Absent of torch, by Brian37(AKA Brian James Rational Poet On FB and @brianrrs37 on Twitter)

She took the one you never had
Her father Bartholdi put it in her hand
Guiding the immigrants into the harbor
How long will she stand?

You, the ancient inspiration
Sea merchants and warships
Towering over the jetties
You guided them out and in

Parallel tug of rope sideways
Vertically, violently up and down
Thumb push puppet
Despite your washboard abs

The scholars of the day
Kept some of the Helios
Tradition mandated it so
Not to rebuild the final say

She took your crown
The tumulus mound
Her epic bereft
Following her father’s death

I’ve seen Lady Justice
Crumble and crash
But that was rigged
Luminaire avoided Lars’s head

In shambles and crumbles
Like salad croutons
Crushed and sprinkled
On the tasteless iceberg

That melted and wilted
You left on the counter
For your weekend adventure
The green olives turned black and red

And when you came back
Limp and useless
Tossed out like rubbish
In the trash can

Where was your head
That dreadful morning
When you decided
You’d rather be dead?
(end)

This poem is based on Sylvia Plath’s “Colossus” and a not really about her dad, but her tragic life and death. She to me is Lady Liberty. Her poetry is my therapy. The ancient statue “Colossus of Rhodes” is what Lady Liberty in NYC is based on. Sometimes he is depicted with a torch, but most of the art I have seen with him, shows him without a torch. Thus the name of the poem.

The alleged ancient statue “Colossus of Rhodes” was reportedly destroyed in and earthquake. “Thumb push puppet” is a kids toy, it sits on a push bottom pedestal, you press the bottom of it inward, and the figure goes limp. The figure can be of a human or animal, but when you release the bottom of the toy the figure stands upright again. I am using the metaphor of Colossus being fragile despite being depicted as strong, and also suggesting that our Lady Liberty, is also fragile too, and while not likely to be taken down by an earthquake, our free society can be taken down by authoritarianism.

Plath’s suicide is also metaphor for me as to art dying. She will never know how free her poetry makes me feel. I wish she were still alive for me to tell her.

Metallica’s “And Justice For All” tour was amazing. It had two rigged statues of Lady Justice and The Statue Of Liberty on both sides of the stage, rigged to wobble and crumble towards the audience. And at another point, a light rig above Lars’s head was rigged to drop one end suddenly and swing just a couple feet over his head. Both events during the concert made people scream because they thought it was real. But this in this poem is saying that life is fragile and suicide is final.

Bartholdi is the artist who came up with the Statue Of Liberty design.