Panacea
– Poetry by Devon Gallant –
Although mankind runs, ever fearful, from that pale rider, Death—
scouring the globe for a hidden key to save them from reckoning—
I have no need for secret salvation.
From the dusky plains of the Sonoran desert
to the verdant hills along the river Yangtze:
there is no elixir of life—no poultice or potion—
that can compare to the rejuvenation of your love.
I spent years lost in a mad quest—
searching for the fountain of youth, the philosopher’s stone;
drinking gold and eating jade;
trawling the ocean floor
for Amrita…the lost city of Atlantis—
I raced through the night,
chasing the white rabbit for the secrets of the moon;
exchanged tales of adventure and woe
in the back of too many pubs to count,
bleary-eyed and mouth-sour
from whiskey and heart-ache.
I joined the ranks of life extensionists, immortalists, longevists, cyborgs,
all desperate for some agerasia,
some negligible senescence, to fill the void of their broken souls.
Dreamed of an oncoming singularity—
digital ascension—to lose myself in techno-submission;
downloading my brain into a cloud-based Nirvana.
All the while, never realizing:
there was no holy grail
that did not lie between your thighs.
Whoever drinks the water I give him
will never thirst.
Let the world go on in its futile hunt for immortality…
neither Soma nor Somatropin can compare
to the dancing water of your eyes,
the curative cleansing of your kiss, a kiss
which tastes like a peach,
soft and sweet,
eaten in the morning rain.
About the Author – Devon Gallant
Devon Gallant is the author of four poetry collections: The Day After, the flower dress and other lines, His Inner Season, and S(tars) & M(agnets). His work has previously been featured in Graphite, Vallum, Carousel, Bitterzoet Magazine, Misunderstandings Magazine and elsewhere. He is the founder of Cactus Press a micro-press specializing in limited run poetry chapbooks which is based in Montreal, Canada.
Did you like this poem by Devon Gallant? Then you might also like:
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Sanctuary, and other poems
The Body as Poem
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This is What Death Does
Where Courage Lives
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Modern Medical Miracles
What the Mirror Says
Writing Myself Alive: An Episodic Poem
Breathing; Love These Lively Things
Oh Emma; Slow Dancing
In the Mirror, For My Mother
Zenstronomy: Zen of Instruction, Godma, Astrophysical Reality
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