To You
The seven stars
The bright cluster
Among the long dark
Do you not know that hope came down?
Faith from the lofty heavens?
And you know it thus returned
Which is why we wait now being sure
Certain of the thing our hope is in
Have you not considered that beyond
Far away and removed from here
Among the boiling lights of night
One not dissimilar to yourself
Might see that hope descend to them as well
And latch onto it as you yourself have?
For indeed there is but one Way
One eternal Truth among the cosmos
One perfect Life to which we all strive
Only made possible by this Hope

The Hope of all peoples

Tippy toe, tippy toe. tippy, tippy toe, toe
I somehow never hear you come -
I almost never hear you go.

Like a puff of smoke
You drift through my life.
Almost impossible to be your wife.

I never know where in the house you are;
Upstairs, downstairs or at the corner bar;
Inside, outside or someplace very far.

You walk like a phantom,
Your feet don’t touch the floor.
You make not a sound when closing a door.

Trained from your childhood to not make a sound;
I need to put a bell on you to know you’re around.
ljm

I can hear
Them playing,
The devil inside
from the carnival
down the street.
All the bleak
eyes wandering
through the
empty crowd,
looking for
love or dope;
something to change
their perception.

I've seen memories waft past me
Distant dreams of bygone eras
Words and thoughts preserved
Of languages long since lost
Their sound and use forgotten
Yet their meaning somehow retained
A faint feeling, a tearful sentiment
I fear, no I know I will share their fate
As all generations do since creation
Few if any have escaped this death
Though which death it is I cannot say
The death of the mind or soul
Or perhaps simply the body
I know our ruined cities
Will house the bright eyed souls
Of our posterity

Let us pray if we cannot solve the riddle of being
That we may pass down what we know
And preserve the progress we have made

That one day we might find God

He caught my hand as I began to fall,
the smoky night had deceived me;
In shades of gray the horror struck,
I thought no one would believe me.

The words were stuck inside my throat,
yet somehow I emitted a whimper;
His strong arms drew me close to him,
it couldn't have been any simpler.

But frightened as I seemed to be,
his eyes were a light in the dark;
Like clear and glistening raindrops,
they calmed my ravaged heart.

Memories of how I'd lost my way,
then found in swells of empathy;
He helped me see the truth of life,
I'll be thankful 'till my dying day.

Looking out through the window of his lonely cottage
The old man vacantly gazed,
At the lazy curl of smoke from the chimneys
His eyes further wandered over
to the dew dampened meadows
And the sloping paths that ran round

Over them how many times, he had rambled leisurely
With Jack, his spaniel that died a few months ago
Though single with no legacy to leave behind
Never before he felt so lonely as of late
And the memories of his dog keep haunting him.

One morning he found his dog lying stretched out
Alas! From that slumber, he didn’t rise!

Now with nothing to look forward to in life
He is in no hurry to leave his cottage as before
Each day starts with the same ritual
Every day the old man would brew his tea
Pour it steaming into his large porcelain mug
And gets settled on a chair by the table
Looking through the small window,
His main opening into the wider world

Sometimes from the pantry
He would bring a can of biscuits
And munch a few along with his cup of tea
This, he did as an unfailing routine
When his dog Jack was with him!
Every morning the dog would be there at his feet
Its greedy eyes glued to the biscuits in his hand
When there was but just one left with him,
He would lift the biscuit right over the dog’s head
A cue for Jack to stand up and have his share

When it rises up wagging its tail in joy
Sometimes he would place his fore finger on his lips
And the dog discerning what its master meant
Would soon sit down obediently and remain quiet
When he got convinced that Jack took his orders,
He would hold the biscuit between his fingers.
When on its hind legs it rises, balancing into a waltzing step,
The biscuit would be dropped into its gaping mouth!

Now each day as he sips his tea
He sorely misses his dog and its pranks
His world is so cold and he feels so lost
Once his dog shared his board and owned his bed
More than ever he missed him now
Who stood so faithful unto the last

With mist blurring his eyes and with a sigh
The old man once more looked into the meadows far away!