there was a time
when i beheld
the spirit of eternity

he was aged
silver hair'd
shone with an integrity

beyond spiritual
beyond celestial
he was immortal friend to me

but now i see
as i've grown old
i turned my back on certainty

i've chased after
things i lack
cause of spirit insanity

i look back
at childhood friend
see his smile, his beckon to me

and long to swear
with heart declare
to beauteous infinity

i am yours
as you are mine
forever, for posterity

as the water
in my eye
as my heart's
silent cry
my love for you shall never lie

but i have rode
cavalier
the road o' debauchery

depravity
has been companion
snake entwined on branch of tree

he offered fruit
i took the loot
and he volute did learn from me

now's twilight
ere the night
the blanket of uncertainty

the snow's too deep
for me to leap
to spirit of eternity

i wandered lonely as a cloud

is a cloud lonely?
is he the only
gaseous formation
in heavenly plantation?

would that i was
as lonely as a cloud
o'er mythical Oz
o'er man so proud
o'er earth and sea
floating free
a soul of celestial
angelic company

i'd swoop in glee
o'er Jerusalem, Galilee,
drift 'n glide
o'er incoming tide

i'd feel the bask
of golden sun's
warming rays
ere day's begun

i'd witness shy
still silent moon
rule the night
with soundless tune

i'd be freer than a nightingale
than a ship and yacht with sail,
i'd share the sky with buzzard and eagle,
with crane and mallard and swan so regal

would that i were lonely as a cloud
i'd have more friends than a Trafalgar crowd

Shivering earth 'neath blanket o' snow
Lifeless, dormant, with indigo glow

Purple blue the distant mountains
'Fore spring has open'd nature's curtains

With green spray 'n veridian dress,
Ere summer displays her aureate tress

Of golden corn swaying in breeze
Of halcyon yellow beneath the trees

As to orange turn the leaves
As day follows harvest of the sheaves

And then to auburn, brilliant red
Before the earth pretends to be dead

Thus is full rainbow displayed below
Red orange yellow green blue 'n indigo

sun he yawns
i can't go out
it's not yet dawn
don't make me flout
the times of night
when moon is bright
it's not my time
to start the climb

so angels grab their rods of fire
try to waken in him the ire
until the sphere burns red hot
and rolls outside of heavenly cot

and thus young sun appears red
when first peeps up his golden head
o'er horizon with arrow rays
he starts each morn anew the day

and when his course has run and ended
off to bed he's told and scolded
but, as a minion, with rebellious streak,
begs to stay, to shine, though weak

so angels take their rods again
and bid him off from sky terrain
and so the ball o' fire goes scarlet
shameful as a blushing harlot

Youth blooms
Blossoming spring,
until the gloom
when petal takes wing,

then, slow as snail emerging,
softest passion builds, surging,
head of vernal bud maturing,
zest of life in drupe enduring

But when the fruit ripen
it's time to pick 'em,
when senses heighten
work with them

for it won't be long 'fore they're gone
'fore tree's bereft o' youth's liaison
Before the fruit drop from the tree
before the boat's swept out to sea
before the dew that's sparkling now
becomes sweet memory as wedding vow
before the earth collects it's due
before it whispers, 'it's time for you'.

more darkness
before the light
deepest night
before the day

deepest black
'fore life returns
before the dawn
as new-roused fawn

shines through crack
of broken sherd
as silence attack'd
with spoken word

hope in spirit
loving kindness
infuses merit
cures the blindness