Epitaph

And when the night wafts over me
And my towers fall to sand,
Let them 'grave these words for me:
"He didn't understand."

HYMN TO BEAUTY

It’s beautiful you are - more beautiful to me

Than sunlight on the sea;
Than a rainbow flashing down
From the heavens to the ground,
Or dawn upon the mountain side
Breaking all around.

FAT AND FORTY

                        So, here we are -

                        Those who outgrew

                             the fervent fantasies

                             of the young half-poets,

                        And survived

                             the hard rain

                             that never fell.

                        We had the key

                             to freedom’s gate

                             and pawned it,

                             in our undue haste

                             to avoid becoming pawns…

                        Already we have lived too long,

                             and sit here

                             wondering where to go and what to be,

                        In a world whose purpose

                             has passed us by.

                        Heaven fell;

                             and we didn’t notice

                        Until the angels cast us out

                             and made the world their own.

                             *                  *                 *

                        To you who now rule the future,

                             I give you three clues:

                             Faith without reason

                             An empty belly

                             And a broken key.

                        Take the torch and pass it on,

                        For you in turn must become as we.

                        THREE SAD THINGS

                        A homeless homing pigeon;

                        A tuneless humming bird;

                        An old and foolish guru

                        Whose words are never heard.

A ST. VALENTINE'S DAY POEM

(Apology for)

A ST. VALENTINE’S DAY POEM

 

Do you remember the time

You laughed when I said

I would send you a Valentine?

And you said “Write me a St. Valentine’s Day poem.”

Well here is such a poem

Any greater pen would spurn,

But surely any lesser ink

Would fail before these lines:

Today

Here

Now

I want you, girl

To be my Valentine.

Do you remember the time

You laughed when I said

You were beautiful? Well you are,

And here is a poem to prove it.

For poems are not written about plain women

And poems are not written by beautiful men

Especially at Valentide.

NON COSMOS MENTIS

                    NON COSMOS MENTIS

                    (She would not have me)

I will tell you a secret              I do not bring light, but
from my solitude                      a lesser darkness;
not only did they deny             the denial, the crucifixion, the way,
the truth, but also                     the light which illumines
the denial…                             the darkness -
be with me Lord,                     in the midst of my comforters,
when evening’s finger             points to me,
folds me in,                              and darkness hides me;
forgetting                                 nothing...
that only eternity                     She would not have me
lasts forever.                           She would not have me

                                                She would not have me.

Ermintrude

Speak not to me of Ermintrude,
My uneventful lover.
She was insufficiently rude -
I had to get another.