Dreadful Speech

By Robert Witmer
Tokyo, Japan

Herdsman: I am on the brink of dreadful speech.
Oedipus: And I of dreadful hearing. Yet I must hear.

wise men
the star that guides
on the blink

the labyrinth
behind her eyes
a broken thread

a brilliant idea
out of the blue
Icarus

twitter
the bead
in his whistle

sunlight
on ice
the banker’s smile

somewhere
in the dark room
a clock ticks

wild canaries
singing on the wing
from the coal mine

climate change
we turn to face
a firing squad

war
a fistful of ashes
in a game of dice

twisting shadows
beneath falling leaves
war’s children

little red rooster
the hen’s dream
sizzles in the skillet

First Published: Lothlorien Poetry Journal, September 2023

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