Richard Schnap- Two Poems

BENEATH THE SHROUD

In the insomniac night
Dreams become films
In strange languages

Interrupted by ads
For products that claim
To save you from yourself

While the hidden stars
Bestow their light
Upon other worlds

Leaving you to wish
On bulbs that swing
Like the bodies of suicides

And as you wonder
If you’re caught in a madness
Manufactured just for you

You hear a cry
In the naked darkness
And know you’re not alone



RELEASE FROM BONDAGE

Once I was a puppet
On strings that were guided
By a dead man’s hand

That led me to stages
To perform for the profit
Of faceless mannequins

That ordered me to dance
To the merciless beat
Of a bloodthirsty drum

Until I grew tangled
To slowly disintegrate
As they laughed and laughed

But then came an angel
With a pair of gold scissors
That severed my shackles

Leaving me to try
To save others ensnared
By a similar fate