Thursday, May 17, 2012

What Will Grow


Another wonderful poem for our current theme of What Will Grow


What will grow
By Telmo dos Santos

1.

What will grow is related
To what will not grow

So

The number of rows
On my forehead grows
As my skin is exposed
To the sun over time
But only if I am alive

If I am dead
There will be
No growing number 
Of lines

If I am dead
The number of maggots
Will amplify
Until there is nothing left
For them to feed on
Eventually their numbers
Will decline

And my corpse
Will be left alone

The spaces between my bones
Will grow as they separate
And come to their final
Resting place

Then the only thing
That will grow
Is the amount of time
Since I was last remembered


2.

What will grow
Will cease to grow

So

Everything
Degenerates

The newborn babe
Rapidly grows
Into a bent old man
Or woman

Perhaps there is
An oxygen tube and bottle
And a walker
Involved

The largest tree grows
Grows old
Stands for a time
In a dry withered sate
Eventually dies, falls
Rots, becomes mush
In the ground
Fertilizer for other things
To grow on

It was a mighty tree
Only briefly


3.

What will grow
Saddens me

So

The distance
Between us will grow
The time between
The times I revisit
Memories of us
Will grow

The difficulty
I have
Remembering
Will grow
The fog
Will thicken

My regrets will grow
My disappointments too
And my ailments
My pain, my suffering

My age
My loneliness
My silence
The spaces between

Nothingness

All of these things

Will grow


If you have a poem, or a piece of prose (500 words or less) you'd like to share, even if it doesn't fit the theme, we'd love to see it. Send your submission to awcswriterscorner@gmail.com

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