Contemporary Literary Review India | Print ISSN 2250-3366 | Online ISSN 2394-6075 | Vol 7, No 1: CLRI February 2020
Paul Bamberger
Echo on an Empty Playground
all she wanted was nothing more than a smile and a small secret whispered into her ear that she could pass on and maybe a little participation
she took the meanness as it came if that’s what it takes and it did wrapped in old lace curtain chasing around the playground in her pretty dress ghost notes have no melody
and getting right down to it so many just around the corner inaccessible shadows sidestepping shapes they never would take and what to do with the ashes that aren’t there
out the silence torch the shadow drain the rut of longing slip past the small talk of sideshow barkers laze around a bit then you must go
go where anywhere but go for what comes next is slapstick impugning all who would look back all who would look forward impugning even those who would not look at all insisting upon least resistance
last cherished moment echo on an empty playground
Mirror
madman mirror’s lengthening shadow
a tapping at the window
madman the lost child of the five and tens
a story left untold
madman wits sharpened on the everyday blows
they drive your dream away
madman weather the storms
the dream is meant to be
madman years in the abys
liberte liberte liberte
madman crying out is of no use
hysteria is what brings them here
madman prepare yourself
they are not who they seem to be
Times
to the very edge the wounded
the crowd not letting them off the hook
hysteria drawing the sweetness out of them
small gestures bleeding them dry
dragging them off to the very edge
shadowed sundown drifters
no music in the north wind
in the evening no blackbird singing
only the lowdown joke taking to the very edge
lives of spare change and old fears
walking circles
back to a foregone conclusion
About the Author
Paul Bamberger received an MFA Degree in English from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and has had several books of poetry published, most recently being On The Badlands Of New Times, Deerbrook Editions Publishing (2018).
