blooming rainbows in dewy pearls,
on rivières with rosette curls,
on webs festoon'd, on leaves of tree,
tiaras hung on twined ivy

as the golden globe appears
shoots its rays as arrows' swirls
through sweet dawn's crystal tears
of opalescent mother o' pearls

on verdant fronds as they unfurl
like dripping tears of Slighted Girl
as pale moon that sunlight kissed
seeks Her Lover midst the mist

lost beneath the velvet canopy
of diamond strings as cherry burl
in the folds of world's entropy
in chorus of the morning merl

i am priceless
but cannot be felt
loved by the lifeless
in other veldt

most who have me
don't know my worth
am only discovered
in my dearth

What am I?

i knocked on door of love
and opened it a bit
received a mighty shove
and in my face some spit

i heard her voice ring clearly
whilst i lay on the floor
if you love me dearly
you'll come back for some more

burst headlong into life
swaddled in fur 'n fleece
till staved by staff of strife
'n burgled by caprice

year by year doth night
quash and quell the light
spreading deathly net
to claim its earthly debt

cloaked the silent devil
walks with padded paw
suffocates the vessel
spirit of life no more

dissolved unto the night
never seen or heard
while upwards as a kite
soars soul with wings of bird

Once upon a time,
not that long ago,
an apple didn't shy
its bruises you to show

thin peel it had, oft pecked,
perhaps with hole or two,
with speckling was it decked,
but apple through and through

its taste was sweet divine
with touch of pectic acid
as glass of cool, sweet wine
left you feeling placid

it had no time for guise,
no patience for facade,
'twas same with common guys,
not engulfed in fraud

today the skin shines waxy thick
veneer of chemical gloss,
like a spill of oil slick,
as ocean covered by dross,

the phd, academic degree,
they're all the same to me,
it's not the person that you see
but thick base trickery.

cut beneath the surface
there's no real apple there
just a mere lip-service
to its humble grand forbear.

granite 'n marble, pearl-cream boulders,
flanked by crocus 'n daffodil,
the silent rows of soulless soldiers
marking time where time stands still.

onyx-green and turquoise slate
mark a start, the door, the gate
the end from place o' fluid potential
escape from 'things' inconsequential

i gently touched a tomb head-stone
warm as ice and cold as bone,
felt the heart that gave a quiver
as it stood on banks of river

river flowing in place eternal
veiled by secret shadows infernal
wading through the waters o' night
i found myself in a place of light

'step back', i heard, 'return to life',
'return to place of trouble and strife',
'lay neck down for human slaughter,
meld as one with Divine Daughter'.

'though your world is bitter black
and men are blind to light they lack,
though sky appears forever grey,
your world decadent, 'n place o' decay.'

'though your heavens be overcast,
your sighing troubles everlast,
not in the heavens is G-d to be found,
but in that darkness, in the ground.'

'this secret be not understood
till you're placed in cask of wood,
but then, my son, 'twill be too late
to return to place beyond this gate.'

'take this panacea in your hand,
use it on your return to land,
this knowledge that G-d is to be found
in earthly world to which you're bound.'

'for in the darkness, in the shell,
in that cry of living hell,
is the primordial light that fell,
He Whom you seek, there doth He dwell.'