What syllable are you seeking,
Vocalissimus,
In the distances of sleep?
Speak it.

Here is a voice that soundeth low and far
And lyric­voice of wind among the pines,
Where the untroubled, glimmering waters are,
And sunlight seldom shines.

Elusive shadows linger shyly here,
And wood-flowers blow, like pale, sweet spirit-bloom,
And white, slim birches whisper, mirrored clear
In the pool's lucent gloom.

Here Pan might pipe, or wandering dryad kneel
To view her loveliness beside the brim,
Or laughing wood-nymphs from the byways steal
To dance around its rim.

'Tis such a witching spot as might beseem
A seeker for young friendship's trysting place,
Or lover yielding to the immortal dream
Of one beloved face.

See, they return; ah, see the tentative
Movements, and the slow feet,
The trouble in the pace and the uncertain
Wavering!

See, they return, one, and by one,
With fear, as half-awakened;
As if the snow should hesitate
And murmur in the wind,
      and half turn back;
These were the “Wing’d-with-Awe,”
      Inviolable.

Gods of the wingèd shoe!
With them the silver hounds,
      sniffing the trace of air!

Haie! Haie!
  These were the swift to harry;
These the keen-scented;
These were the souls of blood.

Slow on the leash,
      pallid the leash-men!

Another day stirs me awake,
Before its dawn I'll travel far.
Clay path ahead, feet burning dead,
Days - short, nights - long. My friend - a star.
Essea is the name I bear,
For I'm a healer-elf; I share
Great wisdoms of the ancient worlds.
Her secrets Nature deftly hides -
I know paths where She them unfolds,
Jumping, her creatures at my sides.

Knowing my Past, I don't forget
Lothlorien, my only home,
My Mother and my Father - dead,
Now buried under wooden dome.
Over Dark Hills, alongside Men,
Praying for Light, they fought Dark Prince.
Quick death slew them at Sauron's den.
Rare words are spoken of them since...

Searching for Light, I travel wide,
Trees, Herbs, and Rivers help my quest.
Unseen to all, with gales I ride
Vast shores and lands from North to West,
Warring dark powers that may be.
Xylographs I carve, so that
Ye, my Beloved, only Ye,
Zealous for me, do find my path.
----
I have a way with Evil -
My love it should not wish.
Perverted and seduced, then dead
Dark things who taste it, be!

Frightened you are to learn this, -
You needn't be - for I
Present no danger to good folk -
You cannot cheat my eye.

(c)kRu, 2002

All things die at the setting of the sun
First shall be last and the last shall be first
You know that’s true when all is said and done

Moonshine and black light bring no salvation
Those unquenched have eternity of thirst
All things die at the setting of the sun

And by the bad are the good overrun
With gnashing of teeth and words that are cursed
You know that’s true when all is said and done

The corpses dig graves; virtue there is none
And though we are the last we are the worst
All things die at the setting of the sun

Along with the light, the beauty is gone
No music and no plays, no lines rehearsed
All things die at the setting of the sun
You know that’s true when all is said and done

Men my brothers who after us live,
have your hearts against us not hardened.
For—if of poor us you take pity,
God of you sooner will show mercy.
You see us here, attached.
As for the flesh we too well have fed,
long since it's been devoured or has rotted.
And we the bones are becoming ash and dust.

Of our pain let nobody laugh,
but pray God
            would us all absolve.

If you my brothers I call, do not
scoff at us in disdain, though killed
we were by justice.  Yet þþ you know
all men are not of good sound sense.
Plead our behalf since we are dead naked
with the Son of Mary the ******
that His grace be not for us dried up
preserving us from hell's fulminations.

We're dead after all.  Let no soul revile us,
but pray God
            would us all absolve.

Rain has washed us, laundered us,
and the sun has dried us black.
Worse—ravens plucked our eyes hollow
and picked our beards and brows.
Never ever have we sat down, but
this way, and that way, at the wind's
good pleasure ceaselessly we swing 'n swivel,
more nibbled at than sewing thimbles.

Therefore, think not of joining our guild,
but pray God
            would us all absolve.

Prince Jesus, who over all has lordship,
care that hell not gain of us dominion.
With it we have no business, fast or loose.

People, here be no mocking,
but pray God
            would us all absolve.

So rough the goat will scratch, it cannot sleep.
So often goes the *** to the well that it breaks.
So long you heat iron, it will glow;
so heavily you hammer it, it shatters.
So good is the man as his praise;
so far he will go, and he's forgotten;
so bad he behaves, and he's despised.
So loud you cry Christmas, it comes.

So glib you talk, you end up in contradictions.
So good is your credit as the favors you got.
So much you promise that you will back out.
So doggedly you beg that your wish is granted;
so high climbs the price when you want a thing;
so much you want it that you pay the price;
so familiar it gets to you, you want it no more.
So loud you cry Christmas, it comes.

So, you love a dog.  Then feed it!
So long a song will run that people learn it.
So long you keep the fruit, it will rot.
So hot the struggle for a spot that it is won;
so cool you keep your act that your spirit freezes;
so hurriedly you act that you run into bad luck;
so tight you embrace that your catch slips away.
So loud you cry Christmas, it comes.

So you scoff and laugh, and the fun is gone.
So you crave and spend, and lose your shirt.
So candid you are, no blow can be too low.
So good as a gift should a promise be.
So, if you love God, you obey the Church.
So, when you give much, you borrow much.
So, shifting winds turn to storm.
So loud you cry Christmas, it comes.

Prince, so long as a fool persists, he grows wiser;
so, round the world he goes, but return he will,
so humbled and beaten back into servility.
So loud you cry Christmas, it is here.

hate hating
but for you?
I promise I'll try
                                                    


                                                      liar

His cane bares as many wrinkles
as the tired sagging years
of skin
Trembling, the scuffle of leather
on the grass
ssswwwwissshhhhh
was not heard over the drags of
fresh air
New as it enters aged as it leaves
Does that glassy stare
see?
Is he searching for an X on the road?
or is he purely on a quest to
move
one swish in front of the other
escaping the burn of age
the spike of purpose the rush of
world
always better than the rush of
pills
8 a.m. "Have a nice day!" Grab, lean back, swallow
8 p.m. "Have a nice night!" Grab, lean back, swallow
escape.
shivering slightly
in the lonely place
skin thin as a
poorly made jacket
in seeps
all the cold
weathered from the storm of
living
the storm of
deaths

swwiisshh

-just move-

swwiisshh

-lean on the cane, lean on the pills-

swwiisshh

the Lonely Place, I live in the Lonely Place

swwiisshh

-NewOld  breathe  NewOld  breathe NewOld-


swwiis. Gaspgaspgaspgaspgasp

-Hold heart, reach reach-


*"I'm Scared".

ashes

litter the chalky concrete
black patches of dried skin scratched from the house
your house
swirling, because the creeping draft
stirred the leftovers, settled in the creases
by those two strokes of
troubled vision.
your face

it spread quickly, suddenly
as most wild things do
lazy and uninterested, red and orange
eating out of boredom, handfuls of
your house
what could I do but watch
you be swallowed
whole

the investigation proved to unearth
skeletons
rubbed raw in piles of
ashes
from the fire which ate
your house
I held up my magnifying glass
only the furrowed brows were
visible

they said it would be easy to
level the rubble
clear it out, rebuild- brand new
it would still be
your house
just stronger with steel frames and
brick walls (with windows)
if the fire came to
snack
the ashes would not
fall in your eyes like
dandruff
irritating right?
so will you let them
in?

I promise once you
let the steam strip away
the flashbacks
and allow the water to
blush your skin
the deflating moments of
ash
will not find the key to
your house
when I ask what's wrong
and you say "nothing"
for once, that can be the absolute truth
for you and I  both