JOHNMICHAEL SIMON POETRY

Hairless, spineless, akimbo, monochrome

outline embryo trapped under glass

toothcomb translucent gelatin skeleton

fossil in ice, barren parentless soul

 

It whirls soundless past infinity in empty dance

no star to navigate, all reference lost

drifting across galaxies spiral arms spread

spawn of creation, death mask grin

 

A fragment of meaning remains imprisoned

unraveled strand of distant twinning

how it had multiplied and multiplied, all that

ensued: life, knowledge, jealousy, a disease

 

Spread across planet to stars, contagious

conflict, war, revenge, destruction – all that remains

this aimless strand, this fragment of a world

that was half a frozen dream