I stalked along an endless maze
Of hallways, grim and green,
Where sterile wards of curtained bays
Masked sickness with a screen.
The coloured lines upon the floor
Served as my silent guide,
And led me to a torture room
Where nightmares preyed inside.

Upon a crisply cornered bed
With sheets up to your chest,
A knot of vein-pumped fluids fed
To keep your heart from rest;
Your eyes were closed and peaceful,
And all pain gone from your brow.
You've never looked more beautiful
Than how you do right now.

I fiddled with the little card
You gifted when we met,
Not knowing then 't would too hard,
Wishing I could forget
A promise made in youthful bliss
When plans were bold and grand,
And giving you one farewell kiss
I let go of your hand.

I never asked to know her name
But if we ever met
I'm sure I'd know her all the same
And still would not regret
The day that life was cruel to us
And tore our world apart,
Yet granted life to her because
You gifted her your heart.

Stars tell white lies each night, they wink and lie
And promise us our dreams, the dreams they steal
Away into a sunrise, to conceal
In leaded pots where rainbows go to die;
And when the careless night comes by the by
And shouts: "look up, look up!" the stars reveal
Your hopes, dreams, thoughts, a future so unreal
That even hapless lovers dare not fly;
And still they wink and whisper every night
As if to tell your secrets, tell your dreams,
The very things they promised not to share,
And left bereft you wonder how it seems
You ever trusted to that distant light
Long whence the stars that lived and died were there.

Sounding out the truth of all the lies I've ever known
Looking for the answers in the fields where doubts were sown
Sifting through my memories to lay my ghosts to rest
Days we shared will always be the best

Look for me when summer brings the pounding of the rain
Think of me when autumn leaves are falling round again
Know that I'll be with you when the winter comes to pass
Seasons go but love will ever last

Walking in the meadow when the sun was in the sky
Watching all the strangers as they watched us passing by
Holding our forevers captured in a single day
Knowing that our love would ever stay

Look for me when summer brings the pounding of the rain
Think of me when autumn leaves are falling round again
Know that I'll be with you when the winter comes to pass
Seasons go but love will ever last

Feelings are forever and the one's you don't forget
Linger like a shadow on a vacant silhouette
Living isn't easy when the life you thought you'd known
Was never meant to be there for your own

Look for me when summer brings the pounding of the rain
Think of me when autumn leaves are falling round again
Know that I'll be with you when the winter comes to pass
Seasons go but love will ever last
Seasons go but love will ever last
Seasons go but love will ever last

They lied to us
    with preacher smiles
    at Sunday school

They told us
    our world was created
    in six days

We stood as one
    as our world was created
    in seven days

We stood as one
   as light sprang from darkness
   and earth fell from heaven

And after seven days
    we stood as one
    and marched into hell

I walked by a small cottage church
As a large wooden box
Was carefully unbundled
From a waiting automobile

I do not know who was inside
But I have thought about that soul
All day long

I hope you lived a life
Worthy of your mourners praise
For they will sing of you today
And tomorrow
They will go on living
And yours will be an epitaph.

What cultivates the greatness of our homelands?
Tis not the land, the rocks, the earth, the sea,
The treaties writ for nobles by their own hands
Decrying common views as heresy.
Great Britain was still great long e'er the sun rose
Blessing the nets of Europe's wedding veil,
And when her arms extended to her old foes,
She stood alone, defiant, to prevail.
Tis in the heart, the will, the strength of mind
Of each proud lad and lass that calls her home
Wherein the Great of Britain seeks to find
The inspiration of her epitome.
        On her 'twas said the sun would never set,
        Let not her sons and daughters e'er forget.

If men were born as womenfolk
And women born as men,
And oxen shied of bonded yoke
To plough no fields again

If blighted lands burned black with rage
Came verdant with the rain,
The world might turn another page
And there find peace again

Upon the bridge
Upon the bridge
And proudest of the three

The mighty bridge
Stands on the bridge
Upon the Devil's lee

Him swift to gloat
With forking tongue
His path above the scree

Until his goat
Was bitter stung
By woman's trickery

Does not the rain kissed garden fair the fairer?
Untamed sunlight wouldst wilt the brightest flowers,
As love unchecked might bring to bear the bearer
And feast to bite the mind it swift devours!
When darkling clouds loom storm-like over thee,
Weather thy thunderous rage tho' thou detest it,
Love sallies hence and makes a bold decree:
"No cloud is e'er so dark love cannot best it!"
Light shines its brightest in the dankest dark,
The better then that thou should plainly view it,
So of each storm make light with thy remark:
"Love is the light and darkness shall renew it."
        If thou wouldst doubt it so thou knows love not,
        Love knows it still long e'er these lines forgot.

In pressing times truth oft' lies so oppressed
And falsehoods rouse to speak in joyed debate
That burdens brought to bear upon the breast
Might anchor nought but will of one testate

What courage leant upon a graven guest
Not thrift of fear in bearing of his fate
But silent as all untruths so expressed,
Except to cry with cursed tongue, "More weight!"

Let mason's mark not be aught told of thee
When time the griever weeps upon thy mound,
All livelong deeds like boughs unto the tree
Bring life to roots laid low in hallowed ground.
No!  Let thy mark be made in shadows cast
To wilt the weeds that clamber for thy heights,
Withered tendrils may writhe to gape aghast
And fall ashen to flames thy name ignites!
All men are named yet name makes not the man
And deedless men no time should be afforded;
Yet scribes will bridge the void to tell thy span
And song will keep thy life and deed recorded.
        Oh children yet unmade rejoice thy fame
        May deeds live on eternal in thy name!

I spied a mighty albatross
Blue-eyed as coral stone
With heavenly wings borne like a cross
Adrift aloft alone
A speckled snow-capped mountain crown
Adorned the canopy
Upon her white quill-feathered gown
Explorer of the sea

No wonderland of wintry ice
Has thawed unto her touch
Nor sand-annointed paradise
Played harbour to her clutch
The shimmered sun and shadowed moon
Are beacons born to be
Her rooftop lights through livelong flights
Explorer of the sea

What maid foresworn to solitude
And shackled by her chains
Has tasted of a servitude
And dreamt not of the reins?
Imprisoned thus each land-lorn day
By neither lock nor key
How must your beaten heart dismay
Explorer of the sea?

As time the drifter slinks away
Upon an ebbing tide
I watch you fade from dusk-lit grey
To night’s eternal void
And left bereft and to atone
The deepest sins of me
I wonder who is more alone
Explorer of the sea?

Forgive a scant and doleful rant
Of mindless scoffed derision,
I find of late I’m quite irate
To read of politicians
Who’s rampant views anoint the news
With all their bluff and bluster,
And so I trust you’ll see I must
Unleash the angst I muster!

These are the folk you called a joke
During the last election,
You found them bland, yet watched them stand
Like some half-cocked *******;
You would not think to share a drink
With them whilst watching football,
And if they pushed to gain your trust
You’d prob’ly give them ---- all!

So now I’m mad and rather sad
To see my friends conspiring
With nodding heads and “what he said’s”,
Perhaps you need re-wiring?
The EU vote has got your goat
And sides have to be taken,
But if you choose an MPs shoes
To follow you’re mistaken!

Go get online and spend the time
To do your own fact finding,
The vote you cast is going to last,
The outcome will be binding;
It matters not one single jot
To me, “you’re out”, “you’re in”,
Keep hold your pride and choose a side,
Don’t let the B------- win!

I gazed upon a weary field
Where wayward seeds had blown,
And plots were laid and borders sealed
Beneath a golden crown,
And rising from a ghastly host
Of unkempt thorny briar,
On writhing mist a fallen ghost
Lit up a spectral pyre.

Cold shivered flames shot heavenward
Convulsing time to freeze,
The fertile land was drowned in mud
And clouded with disease.
Across the field a battle raged
Beneath an orange flare,
Old roots entwined as limbs engaged
And tussled for the air.

In eager rows defenders fell
Supplanted by their foe,
A mud draped rug of pod and shell
Buried the ground below,
And racing upwards in a spire
To reach Heaven's domain
They sought to steal the sun's bright fire
To use for their own gain.

Fresh saplings withered in the heat
That scorched the living soil,
And ashes rained down like a sheet
To form an acrid pile;
The sweet decay of rotting limbs
Pervaded like a shield,
As evening sang her doleful hymns
Across a barren field.

Love is not lust tho' lust may lead to love
As seedlings basked in sunlight spring to flowers,
Young blooms may make a golden treasured trove
Where tender tulips kiss in huddled bowers

Love ripens like straw-nested berry fields,
Plump, juicy, flavoursome, and blushing red
As nature's bounteous sweet harvest reveals
Her shapely form resplendent in her bed

Love is an acorn to the mighty oak,
Deep-rooted and unbounded by the sky;
Love ripples like a genteel puddled cloak
Laid bare to keep a silken petal dry

    Love is but love and life is but to love:
    So poets write and lovers seek to prove

Saturday night
in the usual hole, drinking
and looking
looking at familiar faces
dancing and drinking
and I'm thinking this
is the last night
I waste getting wasted
in this joint

and my eyes fall upon a beauty
unlike any I've ever seen
long red hair
bright blue eyes
radiant as a fresh spring rose
just off the dance floor
and with a wistful sigh
-- if only --
I retire to the bar

music slows
and I'm grabbed and dragged
into the arena
a lug of a girl
has me tightly grasped
and behind
just off the dance floor
she's looking
looking and laughing
and I'm shrugging
helplessly pleading
with apologetic eyes

flash forward two weeks
to a Saturday night
in the usual hole, drinking
and looking
looking at familiar faces
but now I'm looking
for a familiar face
among a sea
of wrong faces
and she's not there

music slows
and I'm in the arena
a lone gladiator
amidst sparring partners
when a familiar face
long red hair
bright blue eyes
radiant as a fresh spring rose
is smiling and dancing
and my old world vanished
and I was reborn
in the throes of Sunday
February fourteenth
nineteen ninety three
and that's
how I met
my Valentine
wife

Whistle a Dixie marching song
And wave the colored cotton
Remember days when we were young
Lest old ways be forgotten

From Robert E Lee and freedom rides
Was birthed our greater nation
Where trust in liberty resides
United with a passion

Old voices echoed through the South
Emboldened with a fervour
As children full on sated youth
Implore us to remember

Judge not a man but by his deeds
Lest lessons be forsaken
Presume to know naught of his needs
The less to be mistaken

The past has passed, the future lies
Unguarded and unguided,
Whose liberties shall be denied
Has yet to be decided

Whistle a merry marching song
Let each man show his colors
Our children judge us right or wrong
By how we treat our brothers

Arise!  Arise!
Oh wingless serpent
Oh jousting knight
Gleaming in sunlight
Arise like Samurai
Mounted on a steed
Of deadly sins
Arise and greet the morn
As wives grieve and mourn
As children grieve and mourn
As husbands grieve and mourn
Oh world, grieve and mourn
Our fallen knight
Our fell serpent
Our seven Samurai.

Old stars shine on long after life is gone,
Bright lights echoed through voids they leave behind;
Old remnants fade yet still their light lives on.

Born of old dust, born of a mothers son,
Born fated to repeat a mortal grind,
Old stars shine on long after life is gone,

One sparking flame igniting dreams anon,
Defying darkness drawn to drowned the mind;
Old remnants fade yet still their light lives on.

Bright stars that brightly burn oft' seem alone
Where lesser lights eclipsed are hard to find;
Old stars shine on long after life is gone.

Old stars must end when all their days are done,
But light once shone goes on to raze the blind;
Old remnants fade yet still their light lives on.

From dust to dust, from ash to ash, they shone
With fiery hearts fanned by a gift divined:
Old stars shine on long after life is gone,
Old remnants fade yet still their light lives on.

Under over, below above
Upturned a downing silver,
Tossed up to fall to rise to prove
The wayward godly river
Churned this to that to thin to fat
Until the one eye opened,
Where singles dwell in mingled swell
And woe to woo is ripened.

Part 1.

What wantless seeds attest to willing soil,
Each rooted finger delving to earth's core
In counterweight, as newborn limbs recoil
Up from the grave, to rise, to lift, to soar;
To marry gold above with gold below
As petaled faces bask in fiery glow.

In each low nook, on each high rising hill,
By narrow streams wending like living trails
Down through deep harbored vales where winds lay still,
Where night and shadows meet in mingled veils,
All sacred spots that nature calls her own
Know bounty of pure beauty fully grown.

Heaven to some, to some Arcadia;
Her lands enriched not by cold ore struck gold,
But by a blessed cornucopia
That wise men seek, but few will yet behold:
Into this realm a weary hunter treads,
As silent as a widow in silk threads.

His hooded face as weathered as a storm,
Dark eyes, a crooked nose, a fearsome chin;
Worn leather garb clung to his sinewed form,
Drab long cloak loosely clasped by silvered pin;
Old sword and dagger hung from side to side,
Short bow and quiver tarry not his stride.

Part 2.

The vestige trace long lost to eyes unskilled
Takes umbrage at his oft' requited glance,
And twisting like a ****** darkly quilled
To gift the puzzled reader bare a chance,
Turns this and that but all to no avail:
The hunter ever watchful of the trail.

Through field and copse, down to a steep ravine,
Plumbing the darkly deepness of a cave
That writhes through earthly riches like a stream,
Rising to spring like buds from winters grave:
Emerging into light as one exhumed,
The hunter pushes on, the hunt resumed.

For mile to broken mile the land retreats
To greet the rouse and sleeping of the sun;
As day and night dance gaily round their seats,
Taking a turn to sit on either one;
By light of sun, or moon, or stars, the prey
Sets firmer tracks each passing of the day.

Until a dawn awakes to shrieks of mourning,
One golden speck cries foul at visions edge;
Espying of the hunter's cruel adorning
She flits away towards a mountain ridge:
The hunter leaps, pursuing at a pace,
His prey is found, his hunt becomes a chase!

Part 3.

Arcadia delights in summer faire,
Yet all departed seasons lie within;
Protected from the ravage of time's stare,
They wander here or there upon a whim;
And to her borders, winter is inclined,
So comes the chill as summer falls behind.

Soft fertile plains give way to rocky climbs,
And mountain shadows mock sun's feeble stare;
Ice clung to stone, to sting all clinging limbs,
The hunter's eyes blinded by frigid glare;
His prey nearby, she clambers up the *****,
Her racing heart surged by false glinted hope.

Arcadia bade mountains rise up steep,
To keep her borders free of dint or breach,
And rising heavenward, each snow-capped peak,
An endless climb beyond all skillful reach:
The hunter clambers swift to shrink the gap,
And in a breath she falls into his trap.

A foxhole late encumbered with deep snow
Becomes her prison hemmed by harsh cold rock,
The hunter stands above, inclines his bow,
With silken string depressed by feathered nock;
One pause to blink before she pays his toll:
He stalls, steps back, and stumbles from the hole.

Part 4.

"Cold winds chill numb the hands, freeze not the mind!
What trick of sight gives light to such deceit?
Dare I to look once more? Pray will I find
My prey's own claws or tender dainty feet?
Treacherous snow lies deep, my eyes misled!
A beast I sought, a maiden found instead!"

"Kind sir, I find myself at your command!
Pray lend me arms no smith nor fletcher made,
But as my own formed of the sculptors sand
To shape the flesh into the mould he bade:
Pray open up your heart, come set me free,
For I would spy which hunter bested me!"

"Afore I gift my fingers to your plight,
Would you attest to count them fore and aft?
And pledge no claws will scratch nor teeth will bite?
And offer up the scheming of your craft?
A beast I hunt, yet here I catch no beast,
Be swift of tongue, the swifter then released!"

"Upon the sky that houses sun and moon,
The trembling mountains tamed by winters shiver,
The hills, trees, shrubs, vales, Arcadia's bloom,
The living streams, flowers like natures mirror:
Upon all things of worth if word be aught,
I gift my word, my ill to you is naught!"

Part 5.

Her slender form, as light as sleight of white,
He lifts up to assuage her troubled snare;
And looking then upon her wondrous sight,
With darting eyes for fear the sirens glare;
He feels a hammer strike a pillowed blow:
His lifeless limbs collapse into the snow.

"Fear not for words I gift are duty bound,
And bind me as a branch unto a tree;
Would I were fool to feast upon my hound,
My bonded words so too would feast on me:
But listen now, this nymph has had her fun,
The chase is run, the quest is just begun!

Arcadia opens up her vaulted gate
To fallen souls with honor on their name;
Not that bestowed where mongers congregate,
By kings rewarding those who **** and maim;
But those revered for kindly word and deed
Are born again through Arcadia's seed.

Live free to roam in Arcadia's haven,
Fish, hunt, give chase, for sport and for the thrill;
But heed me well, my bonded words are graven,
Open no doors to death, nor test his skill:
Death hunts you like the beast you thought to best,
Though chase be long, be sure he will not rest.

Part 6.

*Arcadia has but one proposition,
Be glad of heart, her realm cannot be broken;
But of your hand she makes a supposition,
You wear it still, a lovers gifted token:
All bonded vows should break upon her border,
That yours did not has brought her some disorder!

Though day and night swing endless through the sky,
No time shall pass within this hallowed glade;
Where once you stood, forever shall you lie,
One breath between a life and bitter shade:
Arcadia can open up her door
And with a breath, release you evermore!

Return to life, return to love's embrace,
Return to sickness, death and poverty;
Go now and lose all knowledge of this place,
Be troubled not by wistful memory;
This path once trod can never be unstarted.
Be warned: no path returns here once departed!

Here then your quest continues with a choice,
Remain within Arcadia's golden land;
Or live a mortal life and then rejoice
To greet your death when taken by his hand:
One breath to choose, one solitary breath,
Immortal life or yet a mortal death."

Did you ever, as a child, chase a butterfly,
A tiny Golden Birdwing, perhaps
Or a Bronze Roadside-Skipper?

Flitting, faster than an arrow,
Over a rusting wheelbarrow fortress,
Under an electrified washing line,
Dive-bombing plastic remnants
Of the light infantry,

Before spinning away,

Courting the breeze in a whirling dance,
Winged-eyes blazing bright as childrens' buttons,
Vanishing in a cluster of gold chrysanthemums,
Reappearing, fluttering freely,
From a sea of bronze fennel.

Did you dash dash dash,
Arms flailing madly,
Mouth locked in a giggling grin?

And did you ****** ****** ******,
Tiny hands grasping, clutching at air,
Desperate to hold natures princess?

Do you remember?

            Dashing,  Snatching,  Grasping,

And suddenly,

                          She      Was      Gone?

And­ did you dare peep, clumsily,
Into your tiny hands,
Between your fragile fingers,

Half afraid you missed her,
Half again, you may find her,

            Crushed  In  Your  Hands?

The quest for desire is a chase,
So demanding,
So determined,
So distracting,

Attainment without consequence
Is your end game,
And is all that matters

Until you face the consequence
Of your end game,
When all that matters

            Is  What  Remains  In  Your  Hands?

Do you remember when love was uncomplicated
Hand-holding, lonely fingers grasping,
Longingly, perfecting their grip?

And do you remember the honeymoon
Highs, up and up, dizzily clambering up,
Exploring new horizons?

And do you remember, precisely, when love emerged,
From clouds of chalked up experiences,
Foreboding as a mountain,
Where lonely fingers grasped,
Longingly, for fresh hand-holds?

The quest for loves summit rises,
Peak to higher peak,
Each conquered height unveiling a new vista,
Revealing loves perilous truth,
That each peak is surpassed by two more
And the summit remains elusive.

The fool will climb up and up,
Leaving a devastated trail of overlooks,
Ever unsated,
Ever yearning,
Ever lonely.

The sage will make camp behind a large rock,
Still aware of the mountains hidden presence,
But settled with a lightness of heart,
To enjoy just one wonderful view.

Don't quest, like a hunter, for romance,
Pursuing prey, cunningly, to its lair,
Eyes stung by lust,
Quiver unslung to unleash arrows
Blindly, to win a heart.

At quests end, coveted trophies are lost,
Smothered to lose their free spirit,
Or flitting away, out of reach.

Is romance not a dance of equals,
Equally paced,
Equally poised,
Equally purposed?

Two hunted souls, warily learning trust.

The hunter often catches the prey,
And yet, still loses the game.

Upon the ramp, we stand like Solomon,
And point to this or that upon a whim
And judge who must be out or might be in
With baseless measure of aught you have done,

And fathers wail and mothers mourn a son
And still, unbending hearts look to your skin,
And eyes recoil, offended by your limbs,
Unsightly bones protruding from each one.

As lightning lights the storm to make rain run,
To weep like tears dripped from an angels chin,
So thunder fills your fear cup to the brim,
To weep fresh tears for aught once had now gone;

Solomon says:
        *"To make the rivers stop,
        **** not their mouths, but nurture each rain drop."

What Hope Remained?

What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
        When putrid plumes dulled morning into night
        Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent,
        As mortals wept and earthborn angels went
        With downcast eyes to clamber heavens height.

What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
        When panicked sirens wailed a lost lament
        And backs were bowed beneath ungodly weight,
        Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent
        As boots bore souls up treadmills burnt and bent
        To scale a void devoid of dawning light.

What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
        For those in sight of angels heaven sent
        Atop the world to aid their mortal plight,
        Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent.

        When wingless brethren conquered feared ascent
        To gift last hope to all who saw their might:

                What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
                Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent.



In The Fall

I chanced upon a stranger in the fall,
Cosmetic garb of office black and white
Portraying calm demeanor of his plight
As shadows panicked on a stricken wall,

And oft' I find my mind in numb recall
To look upon that helpless human kite
Who tumbled from the terrors of a height,
Yet graceful as an eagle in a stall

Before it plummets earthward --   'Neath the pall
Of twisted steel rended by follied flight,
That stranger lives forever in the light
Suspended in iconic timeless sprawl.

        I wonder, in the briefness of his fall,
        Did he derive the meaning of it all?

Oh what is life if not a thrill,
To crawl, to walk, to run downhill,
To mumble, crumble to old age,
To this end I shall live my days?

To be unseen, to be unknown,
To be afraid to be alone,
To toil to scrape a living wage,
To this end I shall live my days?

Or yet, to pillage viking halls,
To barrel-roll Niagara Falls,
To greet a shark without a cage,
To this end I shall live my days!

Oh what is life if not a thrill,
To this end I shall live my days!

Thy tallow flame burns brighter than the rest, my love,
Warming the jealous heart within my breast, my love!

Thou art the envy of all lovers' lovers eyes,
Thy whim commands me unto thy behest, my love!

Arcadia proffers to thee her beauty throne
Where shepherdesses gather to attest, my love!

Wild winter plants her lilies over autumn crown,
Setting pure ice born crystals for thy crest, my love!

Yggdrasil bows and offers thee a fledgling branch,
A gnarlèd sceptre, life and spirit blessed, my love!

Erato guides old Argo unto Colchis bay,
Thy stately robes to fetch from hydras nest, my love!

All-seeing Delphi Oracles gaze heavenward,
To beg thy wisdom (or they lied and guessed), my love!

And I, your humble servant Tryst, declare to thee,
Thou art my sacred never-ending quest, my love!

Quick-draw five card stud
Dealt a bullet on fifth street --
    Full house cashes out.

Your laughing eyes filled up my cup of yore
When summer flowed in endless streams, yet when
Sure-footed feet were swept out from the shore
Then time unkindly turned our now to then.

You laughed and yet your eyes revealed in you
Deep secrets hidden down within the deep
Blue oceans of your soul, that guard the blue
Keep of your moated castle where you keep

Those inner thoughts you dare not share and those
Which weave a spell as tho' some haggard witch,
Nose misshapen, had snorted from her nose
Rich veins of silver bound to make her rich.

Long not for treasured silence e'er life long,
Song gifts the world and those who gift their song.

Oh lonely code thy process all forlorn
Loops but to toil in thankless servitude
Unpraised for wit but savaged with ill scorn
At each found bug or flaw that thou exude

Yet if thou fork and then do spawn a child
A mother's mirror born of innocence
To share life's load, transactions reconciled
In mutex'd memory twixt each paired instance

Thy yield increased would empty buffers make
To give thee pause to take a cycled breath
And running on anon until a break
Or Control-C brings unto thee a death

An orphaned child thy memory would keep
Or die, or zombify in restless sleep

Rest peaceful 'neath a dusk-kissed brass engraving,
Atop the climb a stony path has reached;
Look down on all the troubles you were saving,
Thankful you rarely practiced what they preached.

Keep up thy vigil, dimpled shepherdess!
Gift night a lantern light to guide lost stars
Strayed from the flock, treaty with tenderness
Soft grazing grounds in heaven's nebulas,

Look low for lone stars fallen from on high,
Feasting on kindling tree-tops laced in cloaks
Of lily blossomed snowy dew drop sighs
Billowed from scattered cushion clouded smokes,

Look further still beneath the ice-fringed eaves
Of gold-spun thatched roofs dotted down the lane,
Footfall echoes stolen by kingly thieves
Triumphantly majestic in their rain:

Look last for shadow framed in windowed light
Keeping thy lonely vigil through the night.

Come, silver moon, alight on troubled clouds,
Gift them thy saintly glow lifting the gloom
Levied below, with flowery haloed buds
Springing forth like the lamb from mother's womb,

Light up anew hedgerows and quilted fields
Where cattle sleep in clusters like faint stars,
Constellations huddled upon the wolds,
Breath nebulous as fogging stale cigars;

Ill omens thrive to drift in darkest times
From cloud to stony cloud above the night,
Watching for victims from high lofted climes,
Raining full pent up fury of their might:

Come, silver moon, gift troubled clouds thy lining,
Hope lives in thee as long as thou art shining!

Whence comes thy ill? Thy brooding bitter pill
Ploughed deep in fertile soil, sprouting to seed
Snake-like tendrils crawling to sprawl and spill,
Choking lush verdant fields with poisoned ****;
Wilted young peaches, withered pears dying,
Irises blinded, red chrysanthemums
Faded to white, strewn petals borne on sighing
Dark fitful clouds rend'ring the landscape numb;
Oh bitter pill, thy loathsome poisoned thrill
Afflicts one tainted by unsated need
To wilt and wither, blinded, faded, ill
Craving for thee with hollowed hateful greed;
    Sweet bitter pill, thou will be coveted
    Till once ripe lush and verdant fields lay dead.

Fair maid, your beauty sleeps on marble stone,
Yet warm spring color drapes upon your breast,
Whose rise and fall like splendoured kingly throne
Would overthrow all doubt you are at rest;
How delicate, how soft each gentle sip
Of morning air delighting of your tongue,
Playfully dancing over your sweet lips,
Flitting away to voice your slumbered song;
How sound you sleep, your tranquil dreams expressed
By chest upheaved in rhythms, gaily dressed.

Far far beyond awaking, do you roam
With kindred spirits through a leafy glade?
Nymphs born of elder days welcome you home
To bathe in springs beneath old forest shade;
They sing of love for when the world was young,
When forests grew unhindered o'er the land,
When each new day was blessed by endless sun,
When fertile earth knew naught of desert sand:
Your voice rejoiced to join their merry cheer,
My ears rejoiced with every song they hear.

Fair maid, I wonder will you e'er return,
Or will the dreaming keep you for its own?
My eyes behold your beauty, yet they yearn
For tho' you are still here, I am alone;
Bid farewell to the forests, to your kin,
Bid farewell to each cool refreshing stream,
Return to wear the beauty of your skin,
Your kin will wait in some forever dream:
But now I pray you'll wake, return to me,
To see the dreams my eyes reflect of thee.

Dim witted pupils born of ignorance,
Long shadows loom to weave thy blinkered veil
Blinding closeted mind to innocence,
Till hope for love nor love for hope prevail;
What sweet delight does darkness serve to keep?
What hidden treasures lurk inside thy door?
Wise Solomon was wise enough to seek
For truth beyond the grains of his own store;
Yet thou embrace the dark, keep it to hand
Lest all thy world may crumble where thee stand.

Look not with shuttered eyes, but yet perceive
For senses fill the void, bring unto thee
A truth for which thine eyes might yet deceive;
Inhale to taste the world thou dare not see,
How fragrant is the fallen petaled rose?
How sweet the apple fading to decay?
Breathe deep as autumn reaps what summer sows,
Let bounteous harvest spirit thee away
To sip perfume, fine fragrance from the vine
That lingers like a sweet bouquet of wine.

Slow shuffled steps, each footfall amplified
Through trepid corners of thy darkened mind,
A conjured dread that cannot be denied
As useless eyes strain urgently to find
Its course; Hark! Tap, tap, tapping at thy door!
Thy breath abates, thy racing heart resounds,
Thy trembling toes cajole thee o'er the floor
And pressing of thy ear, to hear the sounds:
A pillowed voice as light as silken spin
Whispers, "Open the door, I will come in!"

Fear grips thee in a vice, thy voice is lost
As thou were lost, yet now thou has been found:
What stands without?  A madman or a ghost?
What stalks its prey?  What hunts thee like a hound?
Thy eyes are struck by blinding haloed light
Beneath the door, around its weary frame,
As dark recedes away to flee its might,
Abandoned thou must play the hunter's game;
Down through thy quivered spine, cold shivers creep
And kneeling to the ground, thou starts to weep.

Look now upon thy door with eyes reborn,
Thy savior and thy keeper through the night;
Eyes crowned with sight like pillows to a thorn
Harsh punctured with each searing twist of light;
How oft' thy mind has drawn its simple form,
Thy fingers run to feel each knotted grain,
Yet with thine eyes, thou see it now transform,
A handle hidden neat within the frame;
What clever hand, what love of labored skill
Had crafted of a ring so neatly made
That in its recess, fingers found no thrill
To find it in its secret wooded glade;
Yet now that light is gifted to thy sight,
Thy fingers trouble not to raise the ring
And taking hold and firmly gripping tight,
Thou contemplates the actions of a thing:
Does fear of light reduce thee to a shell,
To quake within thy boots, to shake with dread?
Will darkness cloak thee from a living hell
Or bring a living hell into thy head?
Thy hand is poised, have thee the strength to learn?
Thy will be done, to turn or not to turn.