Agon–dVerse Open Link Night

Artist: Basquiat
Non-commercial Reuse

Agon

Agon (Classical Greek ἀγών) is an ancient Greek term for a struggle or contest.

Am I alone, here
on the edge of a great
upheaval?

Those along the San Andreas Fault
await the “big one”
said likely to propel California
into the Pacific.
This avowed by
naysayers.
I can see the faultline
from my home
in the desert.

If I stand
for my beliefs
(here on the yawning maw
of tomorrow)
will I be hurled into the
yesterday of the future?

A lone sparrow
at our suet feeder,
left behind by the others
consumes uncertainty.
Hawk watches
overhead.

The arts,
a vehicle of conflictual
expression,
tell our stories—
present and past.
Authentic or chaotic,
they are our stories.

Basquiat,
a spokesman of our times
spills anarchy onto
the pages of his work
in broad lines and
dark spaces.
My gut clenches
at the underlying angst
and I long for resolve
(or indifference.)

I struggle to find beauty
in the cawing of that
crow outside my window,
in the jeering of the blue
jay, scolding the wren,
devouring

all I hold precious.
Ibsen scandalized
his era with an overdose
of unspoken reality.

I long for the illusion
of simpler times.

And now I’ll feed
the dogs, just as I do
every day at this hour.

Linked to dVerse Open Link Night where we are invited to share a poem on any theme using any form.