THE ANGELS’ ANSWER by David Erdos - Poem 13 From THE PEOPLES PRISON

Poem 13 From THE PEOPLES PRISON 

THE ANGEL’S ANSWER




To get away from oneself would seem to be

If not the goal then the answer. As the house

Itself becomes prison just where is it I should go?

 

Out into the uneven air, where clouds are a crease

Sourced from rupture, and set within skies

Drawn like blankets around those keen to resist

 

Sleep’s stale show. Night comes around like a curve

That the coming day sees me slip in. That poetic

Death in closed hours which everyone writes

 

Now bares arms, before duly seeing them fold,

As muscles first stoop then surrender,

And the lack of event sends you slowly away

 

From the sense saved through calm. Yet, this week:

Arguments, carefully wrapped within silence.

I feel the effects of the sentence now a full year

 

Served through strained words of those who fall

Foul of proper attention and meaning; as if

The language we’re licking is both devoid of taste

 

And absurd. I had a bloom of belief, but then

Weeds warped the flower. Now, I seem to struggle

On through a garden, punctuated by birds

 

But unkempt. I lose my place, hourly, the fight

To weave my way through the branches, tonguing

Thorns to taste something other than spiralled

 

And sparked self-defence. I seem to have lost

My way in the world. So should start my own.

Theirs keeps turning. In moving through mud,

 

One is mired and yet must still relish the means

To find mirth. I suppose we detach from those

Who do not understand us. Of course, everyone

 

Has their own nation, their own fought for place,

Their prized worth. And so, in this time of change,

Where a new deep groove finds its needle,

 

The song I’ll be singing will be part of a quite

Different key. And they will leave me to it, I’m sure,

As I whistle my way towards madness, just like

Old John Clare, or, poor Artaud, toothless

In the rain as friends flee. I have breathing

That path across words as sickness begats

 

Strained survival. So long single now, or forever,

The smudge of self-pity is removed not by washing

But by moving behind normalcy. I may indeed

 

Disappear as the people’s prison continues.

Afterall, walls hold no warning under a corrupted

Air’s tenancy. And people go mad every day.

 

Perhaps a second clarity claims them. Let’s hope

It’s something the clouds know: those creases

Are factors in rain’s fluency. But it has been

 

A challenging week in which I relinquished

My grip on some people. Still, there are many

I cling to as the alleged landing craft hovers high.

 

And of course the page still sustains even if it

Becomes a cloud mirror. Sometimes, your own

Treachery tears at the writing, but stuck out here

 

In the margins you can see skin as paper

And understand how touch dries. I have, or so

You might say, Living Block, which has nothing

 

To do with the writing. In pouring my entire self

Into language I recognise now that true silence

Is where the future rests. Will it slide?

 

Only the strange cosmos knows,

Having no responsibility to the earthly.

I squint, seeking Angels. But they never come.

 

God knows why.





David Erdos, December 10th 2020
















For more poems from David Erdos visit The Corona Diaries collection 



David Erdos is an actor, writer, director with over 300 professional credits. He is a published poet, playwright, essayist and illustrator. He has lectured on all disciplines in theatre and film for leading performing arts colleges, schools and universities around the world. His books include EASY VERSES FOR DIFFICULT TIMES, THE SCAR ON THE CLOUD, OIL ON SILVER, NEWS FROM MARS, CHANGING PLACES WITH LIGHT (penniless press) and BYZANTIUM with the photographer Max Reeves. He is a contributing editor for The International Times and maker of documentaries all over the world. David’s work has been acclaimed by many leading figures including Harold Pinter, Heathcote Williams, Alan Moore, Andrew Kotting, Chris Petit and Iain Sinclair in whose recent book THE LAST LONDON, David features. He can be reached at David.erdos@sky.com.

David Erdos





©    David Erdos has asserted his moral rights as author of his work and has full copyright.


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