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The Mannequins Are Melting

The mannequins are melting as we speak
Now that the summer heat wave’s at its peak.
__While passing by the clothing store
__This afternoon at half past four,
I saw the havoc waves of heat can wreak—
Wax statues melting in their own boutique.

There in the storefront window, like a clique
Of Paris models giving us a peek
__Of this year’s new abnormities—
__Their corporal deformities—
They stood in stylish poses, proud and chic—
A frightful sight, that made me want to shriek!.

Some had their eyeballs slipping down each cheek,
And wax mouths drooping, dripping streams of gleek.
__Some empty heads, as if in jest,
__Tipped over and slid down each chest
On necks outstretched like neck ties long and sleek,
Adorning their now withering physique.

But let us note, their end is not unique,
For in this world, we see a scene as bleak:
__When hot air blows, we soon realize
__From drooping mouths and slipping eyes
That some whom we surmised were made of teak
Melt like wax dolls before hell´s fits of pique!

So when the air is hot and seems to reek
Of sulfur fumes from some volcanic peak;
__Or when your nostrils note the smell
__Of something burning, forged in hell,
Be strong!  Don´t lose your shape just like some weak
Wax dummy who can´t think or act or speak!

.

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Brushfires

A single match can set a field ablaze
When summer suns have made its grass like tinder;
Then in an hour, the growth of many days
Can be reduced to nothing but a cinder.

So too, a nation by itself betrayed,
Whose soul becomes bone dry through lies and lust,
Can lose the lushness that it once displayed
And perish when a spark turns all to dust.

How many tribes who in their spring were green
Full of life´s sap and fed by falling rain,
In sultry summer, lost their vibrant sheen,
Their verdure and their will to thrive again.

They did not pray, nor sought the true and good,
Nor cried out for refreshing rain to soak
Their thirsty souls, but dried out till they stood
Fit for the day of searing flame and smoke.

The world is full of blackened fields that tell
The long sad tale of man’s apostasy
And testify to judgments which once fell
On those whose blinded eyes refused to see.

A day of reckoning still lies ahead
For all who stand in strength upon the sod,
Who soon must lie beneath it, finally dead,
Yet destined still to stand before their God.

That’s why God calls all nations now to learn
From those two angels sent to do Lot good;
Who led him from his city, set to burn,
When sin had turned it into kindling wood.

The sight of those charred walls, burned to the ground
Should make us grieve our wrongs and own each fault,
Lest having yet been spared, we turn around—
Despite all warning words—and turn to salt!

.

.

Martin Rizley grew up in Oklahoma and in Texas, and has served in pastoral ministry both in the United States and in Europe. He is currently serving as the pastor of a small evangelical church in the city of Málaga on the southern coast of Spain, where he lives with his wife and daughter. Martin has enjoyed writing and reading poetry as a hobby since his early youth.

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10 Responses

  1. Roy E. Peterson

    Martin, these are two poems with great messages. The first abjuring us to remain strong and not melt away in the face of the fires raging upon us. The second warning us not to fall into or admire the maelstrom and turn into the pillar of salt as did the wife of Lot. They are beautifully phrased and rhymed.

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Dear Roy,
      Thanks for your feedback, Roy. You understood perfectly the theme of each poem. Both poems, in a sense, deal with the theme of judgment, the judgment of God that we see fall again and again throughout history on peoples, nations, civilizations, and individuals that abandon the love of truth for the love of “bread and circuses,” accepting without a peep whatever lies and propaganda are being disseminated by the powers that be– whatever “hot air” is blowing to dry out men´s souls with lies–, without standing up for what is right and true. Inevitably, such societies, judged and handed over to their own internal corruptions, are finally burned to the ground and individuals who yield to the spirit of the age lose their human form and melt into grotesque Picasso-like caricatures of what it means to be human. The final image of the second poem, with the allusion to Lot´s wife, reminds us that within each of us lies the seeds of our own destruction; the enemy is not so much “out there,” as in here, and the only way who can save us from our own worst enemy (ourselves) is the One who made us and sent Christ to redeem the lost.

      The theme of judgment is never popular, I suppose, it seems to me especially relevant for the times in which we are living. Certainly it applies to what we are now seeing in England, as we behold the sad implosion of a nation that once valued the Bible, religious liberty and freedom of thought and speech, into a totalitarian, godless, atheistic society founded on the principles of Marxist wokeism; a society that is now resorting to draconian measures to stifle dissent and shut down all thinking and speech critical of the government. It is a chilling sign of the times in which we live, and the threat we are facing. These are truly times that “try men´s souls” and bring to light the material of which each one is made– whether teak. . .or wax.

      Reply
  2. Shamik Banerjee

    Using the mannequin metaphor to convey a powerful message on resoluteness is both interesting and unique. I guess this poem also goes on to say that one’s actions (and not the big words he says) during times of misery defines who he is. The mannequin reference can be equated with fake friends who flee during hour of need.

    The second poem begins with a beautiful analogy: the fast reduction of a field to cinders with just one match. In the same way, one wrong and fire-like spreading notion/ belief or even act can reduce an entire generation to dust (which, in other words, I believe is spiritual death).

    Thanks for these, Mr. Rizley. I enjoyed reading them.

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Thank you, Shamik, for sharing your reflections on the two poems and their application to real life situations. I hadn´t thought about the issue of “false friends”, but it makes a lot of sense in this context. In totalitarian societies, people have been known to yield to pressure to become “informants” reporting to the authorities on neighbors, friends and even relatives. Their humanity is deformed and distorted as heat is applied to their “wax” nature. I had the feeling when I wrote poem that it was a bit “odd”– i.e., different from my usual style, but it seemed the metaphor was worth developing, so I kept at it until it was written. The picture that Evan included with the poem is actually what motivated me to write it. I saw this bizarre picture and thought, “I want to write a poem to go with that.”

      Reply
  3. Maria

    These are two very powerful poems. In fact the strong imagery and superb metaphor of the first poem made me overlook the second poem somewhat to begin with. But on re-reading I find that I appreciate the craftsmanship and the message of both these two poems very much. The idea that we should rise above our lot and not be as dummies but beings with an eternal soul is what I have taken away from reading these two poems. thank you

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Thank you, Maria, for your thoughtful reading of both poems. I think you have grasped well the central idea that they share. Though there are many pressures that we face in life to conform to cultural lies and societal corruption– pressures that can leave us dried out like withered grass, or melted like wax dummies– we must, as you put it, “rise above” adverse pressures and keep our human shape and vitality by facing opposition with courage and resolve. In the second poem, the grass needing the rain to retain its lushness speaks of our human need of divine grace to face adversity rightly; since we are weak and prone to yield to pressure, we must look to heaven for strength and perseverance.

      Reply
  4. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    What better way to convey a grave message than through engaging poetry that shines its light on the oh-so-very human foibles, pitfalls and downright devilment that brings a society to its knees. Thank you very much, Martin!

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Thank you, Susan, for your always welcome feedback! I totally agree with what you say about poetry being an engaging medium for conveying a grave message. One has only to think of the Hebrew prophets and how their poetic style powerfully underscored the sobriety of the messages they were called to deliver to the children of Israel.

      Reply
  5. Margaret Coats

    “The Mannequins” is a splendid work of delightfully grotesque humor, Martin. And as Susan says, “with a grave message.” “Brushfires,” too, proceeds from an apparently lighter (pun intended) warning to the most serious of all. That is, we start from Smokey the Bear, but quickly find not only forests but nations in danger. As if we didn’t know–but how good it is to see it laid out in creative art, using powers of observation and communication given us by the Creator. You move on to the blackened fields usually cited today as due to global warming and requiring urgent sociopolitical action. They represent not man’s economic misdeeds, though, but his far more serious apostasy. And that’s not all. For any who take seriously God’s Word, living and written, especially as once ministered by angels, there are sins crying out to heaven for vengeance–although merciful deliverance is offered personally and explicitly to those who will abandon the offense and not turn back to it. This is the better sort of apocalyptic poetry, asking for gradual development of the human understanding, through ways that are natural and proper to it.

    Reply
    • Martin Rizley

      Margaret, I really appreciate your thoughtful analysis of my poems. Your feedback helps me to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of what I have written, so as to improve as a poet. Your understanding of the poem´s themes is right on target. I´m glad you found the “Mannequin” poem a work of “delightfully grotesque humor.” That was my intention, although I was a bit nervous that some might take offense at my describing .the physical deformities of the mannequins in a humorous way. In real life, of course, physical deformities ought to provoke sympathy and fellow feeling, not laughter. In the context of the poem, however, I don´t think what I have written should offend anyone, for I am trying to point out in a humorous but serious manner how fear and cowardice in response societal pressure to conform to lies (“hot air”) can cause us to melt and lose our human shape if we simply cave in and do not stand up to evil, so as to resist it.

      Reply

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