Bolivia Series, Plaza of Three Cultures-La Paz,
Pastel, by John Cummings
What Scares You the Most
No visible face on the Nazgul.
The blank stare of a mass shooter.
Knowing I have blind spots but unable to identify them;
Unwilling, is closer to it.
The bush
The elephant
The man,
Especially the masquerading angel of light
All mask and no face
The sycophancy of Grima Wormtongue.
My star studded stare sipping complimentary Kool Aid.
Commencement speeches promising unlimited potential;
Willingly chasing rainbows, is more like it.
The pot
The gold
The fool,
Singing like a falling rock star at the Casino
The mic a hairbrush
The power mongering of Saruman.
The rise of machines.
Reliance more and more on AI
Bondage of the will, it is.
The App
The frog
The kettle,
Over a modest flame, the water soon to boil
Global warming
The wait in Helm’s Deep.
The struggle to believe in resurrection.
The dry, stably silent air before a wind storm;
A testing of the will, torture is the word for it.
The mind
The anxiety
The fake news,
Henny Penny prophesying
The voice, no friend
__________________
Nathan E. Lewis
Review by Marc Janssen
There are a lot of references to Tolkien’s Middle Earth here and suggestions of fairy tales and AI. In the end there is waiting at Helm’s Deep, the last bastion, the desperate defense against the forces of evil. Henny Penny is calling for the sky to fall, it never does. The poem looks at what scares us, and the ability of us to see what is real and what is a story.
Review by Dave Mehler
In the vein of ‘fear poems,’ I found this one the most unique and writerly–the formal and rhetorical structure is consistent and symmetrical, the conceit of using Middle Earth as a metaphor for the poet’s fears also recurs in each stanza, so from this standpoint this has the most device and artifice and is perhaps the least naturally idiomatic and casual–does this mean it offers less reflection of the poet’s actual fears? Initially I thought so, but I think it helps to know that this poet is a pastor and also something of a literary man–his sermons often quote novels and others’ books and display his erudition. Sometimes a bit of knowledge about a poet’s background and biography can really help to enter into a poem. Take this line from the first stanza: Knowing I have blind spots but unable to identify them;/ Unwilling, is closer to it. The Nazgul, once a human king, now reduced to a wraith, All mask and no face. I don’t get the sense this reflects the speaker’s reality but instead suggests a pitfall he is afraid of succumbing to? In stanza two he expresses a fear or temptation because of being a public figure and spiritual leader, which might make him susceptible to flattery, or thinking too much of himself rather than seeing himself more accurately? In stanza three he is a cultural commentator, and as such responsible for reading the times, and not being a man of his age, not succumbing to worldly distractions? Or likewise to be alternately too blind to current events, head in the clouds, irrelevant. Lastly as a man of faith, to still struggle with belief, which is a normal part of every person of faith, but as someone set up as an example for others to look to, there is an admission of struggle here. No one is immune, no one is super human, no matter what others expect. No one wants to be a henny penny either. This poem is personal, and quirky, and displays actual craft and restrictions on image and form, along with actual grounded fears. A unique contribution to the set. Good job Nathan–you are a weirdo!