~ The Poetry Man
That's the title of Mark Prime's compilation of poems, with cover artwork by the equally talented artist, Ben Heine.
Wash The Flag, Don't Burn it is a collection of 165 poems about peace, war, justice and liberty. Mark Prime is known to a lot of us in the blogosphere simply as Poetryman. He is the author of A Poetic Justice and started the Peace Tree, a blog that features the writing of several people including my own occasional contributions.
Every time I open the book, I do so randomly. Here is the first poem I turned to today.
TOM
They grow closer together each passing day
You know the vine I mean
The knitting of nature, green
Canopy aloft with life
Even when it's not
They tussle together like schoolchildren
Holding tight the other's hand
Moving 'cross the ground, trees
Weaving a needlepoint of intricacy
Tapping into new little worlds
Breathing time into tiny planets
The labor is far from over
Heavens hold lips in wait
And the less subtle, more powerful voice of this poem:
The War on Peace
When men squander their waking lives
God-jawing 'bout peace intent on war
The world's roads will soon be ruined
In man's self-strewn ambush
And our cities will crouch like snipers
Shelling their own decayed manifestation
Humanity then becomes the blinded child
Searching recklessly for its original eyes
It was hard to pick which poems to feature in this post; there are so many good ones. That is why it became necessary for me to choose them randomly. There is power, love, passion, anger without bitterness, clarity and real talent in this collection.
I'm pleased and proud to count Mark among my blog friends. I admire him not only for his talent as a poet but for his ability to live the life of a peaceful human being. It shows in his every word. Thanks Mark, for what you bring tirelessly to the blogosphere on a daily basis.
