‘At the Moment of Our Death’ and Other Poetry by Robert King The Society June 9, 2014 Beauty, Poetry 2 Comments At the Moment of Our Death At the moment of our death As we draw our final breath Should we not project a fear Of the prospect of not being here? The moment that closes tight The door of time, turns out the light And orders man to conform To the arrival of his perfect storm Should not be an occasion of fright Rather the end of a valiant fight To make a mark upon this earth That says this was a person of worth. Where Are We When We Are Not? Where are we when we are not? Why right here in what we wrote Can writing be death’s antidote? Ah! Tis good art that survives Good art immortality gives Through bad art no one lives Write badly and burn in hell Heaven’s for those who’ve written well For most of us, only time will tell. The End of the Poem The end of the poem As now we know it Will mark the emergence Of the true poet Our poetic inheritance That’s long been lost Will then be restored But at what cost? Generations on earth Have come – have trod Then taken their places Beneath the sod Not experiencing the Beauty and the joys Of the lyric poem and Craft of verse it employs The music, the magic The heightened language That in such a poem Jumps off the page All that was lost Will again be found Revealing a humanity That’s truly profound. Robert King is a retired lawyer and poet living in California. Featured Image: “The Liberation of Saint Peter” by Gerard van Honthorst (1592-1656). NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Trending now: 2 Responses aa June 9, 2014 Those poems are interesing except a bit somber. They are well written with a tint of classic poetry. It tells well the poet’s personal taste of poetry and his aesthetic nastalgia that reminds us of those academic and serious poetry which has been submerged on and off but has well survived by itself under the lustre of the Diana’s beam, I believe. Hi, Buddy, could you write something brighter without gloom? Reply james sale October 12, 2014 Robert – I like the themes; poetry should be ambitious and about big questions. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
aa June 9, 2014 Those poems are interesing except a bit somber. They are well written with a tint of classic poetry. It tells well the poet’s personal taste of poetry and his aesthetic nastalgia that reminds us of those academic and serious poetry which has been submerged on and off but has well survived by itself under the lustre of the Diana’s beam, I believe. Hi, Buddy, could you write something brighter without gloom? Reply
james sale October 12, 2014 Robert – I like the themes; poetry should be ambitious and about big questions. Reply
