Applause Poem by Robert Sheridan

A certain noise, a vain of laughter - comes
The folly of my wisdom hears their applause
Clapping, clapping - the thunder of a mischievous one
Spiteful people gain your attention through fear, not through love;
Their applause rides unbridled gathering up the storm
Unleashed, gently with twisted wedding band - mindless the while
Hauntingly, the line of un-silvered clouds bring up the rear
And with sullen looks – ghosts of tattered memories appear;
The part of me left in them – now convulsing as undignified waste
Waste, painted as quick-slivered art on heaven’s breast
Painstakingly dissipated by their, “to human is to air”
Remnants scatter, head-stoned, disfigured, no longer in pain;
Mourning shadows, un-imaginary lines – my new dawn scurrying
Scurrying from a decayed relationship - took years of planning
Nightmare – will forever be in desolate pursuit
Applause, applause – triumphed with unspoken phrases;
Now vanquished, wisdom is my peril
My agony, my cries fall on forbidden ears
Their un-thoughtfulness proceeds in a creeping motion
Clapping, clapping...

'2007'