July 21, 2012

  • ElectricPoetry: New poem sadly presented

    “A Dark Night is Slowly Rising”
    Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
    7/20/12 6:24am pdt

    Awaking to the morning
    After a night of clear, bright dreams
    We never know what to expect anymore
    As Father Sun rises around the world

    Terrible news instantaneously presented
    As soon as we tap our touchscreens alight
    Connected calamity indented
    Terror happens right here in plain sight

    Can a day ever pass without strife?
    Can a night soothe in safe slumber again?
    Or did days and nights always bear burdens
    Of bad news, bad taste, evil sin?

    Something is dreadfully wrong
    Something so powerfullly strong
    A strong wind is blowing
    And no one is knowing
    The terror is lasting how long

    Controls and restraints not the answer
    The righteous will pray to the sky
    But the evil ingrained in our nature
    Causes us to ask the eternal why

    I shudder for humanity again
    To the Universal Consciousness I pray
    The day’s just beginning for this simple soul
    But it’s a mystery and common sense may stray

    If we awake, we are safe so it seems,
    We breathe, perhaps a sigh,
    As we cry, and others die
    Terror lurks in both shadows and light
    And it hurts as it screams,
    As calamity sets in it’s sight

    The evil in our nature turns the common
    insane
    The quiet kids and the bullied
    The intelligent and the sullied
    Has it always been like this?
    Perhaps it has.
    Instant news cycles compound
    terror’s message,
    And that message is loud and clear.
    What do we as a society do here?

    And are we a society,
    Or a bunch of conflicted souls without direction
    Or somebody to listen to our problems?

    Evil begins as misdirection, misapprehension
    Mistakes of mammoth proportions
    And grief stricken collateral residue

    Once the trigger is pulled
    Once the mind sheds all common sense
    Once the other voices start to babble
    All is lost for those involved
    (And oftentimes the victims are innocent)

    The smoke clears
    As it always does
    And we open the door and begin the day
    And as always for humanity I pray


    BEHIND THE POETRY: It’s the start of Ramadan, Islam’s holy month, and somehow, because I am a student of world culture and a news junkie, I somehow suspected to be reading stories in the news this morning about strife and terror. For instance, there were bombings in Thailand. This kind of news upsets me greatly, but it seems I’ve been reading this kind of news for a long time. Another story completely knocked me off guard. Yet another lone shooter (in Colorado, a state that never seems to get a break, it’s the state where Columbine High is located) went on the rampage last night, as I was safe in bed, opening fire in a crowded theater in the town of Aurora showing a midnight showing of the new Batman film, titled “The Dark Knight Rises” (hence the title of my poem).

    My heart sinks. My life is full and wonderful, but it can get cut down at any moment by the terror of evil. Like any other. My prayers are directed toward the innocent as always, in harm’s way whether they know it or not. My prayers are also directed to the poor lost souls who are triggered somehow by something so terrible that they feel they have to perpetrate such evil. I don’t believe the individual souls are inherently evil. I don’t believe Satan is wispering in their ear. Humanity is inherently evil. Obviously our spiritual leanings and common sense don’t seem to help. We are reduced to tribal skirmishes, and acts of instant terror are abounding.

    As I have written so much that I could possibly just copy/paste the phrase into my entry. I don’t know the answers, but I think endlessly about the questions.

    It’s a beautiful day here in sunny California, but my heart is as dark as the night that rose in a darkened Colorado theater last night. 12 people were murdered and 50 injured by the 24 year old shooter, who is currently in custody. On the Yahoo posting of the story (to which I link above) at least I didn’t see any snarky comments like usual (To tell the truth I didn’t look too closely, cause I DIDN’T want to see the usual terrible jokey comment strings I usually see on Yahoo stories.) One commenter did remark that if “it were legal to carry our guns, someone in the theater would have put a cap in this guy’s a**” or words to that effect. This disturbs me too of course. When Wyatt Earp was sheriff of Tombstone (which was in Arizona, not Colorado, but both states qualify as the  (wild) “West” he collected the firearms of all those who entered the town.

    Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool sad

    Originally posted July 20, 2012 7:11 AM

Comments (5)

  • love the poem very deep and fantastic

    i ave  kept u in firends list as want to keep reading  your peoms if u want to be on my firends list  let me know as im on private funtion

  •          Well done Michael.

    As to the heartbreak in Colorado….it just never ends. You and I have seen it over and over again during the last forty years or so, and of course, any child’s life taken is a scar on all our hearts. Well written my friend….Charlie

  • Wow, Michael. That is a very powerful, evocative poem, especially relating to the horrible event in Colorado on 20th. Even before, I read your text following the poem, I made the connection. I posted something about it today (Saturday), but had a hard time finding words. The frequency and repetition of violent events as we’ve learned about in this year and past ones is beyond comprehension for me. ~~Blessings ‘n Cheers

  • A poignant telling of the uncertainty of our times. These senseless things seem to happen more often. It’s heartbreaking. peace always

  • Oh shit brugh, you is one deep dude…you made a nigga tear up.
    Go on wif yours, not too many “real” ass dudes left speaking the truth on Xanka.
    Mostly some bullshit ass hoe shit.
    But you is real, big homie.
    Imma subscribe to this site.
    You touched a nigga’s heart.

    peace

Post a Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories