I would not want distance To interfere with love. 12/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG to J.D. I spent hours on the phone It was the winter and the summer Of our discontent We were partners in the crime Of what some would call our poetry We were kindred in the heart But we fell apart You could not remember my direction I could not understand the rouse Perhaps we didn't understand each other After all: we were poets And poets rarely rationalize - But now I am a fool, and offer you A final restitution...friends? 12/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG TORTURE Love me like a silver splinter: I'm in a cage without remorse... 12/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG When the wild wind blows Through green trees growing The night is deep Without our knowing The voices fresh Confess their fault Fluvitium flamis We were born - We consult. 25/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG See how the man looks pleased See his wife look disenchanted With the dancer sitting on the floor Resting her arm upon his knee? See how the rest of the audience Looks at the stage we cannot see... C. 1930 - eye of the photographer. 25/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Politics They danced the night away On a sinking rubber raft. 25/08/93 Copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken .PG Shadows of carbon We came together Expressing naught - Vice without a vision Trumpets without honour We are the frozen dreams Broken billow So demeaned by A different war - We are fungus Smothering the earth Floating flooded Bloating into space - The Universe expands And we poor shallow insects Raise our heads Pray to what we cannot Understand... Blind vision Desperate stand... 25/08/93 All poems copyright (c) 1993 Klaus J. Gerken Published by Ygdrasil Press