David Bowie Meets Ludwig Wittgenstein at the Pearly Gates
A poem by Rick Adang

David Bowie Meets Ludwig Wittgenstein at the Pearly Gates
“If only you do not try to utter what is unutterable then nothing gets lost. But the unutterable will be – unutterably – contained in what has been uttered.” -Ludwig Wittgenstein in a letter

You say I’m too impulsive
but I can’t help it
there’s mercury in my veins.
They say I’ve got rhythm.
I won’t lie
half of it’s stolen
the other half subject to the weather.
If you browbeat me
I may just scat to beat the band.

Let’s head for Golgotha
I’ll drag my feet, you can drag your cross.
As the light fades, we fade
illusions fade
the slouching beast, the widening gyre, everything fades.
Everything and nothing are more complex than they seem.
Let’s listen to some Brahms to cleanse our palates.
It was a wonderful life after all.

About the Author:

Rick Adang was born in Buffalo, New York and graduated from Indiana University with a BA in Psychology and English and a Creative Writing Honors thesis. He taught English as a foreign language for many years and currently livings in Estonia. Rick has had poems published in the Paris Review, Chicago Review and many other literary magazines, the most recent being Closed Eye Open and Willawaw Journal.

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