Vienna runs can kill
and bring to life,
experienced here this Easter night, when
hills of Lainzer Tiergarten proved too steep
hills of Lainzer Tiergarten proved too steep
to keep a stride I’d
want to keep, the other day
to Gloriette and all around an übertrieben
ground.
Lainzer, though, is not so nearly neat;
a friend forewarned I’d likely meet some
swine that roam and run against the likes of
me, invading their captivity, hectares spanning
less than sojourners propound in a wild surround.
Dusk descended as a fog
before I saw
the figure of a
bison—half the size if still
enough to terrorize, runners we pretend to
enough to terrorize, runners we pretend to
be. I sought the babes
she would protect, even
if it was a he, and
found we were alone, unbound.
The world’s more innocent than guilt-
free. I longed for some theology to share
(perhaps the grunt of prayer) and knew I’d
live beyond this chance to die, to say the study
of another is profound—smiled upon, or frowned.
Daniel Martin Vold Lamken (2016)
Brother I'm stealing a line from you this week for my installment of "Every Thought..." You'll see it seven hours from now (it is not Friday yet on this side of the pond).
ReplyDeleteI like this poem, though, for more than a jump-out phrase. I like its insistent offset rhyming, reminding me of some of the better rap I've heard lately (think Kendrick Lamar!), and this too is a poem that works best when read aloud.