The dumb man with a

  Metal plate in his head

  MUSICAL COMMUNICATION

  Newspaper, television, radio

  Telegraph, telephone, tell a woman

  Communication

  Thoughts, dreams, wishes

  Complaints, agonies, pains

  Music

  Love, peace, happiness

  Power, war, hunger

  Communication through music

  Communication the power

  Music the tool

  Development of nations

  Development of people

  Development of ideas and feelings

  Musical communication

  PRODUCTION

  I stand here staring out a window

  Listening to Metallica; speed metal

  I see people walk, drive, run by

  Lights made by people glow everywhere

  Buildings built by people stand strong and tall

  Clouds fill the sky; polluted by these people

  Mounds of soil are scattered about,

  They are a necessity of construction

  Which is done by… people

  So many people

  Building so many things

  Entertainment, Shelter, Transportation

  Businesses, etcetera

  Easy does it people!

  Do not suffer nor die

  In the production you prize!

  THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

  A manual valve refusing to move

  An automatic valve won’t open

  Pumps screeching to a dead halt

  No fuel remains

  Automobiles give way to horse and buggy

  Axes and manual saws take over chainsaws

  Dark, sooty pollution emerges

  Where filtered white pollution once came

  The old world from the new

  The new world never to return

  Leaving behind all remnants of the civilized

  A civilization from the old

  Entropy taking over where Newtonian failed

  Quantum, Relativity in a way becoming truth

  Gold, Bronze, Steel; all ages of man

  Gold, Bronze, Steel; a cycle never ending

  Chaos born from dependence

  Dependence man’s downfall

  The end of the world as we know it

  A world in the ashes to be explored

  Love, peace, happiness; all in hope

  Hope from fear; fear of the unexplainable

  Philosophy strives, unable to conquer

  Simply enough, a new beginning

  A DREAM: TO CHASE OR NOT TO CHASE?

  “Where on this grand earth

  am I?”

  “You’re not on earth,

  you’re in a dream, my SON

  “Well old man…

  Where is IT?

  “There it is boy! Don’t waste time!

  Go get the THING!”

  Somewhat brief and abstract…

  But not a LIE

  But now... It is dark as an abyss

  Or bright as the afternoon SUN?

  All I know is that …

  I have to chase IT.

  Listen boy!

  You mustn’t worry nor CRY!

  Just chase the dream

  And have some FUN.

  And you needn’t fret

  If it bites a BIT.

  And when you fall

  It will always lend you PADDING.

  “Old man… you needn’t bother yourself

  With the swelling of my EYE.

  When a dream laughs

  I never act DUMB.

  And I don’t worry about bites

  Nor a little HIT.

  Neither do I trouble myself

  With FALLING.”

  Then my son.. Why stall…

  If I may PRY?

  “Old man, I never enter the unexplored

  At a savage Run.”

  “But this is only a dream…

  I think you’re scared of IT!

  “ I give warning old man.. Do not try to induce

  Or vex me into SOMETHING!”

  I was only trying to help…

  It can’t hurt to TRY

  And if you were smart

  You’d go get that dream, my SON.

  You might possibly have danger or happiness

  Or neither and here you’ll SIT.

  This may be the greatest or the worst

  Or it may remain NOTHING.

  “Old man, in my pursuit of this dream.

  If I may DIE…..

  You must swear that in my procession

  You will beat the DRUM!

  As for my coffin…

  You will bury IT!

  And to the dream …

  You will chase the THING!”

  So you will go boy!

  Then I say GOODBYE!

  “Yes I am off…

  But pray it is as the SUN.

  Pray it does not bite…

  For I actually loathe to be BIT.

  And pray it has a tickle…

  Not a STING.

  I will be back, old man.

  And we’ll talk… you and I”

  “Yes! Now go!

  Go have some FUN!

  Enjoy your youth

  To its fullest LIMITS!

  Goodbye by son!

  Don’t worry yourself a THING!

  So here I’m off.

  Praying not to DIE.

  Knowing I may be killed.

  But still off I RUN.

  I know danger may be this dream…

  But I wish happiness be IT.

  And whether I worry or not, I still know

  that danger is better than NOTHING…

  SING THE BLUES

  A long time ago

  Man had a chance

  To play with life

  And have some romance

  But now

  That time is gone

  And here I stand

  So all alone

  All I have to ask

  Is one favor

  You can do it or not

  It doesn’t really matter

  But if you would

  I mean, if you could

  Sing the Blues for me

  Sing of what makes you feel free

  Sing the Blues out loud

  Sing of what makes you proud

  Sing them for me

  And I swear

  They will remain

  In my heart for eternity

  TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP

  So peaceful

  The words you say

  “The latter things are full

  Why can’t you stay?”

  While you’re asleep

  You talk what appears nonsense

  But in writing, what you say I shall keep

  Perhaps they’ll make me a few cents

  “Please, please don’t go

  I’ll give you anything

  I’ll take care of you in rain or snow

  Why are you leaving? Was it I who did something

  To Hell with you then

  I don’t care if you ever some back again!”

  Such violence you can show

  In the morning I shall let you know

  “There’s a dragon out there

  Wait! I’ll get him!

  Watch out! He’s out of his Lair!

  Blast him! Blast him!

  What can you possibly be dreaming?

  What is it that runs wild in your mind?

  Perhaps it is your daily scheming

  Emerging a little at a time?

  You roll over frantically

  Now you say no more

  Perhaps now you will sleep peacefully

  Having, to the outside, shut the door.

  A JOGGERS NIGHTMARE

&nb
sp; Coming in from the chilled air

  My body stiff with frozen sweat

  I stumble over to the radiator

  Then my strongest fears spring alive

  The radiator is throwing me a sheet of frozen air

  I struggle over to the thermostat

  Adjusting it from the mere 10 degrees to a comfortable 75

  I then, anticipating heat, crawl to the vent

  Almost to the life supporting system ahead

  I collapse, stretching my arm to reach life

  My hand barely makes contact

  Just as I sink into sub-consciousness

  The radiator then kicks out a wave of heat

  Moments later, my hand thaws from white to pink

  Sub-consciousness disappears as I awaken

  I struggle to my feet and peel out of the

  Frost engulfed heap of clothes

  My body slowly springs to life once more

  Only for me to repeat the act tomorrow

  FOOLISH SACRIFICES

  Children playing in the streets

  The beast speeds onward

  Parents look on in awe

  Crimson pavement from the sacrifice

  The steel beast controlled by a man

  The man controlled by nothing

  From an inebriating drug

  He loses all inhibitions

  He is unable to control the beast

  The result is a sacrifice

  To a superficial God

  A God of deceit, hatred, pain and darkness

  Laws that are, it seems never enforced

  So the sacrifices continue endlessly

  Killing the children of the future

  Children that can no longer be children

  But only foolish sacrifices to a dark god

  WAITING AT THE AIRPORT

  Elevator Music!

  So unrewarding

  The least they could do

  Is have Ozzy Osbourne singing

  Tranquil music

  This makes me sick

  I want to curl up in a heep

  And just fall fast asleep

  Then I would miss my plane

  Oh!! That would prove to be a pain!

  Maybe I should eat some spaghetti

  And perhaps consume another beer

  I know the time to depart

  Must be drawing near

  What time could it possibly be?

  I am almost wanting to leave

  A RAINY DAY IN MY CAR

  A car and truck

  They pass me by

  They don’t give a fuck

  I wish I were high.

  What kind of poem can this be?

  I don’t know… nor care

  But I really must pee

  Because of the light, I don’t yet dare

  Sitting in the rain

  Getting wetter and wetter

  It’s really such a pain

  Perhaps I’ll throw on a sweater

  To myself I will converse

  For my car nor the clouds will speak

  To insanity my mind may transverse

  Not yet!… I’m not at my peak…

  Contemplating the ways of life

  Wondering when I shall marry

  Who to take as a wife

  To be honest, it’s all quite scary!

  Ahead, I stare at a brick wall

  It stands ancient, yet proudly

  Why am I short.. Not tall

  Nonetheless, I’m stout and never cowardly!

  My car isn’t fast and it is quite dirty

  I have no music from its console to hear

  Yet it runs and is quite sturdy

  So from my eyes will not come a tear.

  Just another rainy day

  Far from home

  Should I go, or should I stay

  I really hate to be alone

  I’ll just sit in my car

  Allowing the raindrops to fall

  Knowing my friend cannot be far

  I wish he would’ve answered the phone

  THE PARK

  While walking through the park

  I notice these things

  Wondering exactly

  What each of them mean

  An old man sitting on a bench

  Reading a paper

  A couple of small town hoods

  Think-up a caper

  An old lady with a cart

  She’s dressed like a hag

  A little girl in tights

  She’s carrying a shopping bag

  A little boy running

  Stumbles, then falls

  An infant of about one

  Trying to walk from a crawl

  The leaves fall from the trees

  Oh so freely

  The bums sleeping under them

  Why must they be needy?

  All of which I see

  Still remains unknown

  Until I find out

  I’ll just keep walking home

  ONE MAN’S LIFE AS A TREE

  Picture if you will…

  A field filled with daises

  Violets and…

  Forget-me-nots

  Amongst which is…

  A Tree…

  Oak… no Doubt

  This Single tree

  Standing firmly in the middle

  Of this Vast Field

  Within this Tree…

  Nests a Sparrow…

  And a Raccoon

  On the Side

  Of the Tree

  There are

  Signs

  Of where a Bear

  Might have scratched

  An itch

  On the opposite Side

  Is what appears to be

  Signs

  Of where a Massive Buck

  Rubbed His horns

  This tree…

  Is extremely

  Large

  For this area

  So Large, in fact…

  That One

  Could swear

  That It

  Had been there

  From the

  Beginning of Time

  A tree…

  That has endured

  Thousands

  Of years of

  Torture…

  Whether Erosion

  (wind or rain)

  Or

  Disease

  A tree…

  That springs forth

  Huge leaves

  That could easily

  Cover a Small Child

  A tree…

  That offers

  Shelter

  Food

  And a Tool

  To all Creatures

  A tree…

  That is

  Truly great

  And will endure

  For eternity

  A tree…

  That IS

  Despite the fact that…

  Envious outside factors

  Will always attempt to

  End Its Life.

  KITTY CAT CLOUDY DAY

  A tiny, black kitten found in the alley

  Brought inside for comfort and pet

  Fed only the finest canned food

  The kitten grows to full size

  Playing endlessly with anything in site

  Growing hungry

  Time speculatively spent on the roof

  Clawing at passerby avians

  Growing ever more hungry

  A window opened then carelessly closed

  The cat inescapably on the roof

  Hunches, springs, stretches

  His prey clutched in an iron-clawed grip

  Two stories down, waste for his fall

  An alley cat to become

  Searching the park during daylight

  Investigating alleys in the moonlight

  Little did he figure stumbling into a fight.

  DEMOCRACY?

  Tear down the Wall!

  Totalitarians are
whom we Call

  Freedom must be for humans All

  Communism inevitably did Fall

  Democracy in itself is not Freedom

  Peace and love must also be our Guerdon

  From mind, heart, and spirit it does come

  Amiable movements forever we shall condone

  Despots such as Ceacesceu did not receive pardon

  The world united shall become our Home

  Albania, Cuba, China: together, yet Alone

  Freedom and peace go hand in hand

  The people of the world finally took a stand

  The realization that nations aren’t only land

  The world shall one day become a paradise for all man

  We shall share all culture under one doctrine

  First… let us all, every man. Awaken!

  OCTAV

  Octave won the prize!!

  Tears of joy flow from my eyes

  He’s a hero in my world

  For, corruption and poverty

  He set down in poetic words

  He is a poet, somewhat like I

  For the worlds misgivings, he did not cry

  Events into words

  He gave a twirl

  He told the truth when others would lie

  Sir Octave, a hearty salute extends from I

  Of your poems I read not a word

  But from a journalists view I had heard

  That you had won the noblest prize

  It was from a poets heart, the Greatness I spied

  SALMAN

  A chronicle: Stars and Stripes

  Khomeni, a self-imposed reviver of the Islamists

  A writer of fiction: this prey he makes

  Salman never anticipated the height of the stakes

  A cognate people

  Fanatically tries to cripple

  Satanic Verses they must expel

  Rushdie suppressed in his citadel

  The Council meets in Saudi

  It makes not, the league weep

  The free world shall never sleep

  As long as we have men like Rushdie

  The illiterate think they rule

  But they have not the tool

  They shall never make us bow

  Freedom will forever remain our sine qua non

  Ayatollah’s world condemns

  Rushdie’s world nonetheless remains

  The Imam’s world shall endlessly seek revenge

  As long as Shakespearians refuse to amend

  We of the free teach peace

  We care; thus we shall play for keeps

  The totalitarian Imam preaches war

  Evidently; our children shan’t get far…

  ME NOMBRE ES ROBERTO

  I am here to stay

  I cannot be taken away

  Who, you ask am I?

  Me nombre es Roberto!

  I am exhausted of Politics

  I wish to regurgitate worldly thoughts

 
Robert Sawyer's Novels