Adelaide Literary Magazine - 9 years, 70 issues, and over 2800 published poems, short stories, and essays

THE GOLDEN FLOWER

ALM No.70, November 2024

POETRY

Stephen Philip Druce

10/20/20242 min read

THE GOLDEN FLOWER

Let the blue mountain slide,
to the pink snow abyss
let the green city hide
from the burgundy mist,
let the copper creature wither
in an oil painting splatter,
give the new crimson river
for the silver sky to scatter,
let the violet tree tumble
in a turquoise dissolve,
let the yellow hill crumble
in a ruby moon fold,
let the purple sun sear,
let the orange lake drain,
take the red rainbow spear,
lance the cherry forest flame,
chase the claret rain away,
sink the lilac in the sea,
let the amber cloud decay
but let the golden flower be.

THE FIX

Oh what a drag,
to be a perfect
duplicate of two,

burdened with all
the characteristics
of our makers, we are
struck down with their
every trait for our
precise imitation,

once the fresh
dewy offspring shoots
in the new wind, we
rose from the good earth
as one-off hopefuls,

the first day of spring -

"damn!, I'm turning
into my mother!"
shrieked one,

"I'm turning into
my father!"
shrieked another,

"We didn't bloom
unique, we're all copies!"
chanted the endless sea
of petals, washed away
by their own tears,

true, we are our makers,

what we do,
and the way
we do it,

every detail,
passed down,
traced back,
and nobody ever
broke the mold,
never a break,

we're all sentenced
to the same fate and
there is no escape,

that's the fix,

so think twice before
you roll the dice.


THE POWER OF THE ORDINARY

Don't get too
crazy out there,

the crazy will
attract the crazy
like blood to a shark,

so be careful
when you dance
in the moonlight,

leave your shadow
as bait and run,

the crazy can detect
crazy thoughts in
others so don't thrash
your crazy ideas around,

keep a straight
line on the radar,
don't engage,

once acquainted
the crazy will try
to match your madness,

overshadow it,
compete against it,

use the power
of the ordinary,

unable to latch on
to the ordinary action,
the ordinary person,
the ordinary conversation,
the crazy will retreat
into dark waters,

do not discuss
the extraordinary
with the crazy,

don't talk
philosophy.
the arts,

eastern mysticism,
Greek mythology,
the expansion of
consciousness,
the big bang,

this will attract
the crazy like
blood to a shark,

they'll study you
from afar,

circle you
again and again,

until it's time,

time to rip you
to pieces,

so don't get too
crazy out there.

Stephen Philip Druce is an eclectic poet from Shrewsbury in the UK. His poems are published in magazines in the UK, the USA, India, Canada, Hungary and Ireland. He has written for London theater plays and BBC Radio 4 extra. He's on Wikipedia - with The Playerist Magazine. Contact Stephen on Instagram - @Stephen Philip Druce