Michael Simms: Heart of Glass

In Herzog’s great visual opera
The hero stands on a cliff 
Above a valley where a river 
Of molten glass carries
Light to the sea
 
And everyone who watches
The film thinks yes
This is how it is the heart
Is broken then melted
And the feelings flow like
 
Molten glass I thought
My wife having recently
Left me every touch
Was like sandpaper
On my raw skin
 
Because I had been
By everyone’s account
A total ass never mind
Cassandra let bygones be
The beginning of new
 
Bygones and did I mention
I was a total ass in
The film the hero is
A seer who has been 
Called down from the hills
 
And he says the factory 
Producing the ruby red
Glass will burn down
And with it the secret 
To producing the glass
 
And the Baron there’s
Always a baron in fairy
Tales isn’t there the Baron
Believes the glass 
Has magical properties and
 
The secret is lost and 
The Baron and the whole
Damn town descend
Into madness which
Reminded me of 
 
My own madness after
She left I sat on
The kitchen floor all 
Night drinking and the 
Next morning I got up
 
Went outside walked
Through what must have
Been a beautiful April 
Day with birdsong and
 
Light I didn’t see 
Coming down
Through the leaves 

Copyright 2020 Michael Simms. From American Ash by Michael Simms (Ragged Sky, 2020).

Michael Simms is the founding editor of Vox Populi.