Tag Archives: Matthew Louis Roth Poetry

Cremation… Wednesday Oct. 8, 2014 / St. Louis, MO #SchwervonPoetry

MeltStLouis

photo by Paige Brubeck

Paralyzed
No feeling whatsoever
Or so much you can’t distinguish
One one from  another or nothing
Let’s go for a walk
Listen to the sounds
Inside and out
They’re always there for us
Like the knowledge that some day we will die
Oops sorry
Did you forget that?
Didn’t mean to kill the party
Unless maybe your party is killing someone else.

Did you know that it is possible to live witness the cremation of a loved one?
All you have to do is ask.
You can even press the button.
I know it sounds a little weird.
But wouldn’t it be better than a complete stranger doing it all alone
At some random time on some random day?
Just sending another one down the conveyor belt.
Isn’t it a much nicer idea to have your remains
scorched into eternity by someone you love?
Someone who cared for you
and you cared for.
I do.

(This poem was originally recited at Melt on October 8, 2014 in St. Louis)

Show Poem: 3-13-14 @ Hill Country Weavers (Austin, TX w/ R.Ring)

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picture courtesy of R.Ring

Remember when the stars were free of war?
When they surrounded you like a swarm of friendly glowing sea turtles.
With soft round heads.
They innocently flickered to give your jagged mind a place to play and to surf.
Remember when space was just about the moon and it’s stages of silent reflection.
Perfect at being.
On stages,
In all stages.
Never lacking.
Before men got to it with their technology and war and cinema.
Well
They are still there.
As long as night is still.  And still there.
It’s all still there. Waiting for you
The years of sobriety.
The days of no hunger.
Like the water at the bottom of a deep deep well.
Like the fat in a camel’s hump.
Or air.
Life is always there for you.
Just breathe.