The Rhinoceros

By Alchemist



He is way more than just an over worked
And opinionated thirsty rhino on a charge
To a dimwitted capitalistic water cooler
Propped up on a humdrum and podunk soapbox
In some nook and cranny of the uncanny boondocks
He see's the Earth as an antique shop
With historic clocks and ancestral horns
And hear's the world as rabbling colloquialisms
Juxpostion just to fossilize with Perissodactyla
He is the groundbreaking of a new south
Tampered with and tempered in the fires that crucified
Rather than crusaded for, ghosts along the Mississippi
And the bones and railroads that crossed under the Dixie
So in this crash of Durers' he must fight with
The panzer and the crestfallen carnivores
He is cursed to smell the roses to spite the thorns
Because his home is a fortress and not a throne
He must march on and stomp the ground
Until it shakes the surface of things to come
To let them know when you're a man that honors your lips
Or an animal that the poverty and poachers didn't get
Even then the mysteries of the altered beast
The paradox of cosmic feats and conundrums of life's beat
Will make you wear your heart on your sleeve
And always have your armor on when you stampede





Unauthorized Copying Is Prohibited. Ask the author first.
Copyright 2012 Alchemist
Published on Monday, October 1, 2012.     Filed under: "Personal" and "Poetry"

Author's Note:

I got the nickname Thirsty Rhino back in the day as a joke but thought it might be a good way to write in third person as a reflective allegory for myself.
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Comments on "The Rhinoceros"

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  • A former member wrote: Worthy PotD. Always glad to engage this one again. Top work, Shawn, you ought to be proud of this one.

  • A former member wrote: Strong, smart, & a whole helluva lotta fun...this poem is the rhino in the china shop that is my mind...muscular & cerebral, this one charges me up on several levels. A masterpiece. LOVE rhinos, anyway, making it double.cool....great stuff, Alchemist....keep up the compelling work...

  • jonLyndon On Thursday, October 4, 2012, jonLyndon (113)By person wrote:

    What a fantastic, brutal-raw, powerful, brilliant poem! It is a rhino of a beast, & I imagine best heard spoken as w/ such lines like: "Juxtaposition just to fossilize..." Wow! The rhyme scheme, the meter, the internal rhymes and this, just another fave line: "And the bones and railroads that crossed under the Dixie"! You have chosen the perfect, only title for this great poem... And the most excellent final line. This is the first poem I've read of yours, so I'm not sure, but I think I have heard your own, original voice here. It's been awhile since I marked a poem as a fave... I think that changes today. Very well composed!

  • jonLyndon On Thursday, October 4, 2012, jonLyndon (113)By person wrote:

    "To be, rather than to seem (to be)"

  • Alchemist On Friday, October 5, 2012, Alchemist (679)By person wrote:

    Thank you for your comment it's very meaningful to me. Please read some of my other works. One of my newer works I like is Curseverance.

  • FadedBlues On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, FadedBlues (2096)By person wrote:

    ...this is outstanding. ferocious as the 'plated beast himself...

  • ApathysKiss On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, ApathysKiss (377)By person wrote:

    and it's a powerful allegory indeed. I like the subtle references to the shackles of capitalism/banality of a monetary world one exists in, striving for survival in a world out for themselves....carnivores/poachers all for pseudo-honour? subtle critical poetry I much enjoyed. hehe i got the email...it is a shame that the better writes get pushed down and are rarely discovered as much as the crappy writes...even with the forward buttons they get lost! i miss the old way of viewing recently posted pieces in the one page =[ -=AK=-

  • dwells On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, dwells (4177)By person wrote:

    Yessiree, and so unique and descriptive, the thoughts and images became a flood of delight, thanks Shawn, well done

  • RubyXero On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, RubyXero (481)By person wrote:

    perfect ending. beautifully played enjoyed this very much

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