Mishmosh - Hello Poetry

Rise from the prayer mat Leave the cold church stones to their obstinate disgust Forgo the supplications Dispense with the incense and the miserly begging bowl Let the flowers remain uncut in the fields And breathe You are good enough Stand solitary and unguarded in the bruised velvet night Drenched in shadow And looking up at the splendour Allow the stars to burn their cosmic recipes into your tired sedated soul Then smash your heart’s fragile casing and watch its gleaming centre hemorrhage all over the rest of your life And breathe You are good enough Make music on a gentle day And on those swamped by tempests add the passion Dance without once looking at your feet Grow careless with happiness Grow carefree with pain Swim naked Burn the masks And breathe You are good enough Take risks without thinking Love ardently where love falls Be it seconds or epochs Be it willing or wrenched Erupt with laughter when they taunt you Be your power And breathe You are good enough Shatter the mottled looking glass And adorn yourself in comfort As furtive fractious glances crave your happy easy toes Demand of none complete devotion Destroy the ticking timepiece Embrace mortality with welcome And breathe You are good enough (mish 2017)

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Nov 22, 2018

Nov 22, 2018 at 12:48 AM UTC

BREATHE YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH

Rise from the prayer mat Leave the cold church stones to their obstinate disgust Forgo the supplications Dispense with the incense and the miserly begging bowl Let the flowers remain uncut in the fields And breathe You are good enough Stand solitary and unguarded in the bruised velvet night Drenched in shadow And looking up at the splendour Allow the stars to burn their cosmic recipes into your tired sedated soul Then smash your heart’s fragile casing and watch its gleaming centre hemorrhage all over the rest of your life And breathe You are good enough Make music on a gentle day And on those swamped by tempests add the passion Dance without once looking at your feet Grow careless with happiness Grow carefree with pain Swim naked Burn the masks And breathe You are good enough Take risks without thinking Love ardently where love falls Be it seconds or epochs Be it willing or wrenched Erupt with laughter when they taunt you Be your power And breathe You are good enough Shatter the mottled looking glass And adorn yourself in comfort As furtive fractious glances crave your happy easy toes Demand of none complete devotion Destroy the ticking timepiece Embrace mortality with welcome And breathe You are good enough (mish 2017)

40

The morning had been icy. People spoke of an uncommon cold snap and I imagined a large wedge of ice had broken from a distant glacier and was heading our way. The wind agreed. I found the egg nestled in a pile of steaming leaf debris. Gathering it to me it felt warm and tender, delicate and fragile and easily broken like a curious promise, like a heartbeat before a heartbeat, like love before love. As I cradled it shyly my rough and work worn hand felt like the finest of silken cushions resting upon which was every real and imagined wonder of the world. And I marveled that on an icy day I’d been granted the task of gifting such a miracle to you. (mish 2017)

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Nov 20, 2018

Nov 20, 2018 at 11:46 AM UTC

THE EGG

The morning had been icy. People spoke of an uncommon cold snap and I imagined a large wedge of ice had broken from a distant glacier and was heading our way. The wind agreed. I found the egg nestled in a pile of steaming leaf debris. Gathering it to me it felt warm and tender, delicate and fragile and easily broken like a curious promise, like a heartbeat before a heartbeat, like love before love. As I cradled it shyly my rough and work worn hand felt like the finest of silken cushions resting upon which was every real and imagined wonder of the world. And I marveled that on an icy day I’d been granted the task of gifting such a miracle to you. (mish 2017)

4

We waited beneath verdant forest veils for the owl to make its entrance We believed the owl was a sign of wisdom We believed we were wise for waiting The others mocked our folly Saying the owl was a portend of doom They believed they were wise for warning We poised our eyes like stealth missiles awaiting target Attuned our hearing to bat-like frequency They plugged their ears and slammed their eyes shut loudly like angry lovers making statements Then came the beating breeze Then came the rush of feathers Then came the genius of the oracle’s wisdom ‘Hoot-hoot-hoot’ We reveled in it They missed it … how sad! (mish 2016)

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Nov 16, 2018

Nov 16, 2018 at 9:12 PM UTC

THE OWL

We waited beneath verdant forest veils for the owl to make its entrance We believed the owl was a sign of wisdom We believed we were wise for waiting The others mocked our folly Saying the owl was a portend of doom They believed they were wise for warning We poised our eyes like stealth missiles awaiting target Attuned our hearing to bat-like frequency They plugged their ears and slammed their eyes shut loudly like angry lovers making statements Then came the beating breeze Then came the rush of feathers Then came the genius of the oracle’s wisdom ‘Hoot-hoot-hoot’ We reveled in it They missed it … how sad! (mish 2016)

16

Things that I hold dear: A small silver bell to tie to my tongue in emergencies A smooth round skipping stone that leads to quiet streams Yellow galoshes with coin studded soles that click watery rhythms on rainy afternoons A set of keys without doors An out-sized faded beach umbrella found abandoned on a vacant lot miles from any ocean and worlds away from golden sands yet with strength enough remaining to ferry several Mary Poppins-es, with pockets full of sugar, to their varied destinations. Lost rivers Calendars that only predict numbers A quiet pen Vanishing cream You You You (mish 2018)

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Nov 14, 2018

Nov 14, 2018 at 8:03 AM UTC

THINGS THAT I HOLD DEAR

Things that I hold dear: A small silver bell to tie to my tongue in emergencies A smooth round skipping stone that leads to quiet streams Yellow galoshes with coin studded soles that click watery rhythms on rainy afternoons A set of keys without doors An out-sized faded beach umbrella found abandoned on a vacant lot miles from any ocean and worlds away from golden sands yet with strength enough remaining to ferry several Mary Poppins-es, with pockets full of sugar, to their varied destinations. Lost rivers Calendars that only predict numbers A quiet pen Vanishing cream You You You (mish 2018)

15

I want to laugh at the funeral I want to sing liberty songs instead of hymns and feel the relief Feel the release From worry From pain From rules I want also to cry at the loss of the pleasures That too would hold permit But they were only momentary wisps Fleeting, succulent diversions The pain was the constant The heartache... The fear, unrelenting The love was magnificent The risk... The taboos were the sweetest What we got away with together! The love was magnificent I want to cry with laughter I want to miss you like breath I want no-one to replace you The love was magnificent (mish 2018)

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Nov 14, 2018

Nov 14, 2018 at 1:47 AM UTC

I WANT TO LAUGH AT THE FUNERAL

I want to laugh at the funeral I want to sing liberty songs instead of hymns and feel the relief Feel the release From worry From pain From rules I want also to cry at the loss of the pleasures That too would hold permit But they were only momentary wisps Fleeting, succulent diversions The pain was the constant The heartache... The fear, unrelenting The love was magnificent The risk... The taboos were the sweetest What we got away with together! The love was magnificent I want to cry with laughter I want to miss you like breath I want no-one to replace you The love was magnificent (mish 2018)

23

I dreamed a dream of glory That I’d reached the mountain’s summit With the fears of the ignorant a fading, threadbare backdrop And I rested with the hush of innocence Basking in the garden of Hesperides reborn In harmony with the nymphs of sunset The atmosphere was steeped in a fragrant peace And Ladon the dragon was sincerity and sound embrace Reaching warily, I plucked a golden apple from a blushing perfumed branch Its juice was tangy, its flesh sweet radiance My eyes saw clearly and my heart filled with joy And my mind awakened and I did not die The tree of knowledge had laid bare its timeless secret: god is a liar. (mish 2017)

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Nov 13, 2018

Nov 13, 2018 at 8:44 PM UTC

GOD IS A LIAR

I dreamed a dream of glory That I’d reached the mountain’s summit With the fears of the ignorant a fading, threadbare backdrop And I rested with the hush of innocence Basking in the garden of Hesperides reborn In harmony with the nymphs of sunset The atmosphere was steeped in a fragrant peace And Ladon the dragon was sincerity and sound embrace Reaching warily, I plucked a golden apple from a blushing perfumed branch Its juice was tangy, its flesh sweet radiance My eyes saw clearly and my heart filled with joy And my mind awakened and I did not die The tree of knowledge had laid bare its timeless secret: god is a liar. (mish 2017)

14

Tell me again about your memories of us Of the loveliness-es and the honour and the courage Of how you found me And how I found you Tell me now So it will be branded like hot toffee on the skin Painful and scalding and sweet And never to be forgotten Tell me of what you offered me Of what I offered you Of our first shy kiss Of the warriors we fought Of the battles we endured and won Tell me again how all water is the first water How all rocks are the beginning of creation Tell me as you hold me like the first time we embraced Tell me again about your memories of us Tell me Because the world is closing in and I’m afraid (mish 2017)

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Nov 13, 2018

Nov 13, 2018 at 11:16 AM UTC

TELL ME

Tell me again about your memories of us Of the loveliness-es and the honour and the courage Of how you found me And how I found you Tell me now So it will be branded like hot toffee on the skin Painful and scalding and sweet And never to be forgotten Tell me of what you offered me Of what I offered you Of our first shy kiss Of the warriors we fought Of the battles we endured and won Tell me again how all water is the first water How all rocks are the beginning of creation Tell me as you hold me like the first time we embraced Tell me again about your memories of us Tell me Because the world is closing in and I’m afraid (mish 2017)

20

Dance with me When everyone has gone When the musicians have wearied And the pantomime’s faded Dance with me then Dance with me To a remembered melody In a stillness without silence With a touch lacking virtue Dance with me Dance with me Barefoot On dew-kissed grass No burdening glances No judgments with their feet of clay Dance with me With a step so light That we glide the water’s surface Doing a better job of it than Jesus Dance with me so Dance with me When all the words have dried up When the next step heralds the abyss When the next breath Shall vanish memory As swiftly as a fading cloud Dance with me When the moon is complete Dance with me… Dance with me now (mish 2016)

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Nov 12, 2018

Nov 12, 2018 at 10:47 AM UTC

DANCE WITH ME

Dance with me When everyone has gone When the musicians have wearied And the pantomime’s faded Dance with me then Dance with me To a remembered melody In a stillness without silence With a touch lacking virtue Dance with me Dance with me Barefoot On dew-kissed grass No burdening glances No judgments with their feet of clay Dance with me With a step so light That we glide the water’s surface Doing a better job of it than Jesus Dance with me so Dance with me When all the words have dried up When the next step heralds the abyss When the next breath Shall vanish memory As swiftly as a fading cloud Dance with me When the moon is complete Dance with me… Dance with me now (mish 2016)

31

I said ‘I love, I do’ with hand on heart and limpid distant gaze ‘It’s true’ She said ‘Then go collect the waters of the oceans and the rivers and all the clouds that ever were and ever are to be And all the tears (Just say that can be done, said she) And pour them on hell’s bonfire till every cruel flame is quenched And with your magic salve in hand anoint the burns of all the wretched souls so callously imprisoned there And friendly shake the Devil’s hand devoid of every fear and welcome him with warmth to tea Then tell me that you love and I’ll believe you’ (mish 2016)

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Nov 12, 2018

Nov 12, 2018 at 5:25 AM UTC

SHAKE THE DEVIL'S HAND

I said ‘I love, I do’ with hand on heart and limpid distant gaze ‘It’s true’ She said ‘Then go collect the waters of the oceans and the rivers and all the clouds that ever were and ever are to be And all the tears (Just say that can be done, said she) And pour them on hell’s bonfire till every cruel flame is quenched And with your magic salve in hand anoint the burns of all the wretched souls so callously imprisoned there And friendly shake the Devil’s hand devoid of every fear and welcome him with warmth to tea Then tell me that you love and I’ll believe you’ (mish 2016)

10

Here is a riddle to be woven into dreams: Why do blossoms hold their perfume Now that love has lost its bearing And fear dons its corona at the helm of all we’ve lost? Why do birds compose new melodies to acclaim the toil of tempests that make dragon roars seem nothing more than flickers in the wind? Why do stars still dance fandangos as the world erupts in anguish? Why do crickets hum their lullabies despite Hiroshima rains? Why do dawns insist on painting skies the colours of Matisse? Why does music hold the key to any magic that remains? For you and I my love For you and I For you and I (mish 2017)

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Nov 12, 2018

Nov 12, 2018 at 4:04 AM UTC

FOR YOU AND I

Here is a riddle to be woven into dreams: Why do blossoms hold their perfume Now that love has lost its bearing And fear dons its corona at the helm of all we’ve lost? Why do birds compose new melodies to acclaim the toil of tempests that make dragon roars seem nothing more than flickers in the wind? Why do stars still dance fandangos as the world erupts in anguish? Why do crickets hum their lullabies despite Hiroshima rains? Why do dawns insist on painting skies the colours of Matisse? Why does music hold the key to any magic that remains? For you and I my love For you and I For you and I (mish 2017)

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