In the dullness of the day
There comes a flood of red.
The color showers down
Pumping life into the dead.
Within seconds they embrace the red.
The red drives them quite insane.
So much red all at one time!
But the red will come again.
The red will show no mercy.
The red will be feared.
The raging red will feast on even
The innocent while it's here.
But still, the red will bring them laughter.
Red's brought them joy from the start.
This very red reverberates
In their violent, ****** hearts.
The red will be forgotten.
The red will be ignored.
The ruthless red will ruin some
While others go on as before.
To those who prance around
And join in on the rumble,
Know that when you play with red
You're also playing with the devil.
My poetic response to a scene in Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities."
If you read the novel, you may remember the scene where a cart of wine tips over and spills onto the street, and people flock over to taste the wine and celebrate it. This poem draws a parallel between the French citizens' thirst for wine and their later thirst for blood when the guillotine is brought about. It's shocking how eager and willing the citizens become to witness the beheading of another. I tried my best to portray the dark nature of the French during the French Revolution, as depicted in "A Tale of Two Cities," in this poem.
Published by Poetic Power in a young poets anthology.
