Ungodly Fathers
an exploration of ambition
Out of no goodness men seek fame,
Stream from casual gate
On shining boot, and bike, by car
To inflating class, in halls sacred
Culturing high engineered primes;
Their construction, uncluttered by welding,
Keeping the rest diminished, in awe
Of silence of vast holy spaces,
Resounds with prayer to Olympian dreams.
Beneath, silent, denuded weeps the earth,
Ribs broken, heart pumped dry she watches
These ungodly fathers shell their skulls,
Birth mirrored glass and mined stone,
Complex, sharp as her own stripped bone.
Comparing, praising, these masters raise
Themselves above, beyond her curve,
Are stumped, wondering why their lines
Refuse to stir, as does the heart of her.
Intellect powers new architectures;
Unbowed rivals to her womb fed structures
Briefly towers appal the sky,
But She, no disciple to their ambition,
Shatters their thin plated scaffolding,
Exposing I’s imprismed in basement rooms
Playing with Lego, watching loony ‘toons.
interesting piece, seems to be a vailed nod to the greed of man and the ultimate destructive power of Mother Earth whenever she decides to use it.
Thanks for reading G. It’s about the greed and presumption that we can rival nature; which we can but most of the time there is no thought given to the destruction we leave behind in the wake of our “progress”. The needs of life – to eat, to drink and a moment’s pleasure – override those to preserve and conserve. And Nature has a way of reminding us just how small and insignificant we are!
There is a lot here…I will have to re-read. I get the gist of it but feel I am missing the heart of it? I feel it is a cry against the relentless advance of greed and technology with no regard for Mother Earth. The elites up to their dastardly tricks and manoeuvres hidden mostly from the ordinary citizen. The last two lines speak to me of the typical aggressive cyber warrior who purports to be something other than a free loading dimwit. Arrested development and lacking in anything constructive to add to society as a whole. My god, there’s… Read more »
S, your reading is correct. We build monuments, fantastic architectures, but there is nothing that can rival the simple beauty and grace of nature. We need to learn to live side by side respecting all that is there, and melding our creations in harmony.
interesting but I have questions about the Olympian dreams, I’d like to know why you chose this word, because the Ancient Hellenes were not interested in exploiting nature overusing it etc (and they could have done it) they were physiolatres nature lovers so I wonder am I missing something? what’s the connection here?
all ancient temples are architecturally in accordance with the natural environment. Beneath Olympus Earth would never be denuded.
IYP. You are such a perceptive reader! I use the term Olympian to mean “all powerful” in the poem. That is what these men aspire to but fail miserably in their selfish ambitions, to have power that is just a word rather than its judicious use. And that is why their ambitions to build their version of their unholy temples is brought to a juddering halt by the forces of mother earth.
Thank you for bringing this into focus.
I read this as a conflict between masculine will-to-power and feminine creativity. After reading the comments below I also see the nature vs industrial damage too. “…sharp as her own stripped bone” is a great image/line.
Thanks CW. When I wrote this I thought about the masculine / feminine and the natural / industrial conflicts and the change from the uncapitalised “earth” to “She” was my way of highlighting both. Still not happy with the last 2 lines and reworking to make them sharper.