All alone,
I sit by the lake,
Of pensive moods
Men come to lose.
Serene at it stood,
My mind was not,
I was stewing in my head.

Why must there be meaning?
My efforts are lost
Amongst the noise of the evening.
To sit here and not worry
Feels comforting.
To fall and worry,
Is not appealing.

I can clean gutters
And watch blue skies,
And justify my existence
With sweat that spills.
Simple is that proposition,
Would I feel constricted
By that burden?

Or I could climb vast mountains
Of extraordinary genius.
Only to summit
Under shadows of titans?

As I sit here by the lake,
Of this winter morning
Nothing can be said.
I have no answer, yet,
Maybe I never shall.

Of the lotus in the centre,
The dim light does no justice
As it struggles
Amongst the thin mist.

My lover,
You look into my eyes
And I bare you my soul.
Naked,
And under a heavy spotlight,
Alone on the lighted stage
Of your piercing gaze.
You know me
More than I could myself.
I've given you my innocence,
And you hold my heart,
Wrapped around your finger.
Held without rationale,
But with primitive emotion.
In my arms I hold you,
And I feel bliss
Beyond measure.
The primitive designed
To seek out this very feeling,
Your warm skin reminds me
Of my own,
And by the sea and a heavy moon,
I wish this moment be forever.

We sit by each other,
In patched wollen sweaters.
Smeared with dirt,
Our faces red,
But yours shining,
I kiss your little cheek
Hoping it gets better.

The stars twinkle,
As the twilight arrives,
I offer thin soup,
And two stories,
About the tiger who lost his tail,
And the frog who drowned.

Your palms, tiny, innocent,
I hope they never change,
I wish all the world for you.
The mind swamped,
The body electric,
I was too young
To know any better.

We sit here amongst the rubble
And the stray island cats,
I try not to break down,
Not in front of you.
Your beautiful black eyes,
They come alive with hope.
But amidst all this rubble
Hope is the only luxury
I can afford.

She said I was handsome,
And I hope she meant it,
Maybe she really did.

She touched my hand
And said it was soft,
And I began to tingle.

I did not say a word,
So she offered to massage
Shoulders far to tight.

My head then spun,
For the next hour or so.
My heart flooded
And emotion rushed
Through my little head.

I was the poor canary
In a coal mine,
Bobbed around
As life left me.

She then departed
With a brown envelope.
I looked out the window,
Saving her ad for later.

1196

To make Routine a Stimulus
Remember it can cease—
Capacity to Terminate
Is a Specific Grace—
Of Retrospect the Arrow
That power to repair
Departed with the Torment
Become, alas, more fair—

oh the rain is here,
the rain is here.
my god! the rain is here.

how I've longed
for the petrichor,
for the grass to sing
and sway with the squall.

I race across the great hill,
With the wild dogs behind me,
To the wide open.

my sisters straggle
as I reach the giant Acacia,
to heavy patter
on mud ponds.
the baked earth, I know,
is thankful.

as great rivers of light
crack a dark night bright,
I smile with eyes closed.
for I know now why we pray
to the heavens.

These four walls surround me,
and I find them watching me,
everyday, and I feel it.

I am fed and I gulp, to live,
I don't know what they give me,
everyday, but I don’t resist it.

I want to be free, to run wild,
even if for only a day,
everyday, I wish it.

I am a hamster in a cage,
In New York, a shop by a park,
everyday, and I hate it.