deepundergroundpoetry.com
99 Miles in a Suicide Wind
Night’s umber sky will see no sun
The sanded brown of grave stone farms
In ochre hues trace ridgeline paths
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
In screams of crows that call the dead
And sirens’ songs that break the soul
Escape with only true love’s run
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind
With devil’s eyes and demon's calm
That steals the past with dripping claws
And stains the mind no tears can cleanse
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
In air that smells of battle camps
And fumes that choke a thousand lives
In sheets of snow like virgin ash
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind
To wake before its nightmare edge
With taste of death in morning fog
In languid voice the prayers will rise.
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
The gambles' scores are settled now
As ghosts begin to seek their rest
The mounds of dust are set adrift
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
(My photo: Cleveland Ave., 10/26/17, Santa Rosa, California - that caught on fire one Sunday night in October).
The sanded brown of grave stone farms
In ochre hues trace ridgeline paths
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
In screams of crows that call the dead
And sirens’ songs that break the soul
Escape with only true love’s run
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind
With devil’s eyes and demon's calm
That steals the past with dripping claws
And stains the mind no tears can cleanse
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
In air that smells of battle camps
And fumes that choke a thousand lives
In sheets of snow like virgin ash
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind
To wake before its nightmare edge
With taste of death in morning fog
In languid voice the prayers will rise.
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
The gambles' scores are settled now
As ghosts begin to seek their rest
The mounds of dust are set adrift
Ninety-nine miles in a suicide wind.
(My photo: Cleveland Ave., 10/26/17, Santa Rosa, California - that caught on fire one Sunday night in October).
Published 24th Oct 2017
| Edited 27th Oct 2017
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likes 5
reading list entries 3
comments 10
reads 819
Commenting Preference:
The author encourages honest critique.
24th Oct 2017 4:49pm
expression, beautiful in all aspects.
engaging, yes.
flow. yes.
dark, yes.
job, exceptional.
engaging, yes.
flow. yes.
dark, yes.
job, exceptional.
25th Oct 2017 1:47pm
Deeply appreciate the read, your comments, and your reading list. I live in Santa Rosa, CA and this is my impression of the night of Sunday Oct. 8 into Monday the 9th. My life remains mostly intact - but still processing the damage.
24th Oct 2017 5:15pm
25th Oct 2017 1:48pm
24th Oct 2017 8:05pm
Beautiful, spooky, smoky write. Glad to see you here, geoff - I hope all is well.
k
k
25th Oct 2017 1:50pm
Kelly - I hope all is well with you, too. My life remains mostly intact, had business up near the fire areas yesterday. It's almost overwhelming. Still processing - Geoff
25th Oct 2017 10:46am
25th Oct 2017 1:50pm
28th Oct 2017 1:36am
It's really dramatic, the form of repeating the same line adds to that, I think, besides the fact it was inspired by real events, it has a great title, too, it's excellent...
28th Oct 2017 3:16pm
Thank you - that was the line that came first - but it came as "55 hours in a suicide wind" I wrote that maybe 30 times and it just didn't bring anything - I think that "hours" made it seem too static. I think at one point a newscaster said something about "99 square miles..." then it came to me...
