"Zurich" and "Whakatane"

Whakatane

                     The accurate & eloquent
              Wordsworth would have
                        had little sympathy for the
                  inane phraseology of the Health
         authorities working around
                     the clock to try to determine
                          if the men who had gone
                   ashore were sympathizers of
               the French Revolution. Few
                              concepts, he said, are
                  as central to humanity as
                        the innocence of the dead.

 


 

Zurich

                             The gnomes are bored
                  with being enigmatic. Have
                                   dumped the seasonally
                       changing menu &
                            its old world sensibilities—
                                 the summery chic of
                        Gucci's classic synth-pop
                                       with inflected voice, the
                             yodelling electronic loops
                                                   of Dolce & Gabana's
                                  winter spectroscopy—in
                                            favor of a one size fits
                        all &, at the same time,
                                      hyper-masculine &
                              exceedingly feminine
                                  morphological de-
                                                      composition. Even
                                  more dissonant, with
               scratchy feedback. But
                                               still manages to keep
                               precise time under water.

 

 

Mark Young

Mark Young’s first published poetry appeared over sixty-two years ago. Much more recent work has appeared in RIC Journal, Scud, Ygdrasil, Mobius, Offcourse, SurVision, BlazeVOX, Don’t Submit!, & Word For/Word. Mark recommends the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

 

Edited for Unlikely by Jonathan Penton, Editor-in-Chief
Last revised on Sunday, August 8, 2021 - 22:12