"chessmaster" poems
At night rise, to the buzz of my son’s blood,
I wake and blow aboriginal dust from my lungs,
Get up and take a turn around the house.
The place has gotten cold.
This cock-eyed family – good God, they are helpless.
I tried to help by leaving things behind,
Like this prayer on the wall
About the timelessness of beauty.
And did you find the poem
About Freud and mountain climbing?
All they do is wail privately
And try to pass it off as singing.
My son sleeps like a chessmaster,
Shocked into resignation.
He dreams about me,
And his dreams are riddled with light
And longing for the past.
Such nocturnal naiveté.
But he knows the stars
And because, like the ancient Greeks,
He can follow them home,
He will leave this place before it leaves him.
This house gets smaller all the time.
Still, the furniture breathes quietly,
And the dancers in the tapestry sway
Though faded by the sun.
The dust from my breath settles down in layers.
Pale light silvers the living room mirror.
My steps leave footprints before each foot falls.
The footprints lead back to my door.
It is time to lie down.
Soon my son will wake up,
And shake off the ashes of sleep.
I don't live here any more.
My death will begin again.
Oct 6, 2015
Oct 6, 2015 at 9:26 PM UTC
Twists and turns, riddles and layers
Are you a chessmaster or just a player?
How much do you know, do you really know at all?
Can you trust anyone to catch you when you fall?
...Yes.
In the end, behind every tangle
Behind pain and memories and words that mangle
One mantra of mine I've often said while I've fought
Turns out to be truer than I originally thought...
Feb 12, 2020
Feb 12, 2020 at 12:52 AM UTC
We must bring
our own light
to the
darkness.
nobody is going
to do it for us.
as the young boys
ski down the
slopes
as the fry cook
gets his last
paycheck
as dog chases
dog
as the chessmaster
loses more than
the game
we must bring
our own light
to the
darkness.
nobody is going
to do it
for us,
as the lonely
telephone
anybody
anywhere
as the great beast
trembles
in nightmare
as the final season
leaps into
focus
nobody is going
to do it
for us.
Jul 26, 2014
Jul 26, 2014 at 7:13 PM UTC
Another video I had produced last year.
The youtube link is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
IS63GLVTqLo
You can read the poem while listening.
It comes onto the screen.
Sep 11, 2014
Sep 11, 2014 at 2:47 AM UTC