Friday, June 6

A Poem I Like




THE VANISHING SPECIES by Ric Masten


I was born on a planet almost seventy seven light years from here

an idyllic world where children grew up without the threat of nuclear holocaust or global warming

no instant messaging systems no black revolutions gay revolutions

drug revolutions

no woman's liberation not even the choice of taking or not taking the pill

true the seed of all this was there but had nothing to do with my formative years

and now I find myself come to this harsh place a kind of space traveler having close encounters with my own children

like creatures from different star systems we stare at each other across the void

even our words have different stems

we are aliens in each others midst but damn it I am the one saddled with the memory of that other place

part of a colony stranded on planet earth at the beginning of the twenty first century

marooned with no way to go back and no time to go on

like a moon being eclipsed my kind will soon be gone

and in light of the headlines today the sooner the better



(When I copied and pasted this, it all ran together, so I have no idea where the line breaks should be. Apologies to all if they are wrong.)


It was Bobbie who introduced me to Ric Masten, and I am grateful for both of them!

13 comments:

bobbie said...

I'm so glad that you enjoy Ric Masten's poetry and art as much as I do. My daughter, Kathryn, was the one who introduced me to him. He lived not far from her home in CA.

tiff said...

I think you did just fine with the line breaks. Great poem.

Bear Naked said...

Wonderful poem.
Now it is time for me to research more of Ric Mastens' poetry.

Ginnie said...

This kindof gave me chills...I'm exactly of his generation and can relate so much.

Beverly said...

That poems speaks for many of us.

Evil Twin's Wife said...

Cool. There are still some of us younger generations who feel the same way. Going to check out more from him....

Carletta said...

I am a lover of poetry and this was very thought provoking - thanks for the tip on Ric Masten - I'm going to check it out.

JeanMac said...

I,too, have to research Ric.

srp said...

Very interesting poem... and like one of your other comments said... gave me the chills. Hard to do on a hot day like today....;)

Pat said...

As long as I am fit and healthy I don't feel 'the sooner the better'. Not today when the sun shines.
77 is today's 50:)

Jamie Dawn said...

That poem is wonderful!
Wow.

Shephard said...

Fascinating poem There's more there that can be absorbed in one reading.
No revolutions... interesting. It makes me think about childhood... there are no revolutions there either.
~S

Bonnie Jacobs said...

I googled and found the poem ... and your comment about it. Then I came back here and discovered Bobbie is linked in your post and also commented here. Oh, well, here's the link to see where the line breaks are:

http://bobbie-almostthere.blogspot.com/2008/05/vanishing-species.html