After the Rapture we were mostly unchanged
\nexcept for the souls cut away from our flesh
\nlike excised organs, which left bloody pockets
\nto probe with mute sorrow
\nover and over,
\nnot quite believing,
\nforever unfeeling.<\/p>\n
After the Rapture our tongues were the same
\nyet food lost its savor, we munched like cattle
\non whatever we found, (no gourmands left
\nat the end of the world);
\nwe drooled tears and remembered
\nthe hot tang of pepper,
\nthe apple\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bright crunch.<\/p>\n
After the Rapture our eyes still remained
\nto behold the twilight and ruin, yet colors
\nbled; the world became a city
\nbeneath gray umbrellas, soaking
\nand dull, resentful of sunlight
\nand its remembrance of warmth.<\/p>\n
After the Rapture our limbs were retained
\nexcept that we moved absent grace\u00e2\u20ac\u201d
\npuppets of meat which fretted and jerked
\nand drooped at day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s end.
\nOur feet were struck dumb;
\nif we moved at all it was to crawl
\nas though groping through darkness.<\/p>\n
After the Rapture our loins still flamed
\nin aching flesh; yet we grew soft, made love only
\nto pass the time. Every release affirmed
\nour jagged isolation; a tragedy of trysting limbs,
\neach little death a memento
\nof that brightness carried away.<\/p>\n
After the Rapture our gods were exclaimed
\nby the madmen who arose like mushrooms
\nafter the rain, flagellants and penitents,
\ncrawlers and kneelers and squealers
\nwho cried out in the night
\nand rent their skin to suffer
\nthe ecstasy of sensation. They didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.<\/p>\n
After the Rapture our peoples were changed
\nand came to prefer it that way. Churches all closed
\nand were left to the bats. We moved slowly
\ntogether, masses of flesh
\ngrown rusty as war, nodded to sleep
\nbeneath placid skies; untroubled except
\nfor our satellites falling to earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After the Rapture we were mostly unchanged except for the souls cut away from our flesh like excised organs, which left bloody pockets to probe with mute sorrow over and over, not quite believing, forever unfeeling. After the Rapture our tongues were the same yet food lost its savor, we munched like cattle on whatever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=515"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}