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Rob Rutledge Jul 2014
We worried so much about sticking our head above the parapet,
We forgot the stagnant water underfoot.
We forgot the stages of stalemate
The terror of trench foot.
Rob Rutledge Jul 2014
Life is a game, yes.
But it is not played by us.
The universe can be found
In a rundown bar on
The outskirts of Olympus.

It is a battered old pool table
Covered with ash and stale beer.
Where once the gods would linger
Laughing long into the evening
Full of mirth and cheer,
While all the time competing
For who would take control.
Cronus versus Zeus
Potting planets into black holes.

Like all good games, die.
The table was forgotten.
The bar decays
The enthusiasm fades
The universe went out of fashion.
But all the while it was rotten
Something grew on the planets
Misbegotten.
A mold unwanton and alone.
The mold was life and the table was rife
With that which the gods shall never know.
Rob Rutledge Jun 2014
An eclipse at the end of the world,
Waterfalls unto the unknown,
Navigate the secrets,
Nautical bold.
Here be dragons, or so we're told.
Well then let us burn,
Charred soul.
Not all that shines is gold.
Hold close the rigging
Friction scars our hands once more.
Voyage to unknown lands
Our future lies in the sand.
Both fine yet blown off course.
Rob Rutledge Jun 2014
When precisely? We're none too sure.
Between the glow of progress
And the clawing of the walls?
Perhaps.
Somewhere along the western shores
We lost the stars of ancient lore
We forgot the lanterns of the sky.
Drowned in artificial days and
The swell of time.
Let these crests fall and fade,
Accustomed to the eye.
Storms of solace, the galaxy
Burns fires of hubris.
Rob Rutledge Jun 2014
Tears vermilion reflecting the night,
St Elmo's fire burning bright,
Sea sick sailors pray for the light
Doomed and forgotten nets are dry.
Albatross soars, wings of flight
Guiding the lost with cries of gulls,
Let us laugh at their misfortune,
Schadenfreude
Styx flows too soon,
Gold on each eyelid
The Titans shall have their due.

Hyperion weeps to Neptune's view
As Icarus burns to seas of blue
And the sails catch on,
Enlightened by the
Dawn multifaceted hue.
Scarlet prism gems
Reflect the fallen, truth
Through crimson tinted lens.
Rob Rutledge Jun 2014
What is one more word?
Among the vortex of voices
That fuel the conscious storm.
Above the din and the Socratic
Winds, silence is born not heard.
Rob Rutledge Jun 2014
They come then in the fall.
Just before the russet sunrise
Adorned with skies of gold.
They come with gifts
And promises,
Tales round fires to be told.

Some oaths shall be broken
While others shall be sold.
As stars collide and planets fall
The wanderers return,
Gathering up all they have learned
They strike out into the world.
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