The Ides of March and Other Poems by Klaus J. Gerken (2013) The Ides of March I am powerful. All powerful. I remain The fusion of shadows...a terrible fame! The crowds In the Forum gather like flies. They hum their ascent And lap up the lies. My voice rambles through them Without great affect. You give them an apple, they give you respect. But it's empty. If a fool were to sup With an Emperor, the Emperor would fall. The fool's On the stage; that's how we laugh Away the all our troubles, away all our past! No army could conquer a fool's simple grasp! The fool says: To conquer and not to persuade Is to grant people food at the door to their graves. But is that realistic? I am not here by choice! They gave me these honours as you give a child toys! Eternally grateful, I let them rejoice! There's a chill wind a-blunder, recognized as a gift. The soothsayer tells me, don't go out in this! Cicero also redresses me thus! Cicero, friend! I trust... The omens are precious, they hide what is riven The obvious here is always forgiven! A fool and his power, I have often assuaged Is resplendent! What idleness haunts me! I cannot forget What won me the crown and the glory: I slaughtered a million For Rome's bold attentions! I am here for a purpose! What has been accepted cannot be rescinded! Do I not give them games resplendent? Spare no blood For their entertainment? My table is the finest in the world! And no one need fear poison! A slave for every guest Is worth the sacrifice to gain their acquiescence! I spare no public funds to buy the votes of many! The Republic is secure. It just needs a steady hand To guide it past the present crisis. I will do that gently. No liberties are lost to anyone. I have increased the public Grain ration. Do not take that lightly. I will let no Roman starve. Non-citizens can fend for themselves. As to Cleopatra, well, ugly as she was, I had Rome in mind; To secure her safety, and consolidate the provinces. Believe me, I have sacrificed to make the Republic strong. Caesarion, well, I am not prepared to challenge gossip. To even acknowledge it gets nothing done. You've no idea! It's a fine spring morning and the crowds are already there To hear my speech! There was am eagle that screeched, but It's superstition. Even my wife tells me not to go! What Baseless vile to base your thoughts upon! I will go and Address the Senate. They will welcome me. Have no fear my dear! Brutus, Anthony and Cassius will be there! What better friends Could I have? They will gather in the cause I bring to Rome. There's the hag that calls to me. Go away vile woman, no sense In you! The Ides of March are Caesar's glory! Take her guards, I wish no more of this whore's predilection! Ah what cheers! 1159pm 1 march 2013 ************** The lusting of winter crowns glory with dust There is rust in the water and a terrible musk That rots inner bodies and sacrifices trust Where the vision is shallow the warning's a tusk That spears through the armour, a terrible drain Of consequence where doubts are not wanted but always remain. * To stand upon a pedestal is just a vuglar crass amusement. Those who seek the glory must one day suffer vertigo. * As time is redunderunt I need time to adjust; When the muse is a failor It's a fool you can trust. kjg 106am 2 march 2013 * Writing things for others to understand is never easy; We don't have a vocabulary for tomorrow. kjg 110am 2 march 2013 * all lies are perfect it's the truth that is the problem kjg 113am 2 march 2013 * Voices do not argue with the wind; they just float away. kjg * It's a hard rain comes a-callin' A strange world is a-comin' And no one knows they're fallin' Into a whirlpool of surrender Ah what sanctimonious splendour Awaits them! If you know the past already There's a poison in the alley It creeps upon your fender And bends it like a blender Reaps mud! It's a hard rain, a hard rain comes a-callin' There are soldiers look like angels Not old enough for pimples There's a war for every moment Every colour every omen A blast! I can see each person wired To the government's desire You can't escape the lying You can't escape the prying Eyes! It's a hard rain, a hard rain comes a-callin' If you know the past already There's a poison in the alley It creeps upon your fender And bends it like a blender Reeps mud! A strange world is a-comin' And no one knows they're fallin' Into a whirlpool of surrender Ah what sanctimonious splendour Awaits them! It's a hard rain, a hard rain comes a-callin' KJG 2 March 2013 11:53 PM * darkness there's a darkness round the corner i feel it in my bones it's a desert dereliction that doesn't take you home it's a fever and a madness and a toxin for the throne it's a rusted piece of armour and a place where you get stoned i have no explanation there is none anyway the fool who climbs the ladder must come down hard some day for the sins we have omitted pray pray pray! kjg 508am 3 March 2013 * Common Sense To move a mountain Just walk around it No use injuring yourself! kjg 3 march 2013 522am * Stop pilgrim and see this stone; Read the words upon it, then go home! kjg 3 march 2013 525am * Overcast. A heavy burden presses on our shoulders between the earth and sky. kjg 6 march 2013 * In A Cavern What meddling screeches through the ranting wind? What horror strikes these cavern walls and rages Rabid yelping through the gaping mouth of Hera? What Hero will be sacrificed to her tonight? Or is it Inaras' who demands a token king for sacrifice After all the lusting has abated and the draining Is complete? I will not surrender! My frail body May be old, the crown tarnished on my balding head! But surrender is no cause; surrender is an obligation For the weak! We cannot hold a dare to that refusal! My winter shawl does not protect me from the elements. And my reference to the world is gone. My finger's numb. I crave a sleep so deep even angels cannot touch my heart! KJG 1149am 6 March 2013 * Morning The skull is in the graveyard And the soul is in the sky There's a perfect resolution But no one knows quite why There's a milkman on the corner Waiting for the train Of cars to leave the suburbs To make his run again We cannot know commitment Unless the hour has struck We're mighty in our image The rest is just pure luck There's a bell tower by the graveyard The one bell strikes it's shell Throughout an empty morning Hoping all is well... KJG 1256pm 6 March 2013 * Morning jig Get up Get on There's the sun The morning's come Go for a run Let's have some fun Another day Resplendent Has begun! Be happy Everyone! kjg 109pm 6 march 2013 * Carnival Wearing masks in Venice Frees the libido Casanova and Byron Both agreed Too bad some who go there Won't imbibe! KJG 136pm 6 March 2013 * Courtship Rhyme Share your thoughts, don't be shy, There's a big bug in your eye. Here's an apple and a drum, Don't know where that thought came from. If you wanna play some time There's a diamond in the mine. If a diamond won't appeal, Have a piece of coal for real. If you still don't think it's neat, I'll even offer you my seat. But please don't sit there for too long My feet get tired, or I'll be gone! KJG 306pm 6 March 2013 * I'm a plastic engineer, I can make Everyone's ego reappear! kjg 316pm 6 march 2013 * When The Threat Is Gone If you cannot be like others there will never be a place for you; but when you die you will be an endless fascination to them! kjg 321pm 6 mar 2013 * People don't burn books because they cannot understand them; They burn books because they have been infused with hatred. kjg 323pm 6 mar 2013 * Resurrection Hollow me a moment Like an ancient tomb Where I will surrender My mother's holy womb. kjg 328pm 6 mar 2013 * Shore A drunken sailor argues With every harbour whore The night is cruel and jaundiced The milkman's at the door The wind's a south south wester And the ships creak at the dock The music bleeds from hell holes And the poverty won't stop There's vomit on the pavement There's an argument somewhere The windows are all open To the hot and humid air Orphens play at midnight Where children aught not go Dirty and decrepid They're only there for show Tourists sometimes venture Beyond these gates of Hell And when they do the children Fleece them pretty well There is never much to do here Except to drink till dawn The women free forever And the beer is pretty strong You wake up on a mattress You don't remember long The smell of piss delivers Another sailor song The sidewalks won't stop moving Each doorway is a cave No money in your pockets You reap what you just gave You're headed for the dockyards There's always work somewhere Contraband delivered You really do not care You hit the bars at sundown Just don't get in a fight Keep your wits about you You might just get out with you life. kjg 1031am 7 March 2013 * Insomnia Insomnia when will you go away I've had you now for 5 days straight I'm tired of sleep's delay! Insomnia Insomnia You aren't my greatest friend I can't take one more night of this I'm praying for the end! Insomnia Insomnia I'm spinning like a top There's got to be a better way Than dancing with a mop! Oh slop! kjg 232am 8 mar 2013 * lor' luv a duck! my mind's a-muck! if sleep won't have me wish me luck! kjg 239am 8 mar 2013 * mop me off the floor, i'm too solvent to adore! kjg 241am 8 mar 2013 * Habe Habe Have Have Habe Have not Habe alles Habe zeit ARBEIT MACHT FREI Habe nothing Habe work 9 apr 10 848pm 8 mar 13 1259pm kjg * Sway the night is long the night is dark a doorway opens there is a spark a blinding flash of light reveals dancing shadows is it real sway it comes at midnight with blood red eyes it doesn't matter what you surmise the bodies mingle on the floor the beat of music strikes the core sway oh baby what you doing here oh baby what you gonna dare sway the morning edges out the dark the alcoholic rage is stark the vials are empty and the floor is hard every movement leaves a mark sway sway sway kjg 918am 9 march 2013 * SMILING There are so many ways of smiling. But I'm thinking of the most difficult, the simplest way to smile. It's a smile so tormented, cut by the vignon's blade of time, A smile that asks for one more wrinkle to solve the riddle, and prepare for God's intolerable name. Such a smile is fixed upon the face - It stays much longer than what created it - anticipating and presaging it, it sees itself completely in the present discarding the face... from Vladimir Holan (rendered into English by Klaus J. Gerken 134am 10 March 2013) from memory. * Dance When the lights flash yellow And the mood is mellow There's a beat enhancement Of a wild entrancement There's a lovers alley Where we find drunk Sally And she runs amazing Through a Chinese hazing I would never guess I would never guess She'a a pope in armour Or a wild-eyes saviour Dance When the music takes you And the christ forsakes you And the shadows crumbles Into Plato's humble We can call Atlantis Or pretend, Oh Isis There's a tomb so vital With a pharaoh's title I would never guess I would never guess She'a a pope in armour Or a perfect harbour Dance Oh...Screaming rabbits Make good bandits There's a poison ink well For each noise we sell well Till we learn How to earn Dance There's a silver donkey And a slapped faced monkey Enters into holy Holy-moly False salvation Reverberations My head is spinning My mind is swimming I would never guess I would never guess She's a pope in armour She was such a charmer Dance kjg 205am 11 march 2013 * Savages A soldier in a concentration camp took bags of precious belongings from a family and flung them on a hearth you won't need these anymore he said the man jumped the soldier and tried to choke him with emaciated hands other guards came threw the man to the ground then stabbed him to death in front of his wife and children with their knives are you hurt my comrade they asked the soldier answered no I'm fine see what savages these people are! kjg 254am 13 march 2013 * The Art of Survival In 1933 my mother was and apprentice cook in the Hindenberg household in Berlin at the cusp of the Nazi era she used to describe the night life the caberets and the joi de vivre but also the fear of something dark approaching "it seemed as if everyone was partying to their last breath of freedom" Each morning she used to go and get the daily meat at the local Jewish butcher Hindenberg's chef would go to no other. These were dangerous times and the daily ritual of gathering the days' food was a thing of trust. Especially for the Chancellor. My mother was trusted with that responsibility. When Hitler came to power my mother, along with the other Jewish staff were dismissed. My mother reflected that Hitler's handshake felt like a cold wet empty glove limp to the touch and "not quite there". At the same time in Cuxhaven, my then 22 year old father did their famous moon salute when finding out Hitler was now Chancellor - I still have the photograph. No long employed, my mother returned to Cuxhaven and met my father and soon they were living together in a loft. Soon after that the were married. My father was a barber but soon was drafted. In those days no one cared whether my mother was Jewish and my father wasn't. The persecution had not yet reached the provinces. For 5 years life went on quite normal. More and more men wore uniforms, but otherwise daily routines continued and no one even thought of war, although the black clouds were already thick on the visible horizon. They spent evenings listening to the short wave radio signals coming in from England because no one trusted the Nazi run state broadcast network, even though it was against the law. From my mother's perspective there was little persecution of the Jews... she was one and was never once harassed. When the harassment finally came it took a very twisted turn indeed. After the war broke out and my father was at the peripheral in his shack of a barber shop in the mud and open field. My mother stayed in Cuxhaven, in Stickenbuttle not too far from the V2 missile testing grounds in Altenwalde. One morning she went into town and ran into a group of gestapo officers. One of them, a colonel, pulled her aside, "Well, what have we here?" She looked him in the eyes. A shiver ran down her spine. "Isn't it Hindenberg's little go-girl! Remember me?" and he pulled out his luger. "Yes I do Herr Rosenberg. I remember you very well." "Well then if you want to live you will know how to keep quiet." So my mother shouted in a loud voice, with a luger at her head, "Yes Officier ROSENBERG, I know you very well, my Jewish butcher." There was a long moment my mother knew life became a very precious commodity. He backed away. "She's just a crazy Jew! Has me confused with someone else!" The other officers laughed. "Next time," he whispered to her as he walked away. My mother spit in his face. War is never pretty. Heroism takes many different forms. KJG 1:32PM 13 March 2013 * Passion To die upon the cross is one thing; To gloat about it is another! kjg 106am 14 March 2013 * And The Saints Go Marching On! The night's a strange conglomeration of history regurgitating itself. We watch the sheets unfold with common interest. One always wonders where the moment leads: Is it passion or regret. "I have faith" until the tragic moment brings down another monument - structured to rebuild. Resourceful animals we are indeed! We have gods that fill the need of any want. With great savage strides we advance HIS cause. Slaughter is the gift we sacrifice for love: divine love, simple and pure. With whatever god is on our side we raise the standard. We drink HIS blood to Victory and hope our place in Heaven will be secured! kjg 214am 14 March 2013 * 4:21 AM already The night's like a sledgehammer on my brain. It rattles me innards to great disdain. They may have a new pope elected, But I'd be damned if I was selected! kjg 424am 14 March 2013 * Fungus The moon is blue mold Cheshire: It rains conception on the Earth. KJG 250pm 14 March 2013 * Possession Slowly we drum ourselves to death, Marching always marching like heartbeats that belong to someone else. kjg 414am 15 march 2013 * Posturing When one forever strikes a pose, The pose forever strikes the man! kjg 939pm 15 March 2012 * Temptation Down to my last apple; But I have no Eve to offer it to me! kjg 2am 16 March 2013 * Chance I bite into my apple, But there is no worm; Lucky worm! kjg 202am 16 March 2013 * Those who are rarely pretend! * Sad She says to her boyfriend: I'm going out to see if I can make some money. kjg 302am 16 March 2013 * Hollow 3AM. She stands there waiting On the sidewalk ever waiting for a car to come and offer her a ride. kjg 313am 16 march 2013 * Premonition The shadows are quick and simple, like a slash of line across the canvas of our lives! kjg 318am 16 March 2013 * Catechism The story of humanity: Thou shalt not kill Unless Commanded by God. kjg 321am 16 march 2013 * Truth If I have one illusion, it is this, I am alive! kjg 324am 16 march 2013 * Youth invents; age scrutinizes. * What we swallow's never easy! Hit the button Find the answer Down a bottle For adventure Crazy as it may be I won't venture Past the bar to Find my dentures! kjg 205am st patties day 2013 * Empty When the silence builds to a crescendo it is still silence. kjg 231am 17 march 2013 * Science Where the apple plunges to the ground another round another round there is an oblique commitment to the sound of scientific argument i will i won't i must repeat these calculations are replete with dragon breath and dragon teeth we meet between but somehow never meet the wilderness is plenty then and walls are built around the ken of visions that are arguments oh were it simple i don't know does magic have on afterglow or does it melt like wet spring snow? kjg 817am 17 march 2013 * Pupil: What is life? Master: What are you? Pupil: Me! Master: There you have it! kjg 1005am 17 March 2013 * Dust I am in a bookstore I am among books I am among dust and books the musty smell enters my nostrils enters my mind enters my thoughts some of the books are so fragile they crumble in my hand I eat the dust of centuries not to be denied an education! kjg 237am 18 march 2013 * Mirror When you dismiss a fool you dismiss yourself. KJG 825am 20 march 2013 * Sex Sex is the craziest shit of all we all engage in it every way and yet declare it a taboo as if beneath our clothes nothing stirrs! kjg 203am 22 march 2013 * Fate Almost choking to death on an aspirin I realize that even that which can save our lives can kill us! kjg 208am 22 march 2013 * Revolution Song The revolution's over Admit it that you've lost It was a fine endeavour At what a bloody cost? Between the peace we hope for And constant all out war There's little goody two shoes And her feet are pretty sore Gimme gimme gimme a gun Gimme gimme gimme a gun And I'll show you a future A revolution's won The revolution's over It's lying on the floor Bloody dead or dying They're laughing all the more The only way to change things Is to infiltrate their ranks Pretend you're in their clutches Then crush their little hands Gimme gimme gimme a gun Gimme gimme gimme a gun And I'll show you a future A revolution's won kjg 1124pm 22 march 2013 * Anxiety Staring at the wall just won't do when it jumps at you with a vengeance kjg 303am 23 march 2013 * Knowing When You Get There "I grow old, I grow old I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled" An old women, my age, spoke to me Of the weather, aches and pains and How her hands were cold but with a glint Said "On a day like this A good brisk walk Will make the blood run hot." She winked and smiled and with A glowing nose Hobbled with her walker Down the street. I rose from the bench Steadied myself with my cane And felt quite satisfied That I was not alone. kjg 1254pm 23 March 2013 * Beyond Even in death we will not be alone, For we will return to what we were Before we were conceived. kjg 1:14pm 23 March 2013 * Abyss When you enter a black hole All light deserts you And when all light deserts you You no longer exist In the light of others Who will never follow you Into the abyss. kjg 836pm 23 march 2013 * Sharing The sweet winds of love do not argue involvement, They investigate commitment. kjg 1145pm 23 march 2013 * Flu Mirror mirror on the wall, Who's got the runniest nose of all? If my cough don't kill me first I won't have any fluids left to curse! kjg 1153pm 23 march 2013 * The son of Septus has no humour; But then rumour has it he was just a rumour! (After Martialis) kjg 117am 24 march 2013 * Ode to a flu bug You meanie little critter! Why make a man so bitter? You've fed on me for days! Go away, go away, go away! kjg 316pm 24 march 2013 * Old age is a spring chicken plucked! * Possession Sabre's do not rattle comfort When money talks in splinters! kjg 345am 25 mach 2013 * Enlightenment Master watches pupil. Pupil raises eyebrows. Master lowers eyelids. Pupil bows in silence. In the morning frost Blows against the windows. Master drinks hot tea. Pupil froze to death. kjg 356am 25 march 2013 * God Om mane padme hum! That's a ripple in the sun! Were the sun to die, Om would never cry! With frost upon my belly And heat upon my heels, There's a shuffling of the many That cannot conquer ills. You cannot yet believe it Or suffer for its gain, But slowly by declension The rightness will remain. So gather life securely Gather in your heart What favours you have wanted But cannot yet impart. It's not for me to offer You hope of any kind, Life has no solution For the sighted or the blind. We love to praise religion Throw science in the mix And god becomes a particle (Whatever makes you tick!) So please forgive my exit It was fun to see the crew Work so hard together Stirring up the brew. I'd like to stay I tell ya But they want me somewhere else On this planet or another A house is just a house. kjg 412am 25 march 2013 * Cough Bright light white light glimmer in the dark what we see is what we'll be when we live upon a lark. kjg 26 march 2013 * Real Perhaps only before conception are we really conscious... and after death. Everything else is an illusion. kjg 252am 26 march 2013 * Argument Hollow is the world and empty my argument with sanity. There is no saviour but the good in all of us. We are such feeble creatures that we think need a god. We are our own creation do not deny that lot! Perhaps it is a modesty, a faliour to deny what in us is the positive and what we should descry. But ultimately we must be the truth of our demise. No god will grant us voyage to a better lie. kjg 104am 28 march 2013 * From an old German melody I only have one tie, I'll wear it till I die; And when I'm dead and buried, I'll still wear that old tie! kjg 142am 28 march 2013 * Relativity Explained The simple is the complex and the complex is the simple; If we believe that nonsense we'd never have to pop a pimple! kjg 154am 28 march 2013 * The price of pain Is the soul of gain! kjg 154am 29 march 2013 * Rather Perhaps only when one has knowledge of one's death will one have knowledge of one's life. kjg 1020pm 29 March 2013 * Someone else's life is always in your hands, whether you know it or not. kjg 220am 30 march 2013 * Fair Game If the gods are not there to bat for us, Then we should not be there to worship them! kjg 813am 31 March 2013 * I believe in the potential of humanity, not in gods. kjg 820am 31 march 2013 * The End of March The Ides of March have come and gone Caesar's dead upon the floor. They thought violence could save the Republic, But gave rise to an Empire all the more. kjg 224am 31 March 2013 * All poems copyright (c) 2013 Klaus J. Gerken Published by Ygdrasil Press 2013