Timor Mortis by Sean O'Brien

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

Into the pit go all Estates,
All princes, pimps and potentates,
The fiend next door, the BBC -
The living and those yet to be,
Eminem, Ms Ruby Wax
And Robert Johnson's vanished tracks,
Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle,
Madonna and the Duke of Earl,
Occam's razor, Charlie Chan,
Lord Lucan and the bogey man,
Mister Tony, Conrad Black,
The orchestra from Crackerjack,
The Andrews Sisters, Clausewitz,
That wasname who gets on your tits,
Captain Nemo, Guildenstern
And suchlike planks booked in to burn,
De Tocqueville and Thomas Hobbes,
Ascetics, charvers, Rent-a-Gobs,
Boadicea, Brian Clough -
The world itself is not enough
To satisfy the hungry void,
Though "housewives and the unemployed"
Slip down with Marx and Jackie O.
Last sitting, everything must go -
Indifference and appetite,
The dimwit armies of the night,
Dispensers of banal advice,
Kate Moss and Condoleezza Rice,
Machine Gun Kelly, Iron Mike,
The Beemer and the butcher's bike,
Wallace Stevens, you and me,
The Devil and the deep blue sea,
The wonks who work the cutting edge,
Immanuel Kant and Percy Sledge,
With Peter Pan, the Golden Horde,
All travellers not yet on board
Plus those who think it don't apply,
Who witter, witter, "I'm, like, why?"
Join Zeno, Zog and Baudelaire
As conscripts of le grand nowhere -
Some on ice and some on fire,
Some with slow piano wire,
Screaming, weeping, brave as fuck
And absolutely out of luck.
My friends, Lord Death is cruel but fair:
He loves it when there's nothing there,
No Baghdad and no Superbowl,
No langue and likewise no parole,
No Gulf Stream and no polar ice,
No evidence of Paradise.
His only mood's imperative.
He knows our names and where we live.
He sees no reason to record
The names of those whose bones are stored
In his extensive cellarage:
They are unwritten, like this page.
Come now, and board his empty ark -
What need of poems in the dark?

Comments

[memento-mary.livejournal.com]

TS Eliot espressed the same idea with less words: "I had not thought death had undone so many".

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

But not with as much wit.

[memento-mary.livejournal.com]

He's sombre, not trying to be witty.
The poem we discuss doesn't look very witty to me. We all know all these 'stars' and VIPs will die as any humans including ourselves. It's very obvious thing said thousand times since in Bible and Shakespeare and Eliot and many many more authors.

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

Can that not be said with humour? This is more than a 'list' poem, and I have been present when the man himself read it - believe me, it is a light-hearted poke.
You missed out Anacreon - nothing wrong with being reminded of mortality is there?
Sorry you did not enjoy the poem - I'll try posting some of his other stuff.

[memento-mary.livejournal.com]

The poem is nothing wrong, maybe my mood was :)
I will read it again. And of course thank you for the poems to come.

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

Apologies if I misunderstood - no worries, cariad bach.

[thinkpink20.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this one, it's a veritable romp of a poem and the sound of it being read aloud it just delicious. :)

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

Thank you for commenting - all poetry should be read aloud and as you rightly say, this one is delicious.

[madguru.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this one

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Indifference and appetite,
The dimwit armies of the night,

Very, very funny. I just love the juxtapositions in this.

[go-teen-angst.livejournal.com]

Love this. Thanks for posting it.

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this.

[ghostsandlovers.livejournal.com]

As delightful as ever.