deepundergroundpoetry.com
The Cross
I saw him three times
On three ordinary days
Greeted on each day with a smile.
Then I had a vision… sweet angel.
I
I walked alone along
The melancholy strip
Against the flow of the
Desperate and bewildered.
I approached a scene
Of tribal ferocity,
A callous ritual
Unnoticed and neglected.
Mercilessly thrusting
Boots and fists
Savages let loose
On a lame body.
Blood! O’ Lord,
There was blood,
So purple was the
Tide of blood.
They broke him good,
Every bone and all he owned.
They admired their work
And walked away.
The mangled face turned to
Mine and just smiled.
“Dear God, forgive
These tainted souls.”
II
I walked alone along
The melancholy strip
Against the flow of the
Filthy and forgotten.
Whores line the walls
So do holes and buckets.
Lusty bodies of all sorts
Marked, wrinkled and scarred.
Through a shop window
Wet flesh pounded in
And out real hard.
I stood and watched.
Pain veiled in pleasure
O’ Lord, they
Screamed and begged
For your mercy.
A girl tapped my shoulder,
Face blue and torn,
Like the tatters of cloth she held
Its naked body raped.
I gave her a smoke
She replied only with a smile.
“Sweet Jesus, save us
From our own hands.”
III
I stand alone on
The melancholy strip
Watching the flow of
Hustlers and fools.
Young misfits do deals
And lepers get stoned.
Defied is the law, my uniform
And a madman that stands alone.
I am approached
In a blur of terror the dark
Figure yields a cut-throat razor.
Money, gun and badge are seized.
So helpless and hopeless
I cower to my knees
And did what I had to do
And he smiled at me.
“Dear God, your people
Grow weak in their faith
I ask you to forgive us
And free us from this hell.”
A child now stands before me
Glowing in a brilliant light
His arms open wide…
I smother him in my embrace.
This poem was submitted in the Dark City comp
http://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/competitions/read/5309/60/
On three ordinary days
Greeted on each day with a smile.
Then I had a vision… sweet angel.
I
I walked alone along
The melancholy strip
Against the flow of the
Desperate and bewildered.
I approached a scene
Of tribal ferocity,
A callous ritual
Unnoticed and neglected.
Mercilessly thrusting
Boots and fists
Savages let loose
On a lame body.
Blood! O’ Lord,
There was blood,
So purple was the
Tide of blood.
They broke him good,
Every bone and all he owned.
They admired their work
And walked away.
The mangled face turned to
Mine and just smiled.
“Dear God, forgive
These tainted souls.”
II
I walked alone along
The melancholy strip
Against the flow of the
Filthy and forgotten.
Whores line the walls
So do holes and buckets.
Lusty bodies of all sorts
Marked, wrinkled and scarred.
Through a shop window
Wet flesh pounded in
And out real hard.
I stood and watched.
Pain veiled in pleasure
O’ Lord, they
Screamed and begged
For your mercy.
A girl tapped my shoulder,
Face blue and torn,
Like the tatters of cloth she held
Its naked body raped.
I gave her a smoke
She replied only with a smile.
“Sweet Jesus, save us
From our own hands.”
III
I stand alone on
The melancholy strip
Watching the flow of
Hustlers and fools.
Young misfits do deals
And lepers get stoned.
Defied is the law, my uniform
And a madman that stands alone.
I am approached
In a blur of terror the dark
Figure yields a cut-throat razor.
Money, gun and badge are seized.
So helpless and hopeless
I cower to my knees
And did what I had to do
And he smiled at me.
“Dear God, your people
Grow weak in their faith
I ask you to forgive us
And free us from this hell.”
A child now stands before me
Glowing in a brilliant light
His arms open wide…
I smother him in my embrace.
This poem was submitted in the Dark City comp
http://deepundergroundpoetry.com/forum/competitions/read/5309/60/
Published 22nd Jun 2013
| Edited 1st Jul 2013
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
likes 8
reading list entries 2
comments 12
reads 1402
Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
Anonymous
- Edited 25th Jun 2013 8:31am
22nd Jun 2013 1:45pm
<< post removed >>
22nd Jun 2013 4:32pm
Anonymous
22nd Jun 2013 2:52pm
VERY powerful...Reading it, made me feel
all the emotions conveyed, the scenes
flashing...This is a true story of
life, our trails and tribulations, struggles
with temptation. We are ALL human, BUT
it's how we handle things in the end that
strengthens us or weakens us. At the
ending it reminds me of faith and hope
approaching, yet we fail to embrace it.
Just my opinion. I believe you are ONE of
the best poets I have come across on here.
You are amazing with words:)
all the emotions conveyed, the scenes
flashing...This is a true story of
life, our trails and tribulations, struggles
with temptation. We are ALL human, BUT
it's how we handle things in the end that
strengthens us or weakens us. At the
ending it reminds me of faith and hope
approaching, yet we fail to embrace it.
Just my opinion. I believe you are ONE of
the best poets I have come across on here.
You are amazing with words:)
Gosh, Angelic D. I'm really moved by your comments. When you've been writing for yourself for many years, you kind of accept that your poetry and stories will only be read by only a handful of family and friends. So for me to finally post my writing online and to get such feedback from a fellow scribe is an honour. Thank you.
Your interpretation of the poem is pretty much on the money. This poem was inspired by having to walk to work through a red light district called Kings Cross for 2 years. Walking along the "Golden Mile" was one that had me looking over my shoulder every 5 paces, nodding at bouncers, smiling awkwardly at prostitutes and dodging drug dealers and junkies. I saw a lot of disturbing scenes that made me question sex, faith, hope, innocents, society and life itself.
Your interpretation of the poem is pretty much on the money. This poem was inspired by having to walk to work through a red light district called Kings Cross for 2 years. Walking along the "Golden Mile" was one that had me looking over my shoulder every 5 paces, nodding at bouncers, smiling awkwardly at prostitutes and dodging drug dealers and junkies. I saw a lot of disturbing scenes that made me question sex, faith, hope, innocents, society and life itself.
24th Jun 2013 6:04pm
24th Jun 2013 6:26pm
24th Jun 2013 11:55pm
Fantastic write A.C!!!... I felt the seemingly Technicolor, seediness & danger, of it's filthy mean-streets... as well as the sacred beauty of it's common-place, day-to-day, night-to-night, broken soul's horrors & all the lost, bought and sold-out innocence, that was, but is no more, buried & scuffed-up forgotten, just beneath every successive footstep's scrunch upon the gritty sidewalks as you walked & compassionately observed it all scroll by; the magnificent, heart-breaking, dead-end wonder of just how low some lives have to go to ever hit or find their own personal, deep, dark, rock- bottom's ultimate turning-point to solution or salvation, or to some even more tragic, ultimate end-point with none!?...
Man, your poem has stirred up so many lucid visuals of similar things I've empathetically seen in real life, read in books & seen in films over the years!... That it's hard to turn off or stop the flow of all these fleeting impressions that keep spinning off the vivid tailwinds of your wonderfully written poem here!...
I love the visuals of your wording, the pacing, as well as the slowly flowing river of futility, sadness & hope, that moves through & throughout the poetic narrative of your consistently moving, inspiring poem!...
Great Write man!... I really enjoyed the read!...
- OIN
Man, your poem has stirred up so many lucid visuals of similar things I've empathetically seen in real life, read in books & seen in films over the years!... That it's hard to turn off or stop the flow of all these fleeting impressions that keep spinning off the vivid tailwinds of your wonderfully written poem here!...
I love the visuals of your wording, the pacing, as well as the slowly flowing river of futility, sadness & hope, that moves through & throughout the poetic narrative of your consistently moving, inspiring poem!...
Great Write man!... I really enjoyed the read!...
- OIN
26th Jun 2013 1:00pm
OyateInyanNajin,
Thank you so much for your epic comments. Its much appreciated and I'm so stoked the poem has had such an impact.
Regards
Alexander Case
Thank you so much for your epic comments. Its much appreciated and I'm so stoked the poem has had such an impact.
Regards
Alexander Case
25th Jun 2013 3:42am
26th Jun 2013 1:04pm
Thanks Tom.
I think you've just invented a new genre "Hard Hitting Christian Poetry!" Perhaps I should put that in my profile.
Cheers
Alexander Case
I think you've just invented a new genre "Hard Hitting Christian Poetry!" Perhaps I should put that in my profile.
Cheers
Alexander Case
22nd Jul 2014 5:42am
