the beautiful~grotesque

image ~ Frederick Ruysch

the beautiful~grotesque

From deep within

the reptile-mind,

stirs a metamorphic urge

to dream of the past

and of the future,

to become lost

in sleepy-eyed reverie

and bittersweet nostalgia

of things yet to pass;

to think

too much

or not enough.

To ponder

the meaningless

of the universe.

To dance

without movement

to the music of dead planets

from twilight to midnight,

from midnight to dawn.

To seek out

signs and wonders,

omens and augurs.

To soar

with the owls and angels,

then plunge

to an oceanic nadir.

To gorge on forbidden fruit

and then repent.

To speak in the tongues

of the pantheons

and seek

reconciliation with the godhead.

Only to question,

eternally,

what is the point?

poem: the beautiful~grotesque © Andy Paciorek 2004

image: the beautiful~grotesque © Andy Paciorek 2010