BABYLAND

Sylvia Plath Died in a Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath died in a bell jar,
and I know what that is like:
how scary the vacuum, how brittle
a wretched little human feels inside
opaque walls of touchless glass,
alone in a cavern of orderless madness.

The bell jar holds but three goodies:
the lunatic, the horror, and the longing,
longing for a banished world of beauty
and desire, senses and apples, children
and wine, yesterday and tomorrow…

but longing most for freedom, to be
free and pulsing like God-given amoeba
between scaleless walls of holy cement
binding earth and eternity--the freedom
to feel as only a tiny human may feel
naked in a hot-cold world….

Sylvia, Sylvia, I read your poems,
I read your book, I even read your life,
but Sylvia, lover I never had, it remains
you gassed yourself like Nazi and Jew
in one
and I do not reproach you for this, but
only ask, did the death balance the life?

The Computer's Lament

Please don't blame me
When your trains derail,
When power plants fail,
And it's really not my fault
When you don't get the mail,
Or not warned about the hail.

I do what you tell me to do,
Anyway, I haven't a clue
What will make you happy
Or why you cry & get sappy!
And please don’t say “Lazy
You make me!” Or even crazy
When your life gets so hazy.

Truth is, I can't think for myself
(although you suspect I must),
So if your dreams turn to dust...
You should only blame yourself!

To A Friend A Continent Away

You turn up often in my mind, though it be
in subliminal fashion, iridescent flashes
of your quiet image flit into consciousness
like flies in spring, when they are quick.

I think of you in your silent parade, you
marching in your eastern-black robes,
your body and face towards the sunset
but your mind and soul see the sunrise….

During our brief piece of the vastness
we learned thoughts, taught codes and
traded essences, so now you can never
be away from me, for my imagination
and memory and will, shall, like some
formidable trinity holy, penetrate
mountains and forests and oceans
to sense your presence
in the movement of my arm
lifting a cup of tea….

BABYLAND

My wife and I
went to say hello
to her mother and
put flowers on her
grave
and as it was such
a vivid day shining
like life’s most
poignant dream (you
know, that feeling
you only get in late
autumn as the last
reluctant leaves
finally fall and old
man winter sends
hints of his coming
harsh arrival)
I suggested we go
for a quiet walk
through the large
silent park where
the dead reside in
undemanding patience.

We walked the long paths
of this community of souls.
Stopping here and there
to read the grave markers
(and without telling my wife
I would compare their years
against my own, so often
amazed I had more, and
knowing my own youth of
unsweet carelessness, had to
wonder why).
Then we came upon a small
stonewall enclosure, with
a sign at its entrance:
BABYLAND

Within low walls of dead-cold
stone we saw the tiny grave
markers, most with but one
date beneath a name and often
an appellation (‘Little Bo’, ‘Our
Angel’, ‘My Lost Dream’)
though some had two dates,
usually only a few days apart,
sometimes a few months of life
were testified to.

As we left that saddest part of a
very sad place, I said to my wife,
‘It’s good they’re all together,
isn’t it?’
She nodded her head but turned
away so I could not see her eyes….

The Wise Child

I met a child once,
So young I knew not
If boy or girl, but so
Wise I was compelled
To listen as the child
Spoke to me of God,
My soul, and why we
Live in a world of both
Light and darkness,
Kindness and hate.

'Ask me what you will,
And I shall answer all’.

So I asked the child
(feeling a bit foolish)
‘Why am I here?
Why is there life?
Why must we die”

And the little one
answered me, with
all the wisdom in
our vast Universe,
‘Why not?

Nolo Segundo, pen name of L.J.Carber, 77, became a published poet in his 8th decade in over 200 literary journals in 15 countries. A retired teacher [America, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia], he has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and thrice for Best of the Net. Cyberwit has published 3 collections, the latest title being 'Soul Songs'.