Shapes Pictures Letters Declaring Their Identities Poem by Terence George Craddock

letters declaring their identities at sharp edges
letters declaring their identities at smooth edges
letters declaring their identities at rough edges
letters declaring their identities at blurred edges
in daylight sunlight shining bright
become a little less clear on cloudy days
become washed out in heavy rain on rainy days
become murky at dawn dusk on overcast days

what is clear by daylight might be invisible at night
an overcast night without moon or star light
letters sinking into the mud in mud identities
become invisible mere source potential mud
back past primeval ancient origin identities
who raises up pictographs Sanskrit in first waking identities?

who sets rules who defines letter meaning language values?
tracing back to long lost Biblical Tower of Babel
who removed reshaped rules affixing meaning?
who cast people out as tribes clans to four corners of the earth?
who first dispersed populations gathered in mass from cityscapes?
urban to isolated vulnerable scattered clans rural
'at the edge-tips where letters declare their identities'
who ground off edges contorted smashed identities shapes?

who tricks eyes confounded ears confused speech?
to make first Eden language a meaningless babble
an intriguing thought mass communication lost
shattered understanding thrust into meaningless babble
distrust miscommunication births division hate fear treachery
cast humanity into wild places wilderness mashes

time spent thrashing about through countless marshes
insect infested stirs ancient time lost primeval memories
shadow youth humanity exploring surprising nature
walking on mud wadding through mud wall lives
living in dust medium mud huts caves
passing through passages deep in the ground
hiding from surface dangers in return to origin mud
first creation memories shaping first living souls


Terence George Craddock (Afterglows Echoes Of Starlight)
Copyright © Terence George Craddock