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mark john junor Oct 2013
the absurd
and the cynical
the elegant
and the beautiful
have all spoken here
voices raised in secretive hope
of being the one heard above all the rest
being the one to rise and soar
unfettered and unleashed
the night is filled with these
thousand fold whispers
these untold tales
clothed in the fine silks
and filthy rags
a ballroom dance of silent partners

the grand opera house
its silent hall so strange to tread
where hours before was filled with
the rushing stream of chatter
now echoes the hard shoes of the nightwatchman
the empty seats mute witnesses to the
loneliness of this passage of hours
the passages backstage
filled with absent bustling labours of
the arts lovers and
children of the arts lurid steamy affairs

the art itself
lingers all around this hallowed ground
it is more than the lines and scenes
of thouse who nobly take the stage
more than the curtains and lights
of the labours of its love
the art itself is a grand and
beautiful creature
a dignified and noble creature
hard taskmaster and passionate lover
for which time itself has no meaning
it is here in the wood of the stage
it is here in the bones of the world

the nightwatchman
treads this quiet place
and sees a face of the art few get to see
her quiet home while she rests
her repose before the curtain of
tomorrow is raised
before once again they all gather
for the art of live performance
((i was a nightwatchman in a venue for a time...an experience that i shall never forget))
Mateuš Conrad Jun 2016
i always favoured Händel (see the hidden γραφεμη variation of the a diaeresis - some simply sprech Hendel, also not the aesthetic mimic symbiosis with sigma - aesthetically it is written Σσς, so too it should be written Εεη - with the variations of epsilon - η - written conclusively, as with the variation of sigma - ς - the remnant, a last resort - the greeks don't believe the tetragrammaton twins of the symbol H anyway, they already laid new pavements for the road ahead, ridiculing the old testament with fanciful quotation, so that man could imbue a godliness rather than the filth of prophetic warmongering in the desert, sacrificing children to a bear like Elisha, the new testimony and the clean prophet, beware the wolf in sheep clothing, sheep equating itself to Nazarene cleanliness, but the wolf inside that will be worthy a tri-summation of interests - before universal education in the Victorian era, when finally enough horses were used up and machines took over, and people were allowed to be escorted into the cinema of uncovered phonetic encoding - taught literacy - but to no avail, having squandered that on acronym shortenings... multifaceted digressions ensue, as i am true to the purpose of suddenly injecting venomous imagery into this whole crescendo of the new regime, nightwatchman every over day, to save myself the pointless stimulus of drinking - let's leave the realm of italics and regroup with the points already made...

what a glorious night yesterday's was, by me saying,
well, there is still over an hour left to include yesterday's
night as today - the heavy Baroque organs of thunder,
interchanging with brilliance of lightning -
7,000 accounts of lightning flashing in a square mile,
perhaps more - there was me, reminiscing what i missed
about Freddy Kruger in the original version of
a nightmare on Elm's street, the 2010 revamp made it
plain (i thought Freddy was a bit of a loser compared
to the other horror icons, like Jason, Michael, Pinhead),
but then it dawned on me... he, was, a *******!
the former two were mutes, hefty mutes, bodybuilding
mutes, bulls, charging, dragging around them a gravity
of pure animal, a bit like a lion hunting although without
the growling - if only lions had cat eyes,
but lions don't have serpent eyes, their pupils are more
mammalian than cat eyes, bonsai, Asian squint, inverse,
serpents in fur - their pupils dilate proportionately
to small pupil, large pupil, not vertical Asian squint in
leather... anyway... what a night to watch a horror movie...
the big brainstorm before the referendum,
morning's newspaper and the newspaper *the times

in revamp mode of the tabloid the sun with
a Shakespeare quote: i to the world am like a drop of
water (or, whatever, water is precious, Shakespeare
is about as much a schooled sneeze / quotation in
comparison), that in the ocean seeks another drop -
told you, the times is just a revamped tabloid version,
it's under the same umbrella group - the only two
opposition newspapers with credentials in England
are the guardian (the left) and the daily telegraph
(the right) - i can see now why Freddy seems pathetic
but is more frightening - it's the ****** talking,
the nursery rhyme jingle - that's the freaky part -
but in the same night i expressively enjoyed
t.v. caviar of Versailles, no critical essay mind you,
just noticing this strange pair of aristocratic ladies,
fakes, a mother and a daughter, what's revealing
is that the girl has no interest in the king, this
builder is eyeing her up, whistles, and loving it,
she has not desire for aristocratic **** *******
of her cousin who's courting Louis XIV brother
Philippe, the gardener ex-soldier (a Socratic type)
warns him, he's asked by the builder, what the hell you
doing here? oh, i'm trying to see the garden more clearer.
he ain't though, he's questioning the entire hierarchy,
later on the same builder puts a pink rose in a bucket
and lowers it down to the garden promenade
where the same pair mother and daughter are walking,
the girl engages... she isn't aristocratic in the least!
she's more interested in frolicking in the hay with
a builder than some king or prince... the mother is poor,
she knows all the salon politics, she basically wants
her daughter to get herself a pension by ******* the king
and bearing him a *******, but there's a scene where
the daughter asks late at night... what are you doing?
the mother replies... writing letters... now you'd expect
that to mean letters in the style of Voltaire or de Montainge,
but by letters she means A B C, D E F... she's illiterate!
an aristocrat and illiterate? how else to control the
masses so long ago if not keeping them illiterate
content with fables from Plato's shadow puppet metaphors?
later the mother becomes frightened that the motto
Louis XIV emphasises (appearances are power -
deception = poker-hand perception, bluffs the higher up
you go), she's walking alone through the corridors of
Versailles and starts chatting up the court inquisitor etc.,
Fabien Marchal - he ain't exactly the aristocratic type,
she's already seeing the failures of her daughter
and the failures of too much information being passed down
to her about how to catch the eye of the king - god i love
this show, Philippe taking an ancient form of a selfie
looking into a little mirror before charging on his horse,
the power struggle, Louis flicks some porridge
onto Philippe, Philippe flicks some back,
Louis shoves a whole bowl of it on Philippe's head,
Philippe ****** on Louis, a wrestling match after:
you might have ****** on a brother's head...
but i ****** on a king's head. so why **** this entire
notion from Detective Comics and Edward (e)Nigma
******* all the brains out from a television set?
the idea of a bulls-eye is still out there - just have to know
what to glue yourself to;
but never mind that, to give closure to this whole
random escapade -
vote leave, reason? three houses of parliament in Brussels,
not a single member is elected by the public,
they're all self-appointed or appointed by connections.
vote remain, reason? cheap cigarettes from Romania,
Bulgaria and Poland - under new regulations they might
not be so cheap, i might have to resort to e-cigarettes.
probable outcome? Europe is already failing, it seems
that the idea of the free-movement of people doesn't
really apply to member states, but to non-member states,
esp. those outside Europe - the stigma born from
the grand European expansion of ~2005 fuelled the problem,
free movement of post-British Empire peoples, yes,
movement of member states in the political union? no,
no one from California and go to New Mexico,
but Mexicans can go to Washington, what a ****** up
logic - the prophesy of a revived Roman Empire is a bit
daft - and if i really did have an illegitimate child,
at what age does paying child support end? 16 or 18?
i wasn't married, i asked about the contraceptive pills,
but still the hot-bun shoved under my pillow to think about...
i'm positive that's when the buzzing in the left
hemisphere of my brain will end, and a grand L.S.D. trip
will appear in the sky, like a big Christmas mince pie -
ask me then, it's been 9 years in, i might have a break,
but until then i'm contemplating juggling Joyce with
Burroughs, and telling you... you know what i'd really like?
hearing Händel messiah in German... singing opera
is English is so so horrid, i love the opera never mind,
i was inspired by the section:
opernchor - weil von mann kommen tod -
to want to hear it in German - and trying to write German
using English grammar, and translate it, is like
a little-Oedipus fable, not as bad as mother and son,
no gauging of the eyes, more like the standard practice
in Arabia with marriage between 2nd or 3rd cousins -
and D.N.A. quick-tests in Iceland, who i'm praying will
win if the vote is to leave, fairy-tale Leicester City,
a country with the same population, 330,000;
not to mention Gudmundur Benediktsson's ******
that beat any South American gooooooooooo(h)'l /
enlarged spelling of ~gall, and so on and so forth bladder
or blah blah blah blah blah.
mark john junor Nov 2013
Lawrence of Arabia keeps picking up his tent
gathers all his jewels and wares
and moves on up the road
and the smiling faces trail along
and there under the bright dazzling lights
he sets up shop and they all break into song
the nightwatchman nervously fingers his flashlight
while Lawrence sneaks up from behind and pranks him

the Gretchens and the weary guitar player
gather near the stage
and cast an iron mask into the flames
hoping it'll melt
but its soaked eye stares out weakly
in the ashes of all Lawrence had built
but he's in the corner with Betty Boop and a
bottle of wine getting drunk
and reliving her salad days
she carries a scrapbook of naughty pictures
she keeps all her naughty thoughts in her backpack
no reason to let anyone know what shes really thinking
her fast nasty hand
is only a reflection of her nimble mind
it reaches for the absolution of innocence
full knowing that its real intent is opposite
a fast nasty piece that reeks of rubberbands and scotch tape
mark john junor Jan 2014
his heavy face drags his head down her shirt
pleads innocence but the grin on his
face calls him a liar liar pants on fire
she just nods knowingly and unbuttons the next one down
cause she has been through the catalogue of this fools parade
and knows a good catch when she has her hooks in him
he starts flapping his arms like a fish outa water
we all just laugh we all been there
we all been a bird in the air

i make coffee but they are intent on the the sideshow
taking place on the couch
i turn to find the girls choir locked in dire straights
with the ****** circus clowns
they will be singing the blues soon enough
cause we all got a price to pay
when the penny comes to a pound
when the carpet bagger comes to call
and the price you pay equal
to the tears you lay

i sit back and light up the room with my handy dandy
nightwatchman flashlight
but soon realize that there are things here id rather not see
as the girls choir gets down and ***** with the clowns
they would rather have a warm bed now
than the cold promise of better kitchens two car garage tomorrow
and im not one to say they are wrong
iv swallowed enough swords
iv seen enough of the bitter bread
so make some room sweetheart
cause you look like you could use some company down there
in your dark corner of the strange parade...
is that a horse head you have on?

this room gets real wild at a quarter to three
the old man has come down
and is talking up the future to some young honey
who knows better but has an eye on his wallet
we all got a price to pay
he gonna give up his riches
shes gonna give up her dreams
all got a price to pay
when  the carpet bagger comes to call

i shake off the dawn
and stumble out to the street
look back to find the whole circus waving goodbye
they all look so happy and content
even the ones with the bloodstains
but that's the price i gotta pay
looks so pretty from this far down the road
looks so warm and inviting with their smiles and lollipops
the circus clowns and the pregnant girls choir
even she seems friendly
in the heat haze of the long hours away
but something reminds me of all her warts
all her filthy fingers grabbing at the shirt-tail
he eyes pleading a different case before the high court
of her own self doubts

when the carpet bagger comes to call
he opens his bag of tricks
and shows you a world of wonder
all glitter and lights
but it isnt till the bill is due
that you remember we all got a price to pay
we all are fish out of water
mark john junor Jan 2014
the expanding shadows of my depleted day
stretch out like fingers
trying to gain purchase on my
fleetfoot soul
but the past is a parody of the now
with all the same actors playing different roles
and i know who will let me
slip unnoticed out the stage door
while the drunkard nightwatchman
sings sea shanties and laments the poorboy pay

out the door and up the alley
and skate along the thieves highway looking for treasures
with the maiden of dumpsterdivers in tow
she is carrying little red riding hood on a waitress's salary
but the two of em love eachother
so the three of us make scary bandit faces
and go on and on about how we don't
need no stinkin' badges
the alley treats us all to a few jems
and more stinky socks than a reformed
cheerleader like little red riding in the hood
can shake a stick at

by the time i shuffle back to
my home on the shooting range
don quixote had turned off the lights
and driven off in his VW bug
the band had packed its gear
and the bartender was three sheets to the wind
all i could do to mend my own fences
was sing old cowboy songs at a winter moon

fleetfoot to from the greasy lock of hair
to the itchy feet looking to travel
its all just another day under strange skies
we all got questions
but few got answers
i just got a pocket full of dust
and a pair of running shoes
so here i go....
dedicated to jaybird by tapeworm :-) the bird caught the worm, but they ended up just hanging round and dancin to some fine tunes :-)
Rain and street rejoice
Mist is born
She kisses every window , windshield and
door
Human shadows return to dwell 'neath street
lanterns
The whistle of the constable , the music of the
downspout
Asphalt becomes amber
Paparuda runs throughout the foothills
Ministering the parched
Filling the cistern , the branch and the riverbed
Western winds cool the naked , the sinner ,
the pious and the fabric of the nightwatchman ...
Copyright July 13 , 2019 .. By Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved
Ingrid Murphy Mar 12
I know - now - the winters of your soul
how long, how cold
how your dog still barks plaintively
     for your return

Yet still you kept a pitcher at the gate to slake the thirst of travellers 
Your nightwatchman still tends his flame
The hearth lit
The table decked  
     for my return

And now at last
    - the all but very last -  
I have the measure of your pedestal
imprisoned there on high
any move would break you

But serendipity has granted me the key
I know the craft, I have the tools, I will not rest
until I have you.

Come gentle soul, come fiery soul, come soul of alabaster and of platinum
    It’s time.  
        Let’s sit.
You have this table so very richly laid
in welcome

— The End —