Over Rifle Under Chin
A fire must rise in every cave,
cast shadows on element-hewn walls:
we live and we love and we cry.
Feel serpentine shadows slither from light,
pry from the contrast some silken honesty:
we live and we love and we perish.
Do not think you’re the only one that feels
the words of the songs light and dark:
the world will have its way with us.
Under the basement light, contemplate
the end of the barrel as you stare:
the world hasn’t finished with you.
Your heart is too much the cavern
with so many places to fall and too far:
we live and we love and we fail.
Struggle with the secret scripts and tell truth
when the entrance is estranged to you:
we live and we love and we crawl.
Listen to the words that you only heard,
understand and then put the rifle away:
pocket a cartridge to remember the overcast;
the world will not finish with you
before you finish with it.
©2022 David Alec Knight All rights reserved.
David Alec Knight grew up in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. David has had many poems printed in American and Canadian journals and anthologies. His poems have appeared in print and/or on-line in Verse Afire, The Rye Whiskey Review, Cajun Mutt Press, The Lothlorien Poetry Journal (some poems in Leper Mosh appeared in these publications, as well as earlier versions of some poems appearing at allpoetry.com). Recent poems have appeared in the anthologies By The Wishing Tree, Poets For Ukraine Volume 1, and Muse. In 2021, David was recipient of The Ted Plantos Memorial Award for Poetry. His first book of poetry, The Heart Is A Hollow Organ, soon followed. David works in healthcare.
Thanks brother writer! It looks great. The pic at the top worked really well, and I appreciated the pick at the bottom showcasing ‘The Heart…’ I will be sharing this link plenty. keep getting my name around. Gearing up for book two.
All best! David Alec Knight ________________________________
Honored to have you, brother Knight. This is a killer poem, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
🤟💀