The Shark Of Emptiness Poem by Fred Babbin

The Shark Of Emptiness

Rating: 5.0


The silver two-mouthed shark
Swimming through the air
Sucking it up in it’s two huge mouths
And spewing out heat and other defilement

Where is it going?
Where are we going?
Where is the goal?
What is the goal?

The goal is emptiness;
Our goal is empty –
When the bridges are down
And the tall buildings crumble
Who will be there
To sort out the jumble?

In the beginning was emptiness,
Now – is the invisible, transparent emptiness
And at the end
Will be the emptiness
The final emptiness for all things.

So we must know that
Our eternal instant is now
For the last instant is gone and the next one
Has yet to be,

Carpe Diem!
For that’s all there is -
Forget birth, forget death
Forget Paradise and forget Hell
For all that there is,
Is emptiness

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Clum Haire 20 September 2008

I loved this poem but there were some things I'd improve. The idea of the shark was great, I had this great image of it gnawing through the air. I think that section of the poem was referring to 9/11? I wasn't sure, it was mainly because of the crumbled buildings and such. Contraversial topic but delivered powerfully. The last verse was a little bit preaching (which is rich coming from a poet who spends his time writing poems containing little or no message at all) I would tone down on that. Otherwise brilliant. Loved it.

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Stone Granite 17 May 2008

Now, this moment is running away from us, so seize the day, trust not the future, for it may not arrive. Nicely done Fred, I enjoyed it very much...the message is clear and so is your dictation. Stone

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Sonny Rainshine 15 May 2008

I'll drink to that! With humanity's seemingly inevitable tendency to self-destruct (and to take everything else with us in the process) , it's imperative to live for the moment. Or, as an old Joan Baez tune went: Yesterday's dead and tomorrow is blind, and I live one day at a time. Insightful poem.

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