Poe’s Apartment on Waverly Place

A heavy weight unlocks the cataclysm,
The Red Death clinging to every

Fiber of the brain; the vanquished mariner,
The drowning of the stars; cascading

Dreams that cleave into the night,
Vacant eyes that once were men,

Evanescing were the lovelorn, wraiths
Unmoored upon the main; the burning

Angel, the whimpering orphan waif,
Ghastly was the cannibal, a fading

Cross at every door; crushed beneath
The iron monolith, unwept the harlot’s

Hearse, the asters all were withered,
The anguish of windswept rains;

A hell that birthed the brook of fiends,
A haze that groaned the song

Primordial, a soul who freed the earthly
Dove, whose spirit walks beside me.

David Penner’s articles on politics and health care have appeared in Dissident Voice, CounterPunch, Global Research, The Saker blog, OffGuardian and KevinMD; while his poetry can be found at Dissident Voice, Mad in America, and redtailedhawk.substack.com. Also a photographer, he is the author of three books of portraiture: Faces of The New Economy, Faces of Manhattan Island, and Manhattan Pairs. He can be reached at 321davidadam@gmail.com. Read other articles by David.