Tyler DeWriter

Poem 1: adrift

Long are the hours of cold winter nights…
Dark are the skies on frigid open seas…
Rough are the waves rocking a lonely trawler,
icy waters permeating bare bones.
From bow to starboard
is naught to be seen
a sign of life
above nor below…
none but a single soul
parting from the shoreline,
a pitch-black shadow
drifting in shifting shallows,
exposed by lamplight
yet lost in sight
amidst countless stars
in a boundless horizon.

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Poem 2: Anarchic Antarctic

The penguins have armed themselves with flamethrowers
The leopard seals have taken over the oil tankers
What have we done
The ice is gone
The orcas are becoming vegetarian
The codfish are destroying research stations
It is too late
We sealed our fate
We angered the albatrosses
The skuas and petrels are cross
We went too far
Spilled too much tar
Sperm whales are sinking submarines
The krill are killing the researchers
We’ve too far altered our destinies
Now the Antarctic’s an anarchic land
Which mankind can command no longer

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Poem 3: -273.15°C

absolute silence.
absolute stillness.
a cessation of existence
visions of nothingness
of -273.15°C.

the world in stop-motion
a complete stand-still.
a silent expanse
of mass and energy frozen
in -273.15°C.

a momentary lapse
in spatial progress.
a chill so penetrating
it pierces time itself
at -273.15°C.

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Poem 4: Danse Eternal

As blizzards rage from dusk ’til dawn,
the hearth inside yet calms the soul.
Snowflakes spiral downward soundlessly,
synchronized in perfect harmony.
With fuzzy scruff and tattered soles,
Old Man Winter marches on.

As daisies bloom in brightened sun,
nature’s children rise again.
Gone the nights of rugged toil,
Showers now sprinkle softened soil.
Along comes the lively maiden
Spring, lightly waltzing on.

Laid upon a viridian lawn
‘neath the glowing crescent moon,
we rest from endless heat waves,
fireworks and hearts alike lit ablaze.
In vibrant hues and lively tunes,
Buddy Summer boogies on.

Try hard as we may, our songs
in time shall fade to mere memory.
Dressed in woolen sleeves,
we shuffle through fallen leaves.
In key with an ever-shifting melody,
Madame Autumn solemnly hums along.

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Poem 5: Out Cold

a need for sleep has
taken me, i long to be
lost within deep dreams

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Poem 6: Zero Exponent

Side Note: This poem is a sequel to Zero Division, a poem I published in Poetry Compilation I: Coherent Contradictions. It was first drafted several weeks before a certain incident at the US Capitol, and is not intended to be read as a commentary piece on any real-life events. Just wanted to make that clear.

There once lived a hero a long time ago,
a fellow named Zero who fought a great foe.
In his fight for peace, however,
he grew to misuse his newfound powers.
Though the demon had long since been vanquished,
the people yet lived in anguish,
for Zero the Hero was a hero no longer.

He sought to uphold justice,
but did so with an iron fist,
for he knew no path other than violence.
The people at first did nothing,
for their homes at least stood in better states…
but was life even worth living
if oppression was forever their fate?

Surely this could not be so,
they said as resentment sprouted.
They would continue to sit idle
as a dictator displaced a tyrant.
These feelings rose exponentially,
multiplied until eventually
the townsfolk would take no more.

The people gathered in the square,
decrying the name of their fallen hero.
Enough is enough, they bemoaned,
but their words reached none who cared.
Soon, the rocks began to fly,
for Zero to them was dead,
and so they’d demand his head.

As they continued their fight,
belligerents began to storm his fortress.
The common knights did not resist,
the loyalists took flight.
Though Zero had killed countless foes,
he’d never taken the lives of his own,
so quickly he was overthrown.

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