Bonfire, by the light of flickering flame,
What scorching tenets you reveal of fate!
Sagas of past friendship and faded fame
Your passionate refrains articulate!
Earnestly you sing tales of ancient folk;
Verse of hearth for a hundred thousand years,
Born on tongues in distant times and places.
I glimpse late firesides in the rising smoke.
In the embers and ashes, through my tears,
I can almost see the somber faces.

Now We Wonder

One night we waltzed together by starlight,
In the vision of a celestial trance,
Beneath the fires many million years bright
Of faraway days long arrived by chance.
In earnest want we vowed never to die.
For a while we believed in forever,
Banishing thoughts otherwise as impure,
Until the rising sun took back our sky,
Threatening our starry ties to sever.
Now we wonder how long day might endure.

Back into the Black Hole

Cosmic dust is what we are,
Remnants of an ancient star,
Drifted to a distant shore,
To dance a while in sunlight,
Then slip away into the night,
Back into the black hole once more.

Island in the Sea

On an ocean of cosmic fury lost,
In vast waters never charted before,
Floundering in waves of fear, tempest tossed,
The sailor searched in earnest for a shore,
For sustenance in endless evermore,
Ever looking to the horizon’s lee
For space more kind than that already crossed,
Praying to find rest in eternity -
Somewhere in the distance, an island in the sea.

A splendid woman in a dream appeared,
In flowing robes of alabaster dressed,
Trembling, as nigh unto a swoon, she neared,
Her hands in prayerful supplication pressed.
With a voice of clear resonance she blessed,
With one love, on her lustrous lips, all things.
Pressing onward, by darkness unoppressed,
She praised the light that hope to despair brings,
Floating gracefully as a wish on angel wings.

Radiant was her face at breaking dawn,
As the glittering of a thousand jewels!
And eyes of turquoise and emerald pools,
That changed hue with the sky they gazed upon!
And black velvet hair lush around her wreathed!
Her brow was crowned with a halo of gold!
Her shapely waist in jasper and jade sheathed!
Her fair countenance by mere words untold!
She was goddess to a paradisiacal fold!

Full on her cheeks shone the adoring sun,
Who bowed low, though a proud and pompous king,
As full she curtsied in her subtle pun -
Free from all the darts a fire god could fling.
She pursed her sweet jasmine-scented lips,
Soft-set beneath a lavender-lace veil,
Whispering well to newly-arrived ships,
Raising with her breath a gossamer sail,
To receive all wayward wanderers without fail.

She spread forth a table of spearmint leaves,
Covered with a cloth of rosemary sprigs,
And set out pillows of barley straw sheaves,
And brought platters of honey-centered figs,
And clusters of grapes glistening with dew,
And tangerines with aromatic rinds,
And myriad dishes aligned in que.
How with a language germane to all minds,
She opened her door to refreshment of all kinds!

Then she danced, O how with exceeding feat!
She danced to the tune of the sailor’s lute,
To the twinkling stars’ illustrious beat,
To the meteor’s irascible flute!
And heaven about her, though deaf and mute,
Changed colors to the blend of her heart’s choice!
And the sun felt his jealous love complete!
And the sea and the sky sang with one voice,
Until all lonely hearts were lifted to rejoice.

Once a fearful-eyed child sat on on her knee,
Concerned with heavy thoughts of coming night,
But was soon comforted to some degree,
By her full intervention in his plight.
She spoke of concepts throughout history,
On which a lost soul could somewhat depend.
She said she was not sure of wrong or right.
But she vowed to remain a faithful friend,
And hold him against her bosom until the end

The traveler knelt before her gentle feet,
And rested his sleepy head in her lap.
Confident that his journey was complete,
He prepared his soul for a restful nap,
While she hummed a comforting lullaby,
Of tides and undercurrents and destiny.
And the sad soul accepted with a sigh,
How a sailor is truly blessed to be
Safe at home, on an Island in the sea.

Tell Me

Tell me, does your sun still shine?
Tell me, is your sky clear blue?
Tell me, are you feeling fine?
Tell me, does your soul stand true?

From your point of view, in your clearest mind,
On the highest point of Earth’s lowly land,
Is there anything that keeps you from space?
In your estimate, in the thoughts you find,
From the exact time and place where you stand,
Tell me, does the wind blow fresh on your face?

You Can Never Go Back

I walk along an empty road,
Remembering proverbs I was told,
Long ago, by some nameless sage,
Of fading light and passing age.

You can never go back.
You can only ask why.

I tried to find the track
That once led to your door;
A time and place I knew before.
But you were not home.

Those days are through.
This day is done.

How lonely it is to be alone!
What words might I use to atone?

Through my scattering thoughts I roam.

I watch the sleepy sun
Taking the light from the sky,
Closing my eyes with the final beam,
To all that I ever knew.

I wonder if it was all a dream.

Fading Alone

Darkness traces the lines of my forehead,
With shadows draped before these fading eyes
As sins that no absolution might shed,
Nor penance while in this mortal disguise.
I plead guilty to the crime of being,
To the city beyond my windowpane,
With a blank gaze silently decreeing
The candlelight of all souls lit in vain,
Seeking resolution through amity
Beyond the glass reflection of my face,
(If only my loneliness to postpone)
Watching the beacons of humanity -
Like dying embers in a common space,
Burning together, yet fading alone.

Alone

I hear a distant freight train’s tone,
Awake, another night on my own,
In a strange bed, in a place unknown,
Alone.

Outside the transient wind throats
A sad and ghostly moan.
And I listen, understanding the notes,
Alone.

I recall days of merry revelry,
When butterflies danced and sun shone,
When I did not know what it meant to be
Alone.

I envision friendly faces,
When joy was reaped and camaraderie sown,
When I dwelt in places, where only time his line traces,
Alone.

Now I witness the wages of a wanton waste of song,
Given over to eternity’s heartless drone.
I wish that I could right my every wrong,
Alone.

I wish the night would speak to me,
Appear to me in flesh and bone,
So that I would not have to be
Alone.

Hey, You

Hey, you,
Out there in the light,
Making beacons in the night,
Can you hear me?

Hey, you,
Out beyond the lies,
With no burns upon your eyes,
Can you lead me?

Hey, you,
Out beyond the fright,
Wielding all that might,
Will you hold me?

Riding Fire

Come with me to deepest space.
Hand in hand we’ll roam.
If our love burns anyplace,
We’ll always be at home.

In a fit of delight,
Through clover black as sable,
Silver horses race down moonbeams,
Roaming endless fields afar.

Satin rabbits prance like fireflies.
Ashen ladies dressed in silk,
Strew bright flowers at our table,
As we dance across the night.

We will lie on a star.
We will drink cosmic milk.
We will fly on our dreams,
Riding fire across the skies.

I Muse Away

I muse away, day after day.
I pray for god beyond the desert track.
I’m not really sure just what to say -
Not really sure if I’ll ever get back.

In the end, I must depend
On my maker as my friend,
Or die of thirst in a foreign land,
As I quench my want with burning sand,
Making wishes to mirages on the way,
Musing away, day after day.

Poets Who Walk Thy Shore

Thou, forest dark with spruce and larch, high walled,
With weave of needled branches formed to bar
All intrusion, by inquiry appalled,
Bent on wearying eyes that gaze afar
To secrets that lie old on speechless tongues,
Are thy cold altars empty but for night air
Through which thrust purposeless ascending rungs
To the sky, to heaven, or to nowhere!

In thy columned cathedral does there dwell
Some pious priest of yore or mystic lore
Who might with merciful design impart
Life’s meaning or of eternity tell?
Ignore no more poets who walk thy shore,
Whose lips sing mention of thy empty heart,
And breathe human passion through thy silent hall -
Should no soul remain to hear thy trees fall.

I Am Wont

Bodies which through eternal midnight glide,
Riding the tide to alien abodes,
Upon these cobblestones of foreign roads,
In jaunting flights of fancy I abide.
I am wont to think my beginning has an end.

Swallow swooping through the evening eaves,
Oblivion ash upon the damp air,
It grieves me to know the how and the where -
The why and the will that your course so weaves.
I am wont to think that ignorance is my friend.

Leaves clinging feebly to the bosom prong,
Rattling fingers of February’s clutch,
Rabbit terror huddling in my hutch,
I heed wide-eyed the lack of right and wrong.
I am wont to fear the opening of the door.

Omniscient of all matter near and far,
But for the clouds obscuring my mind’s eye,
Supplicating the indifferent sky,
I whisper unto a twinkling star.
I am wont to pray for pith at my atoms’ core.

How Drear!

Brothers and sisters of yesteryear,
Asleep beneath the wistful trees,
Can you feel my mortal fear
Born upon the timeless breeze?

To you beneath those mounds so bleak,
Reposed at your eternal ease,
Sacrosanct in thought I speak,
With heartfelt but unspoken pleas.

How drear to think the worth of breath
Is measured by the girth of death!

Pattaya

Pattaya, I am breathless for your beat,
Sawasdee bleat to my eager ears,
The buzz and drone my spirit hears!
Succor of sweet voice from alley and door,
Warm wave of arms, and tapping feet,
And the measured tread of yearning as she nears!
Passion, my ship has come to shore!

Within my keel I feel a great lurch,
Straight turned to teak, from spine to head,
To the chambers of ardency I am led,
Among doves cooing from their perch
One on each arm round me bade,
Rumors of dancing shadows in the shade,
By the stairway to heaven, steep and tall,
To the rainbow at the end of the hall,
A heartbeat’s pause to look down,
A moment, peering beneath the gown
In angelic liberation of mortal gall.

Beneath a neon moon, I will make my bed,
In a night escarpment of valley and hill,
I’ll unwrap my want in silence deep and still
That one might not hear, like a butterfly’s tread,
The slippery tongue of lust, as it went
Creeping along from belly button to satin tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
For lifetimes it seems I will feel the spell
Of the place and the hour, passion secretly fed,
Till mouth and breast and heart is red,
My stalwart resolve never bent.
In sweltering vales far away,
Where the glistening moon widens for the bay,
Where a sea of pink tempests whirl and float
On the rising tide in a velvet boat.

Yet soon again, keen to cast off and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride,
Carnal pirate, I draw the glitter near.
Rowing hard at the scull side,
Coxswain at the seascape crisp and clear,
Then, impetuous, stamp the earth,
And turn and test the tightening girth,
Worth of my salt, tasting the fruit of my search,
Ringing the bell on the tower of my church!

I raise my mead, and drink my fill.
With pussy cats purring lovingly still,
I pet, I pamper, I yearn!
And lo! as I look, on allurement’s height,
Glimmering, shimmering, gleaming of light,
I kindle my flame again – with joy I burn!
Lingering, I gaze, ‘til full of her sight,
Into a harbor of paradise I turn.
On Walking Street, I walk and walk.
Pattaya, I love you long time, mak mak!

In Resignation to Faith

When lightening
Splits the evening sky,
As yawning jaws of hell
Gape open wide,

When brightening
Rays of Jupiter’s eye
In dawning doom swell
Upon the nocturnal tide,

When frightening
Thunder claps on high,
As a vast awninged bell,
Mere mortals to deride,

When tightening
Terror is spawning nigh,
As taunting demons yell
From the other side,

Then heightening
Despair for my welfare I shall cry,
Pawning to fate wherein I dwell,
And in resignation to faith hide.

Masters of Space

I have stood on the bloodied fields of war,
And gazed upon the legions of peace,
Whose tongues shall cry for liberty no more,
Whose souls no longer seek for death’s release.
I have seen the fallen champions of truth,
Their hearts and minds stripped naked to the pith,
Martyred for the cause of innocent youth,
Freed from ghosts and gods and monsters of myth.
I have heard echoes of revolution,
Complete freedom from punishment or grace,
When high on the peak of evolution,
We proclaim ourselves the masters of space.

When Someday Through Elysium I Ride

Standing here dazed upon this lonely shore,
I gaze at the face of the vast unknown,
My thoughts nought in the universal roar,
My thoughts no more than a meaningless drone
In this ocean of nothing around me.
Fade away, far away, sense of self-worth!
Float upon forever and never cease.
Would that I were free
To rend the boundaries of this finite Earth,
And in eternity find lasting peace!

Were I to meditate a thousand years,
Searching for answers and questions in vain,
Would truth mitigate all my mortal fears,
And my tired mind find some lasting gain -
Knowing the purpose of life and demise?
And comprehending all of why and how,
Sure, with my cup of wisdom brimming full,
Nothing to surmise,
Would I understand much better than now
The potential of an undying soul?

Wink, all-knowing stars, from your high places.
Sing the sweet melodies of paradise.
Unveil the mysteries in your faces.
Sprinkle a twinkling glimmer of advice.
Fervently I would lean my yearning ear
To know what guarded secrets lie in store.
For a glimmer of celestial insight
I await to hear.
With uplifted gaze I humbly implore!
Enlighten me, O omniscient night!

When someday through Elysium I ride,
High upon a steed ethereal bred,
Shall I sheathe the very world at my side,
And wear a crown of sun upon my head?
Shall I bask in honor, glory, and grace,
Finding reality more than I dream,
Finding at last that for which all souls yearn?
To my proper place!
Lead on, usher of the eternal plan!
I am obliged to follow in my turn.

Anubis

Anubis, are you waiting in the shade,
Watchful until the four quarters align,
Impartial until my heart has been weighed?
You, who mortals and gods dare not malign!
I think I see you where the roads divide,
Waiting to part the light and open night
And lead me to where tranquil waters flow!
Guide me onward then, to the other side!
To Osiris with your terrible might!
Then at your direction, westward we go!

Sweet Harlot of Mine

Who would come to you if I were not here
To embrace your beauty in my frail arms,
And lift your black velvet veil’s lace to peer
Passionately at your endearing charms?

Who would feast beneath your bedside table,
As I, in awe of fairness so replete?
Who savor your taste, were I not able -
Ambrosia spread, but no one to eat!

Who would sing to you of your twinkling eyes?
Without me, where would you be, whore divine?
Were it not for me believing your lies,
No one would love you, sweet harlot of mine!

When I Close My Eyes Forever

When I close my eyes forever
To awareness of all I deem real,
All my ties with sensation sever,
And in blackness the pact with fate seal,
When I take as my mate, for better or worse,
Oblivion, whore of being,
Bind my soul to her with a tight tether,
Shall I see our matrimony as a curse,
Or find some consolation seeing
She and I are in that instant together?

We Die Alone

We die alone,
But not lonely.
We shed flesh and bone,
But flesh and bone only.
In your soul you know
That I go where you go,
Where myriads have trod before,
Shod in wonder for evermore,
Clad in the armor of existence,
Basking in eternal persistence,
In a realm of endless deep.
Together we shall sleep
And dream of all we have seen,
Adrift in a stream of silver starlight,
With the fire of all that has ever been
To keep us warm through the long night.

To Bathe in Eternal Rain

Do you fear to be free?
Are you afraid to fly,
To be, but not to be,
To be born as you die,
To bathe in eternal rain,
To wash off this mud,
You, clad in pain,
Imprisoned in flesh and blood!

Heartbeat in Darkness

In the still of night I lie,
Pondering absence of light,
Wondering if when I die,
This shall be my eternal plight.

My heartbeat in darkness beats,
Divulging life in me still.
A metronome of hope entreats
My prayer for a higher will.

On the Highest Plain

That all my mortal strivings are in vain,
Is the aspect of a most bitter bane,
Whose poison all aspirations detain
In a prison of ignorance and pain.

I long to be as my spirit esteems;
Abiding in the concepts of my dreams.

Let tranquillity be my sole refrain -
An eternal sigh that may never wane!
Only joy in existence would remain,
Were I an angel on the highest plain.

Tonight is the Night for Waking

Tonight is the night for waking,
When yesteryear and forever align.
Tonight the seal of sleep is breaking,
And restless souls from darkness shine.

Do you hear the gravestones quaking?
Do you see the glowing light?
Do you feel the ground beneath you shaking?
Behold the glorious sight!

A moment grows nearer,
That no mortal may surmise!
What concept could be dearer
Than the end of all demise?

Tonight is the night for waking,
When existence lies in a trance,
When the dead of life are partaking,
And ghosts come out to dance.

In the Day of No More Days

In the day of no more days,
When flames of thought, high and hot,
Burn the vessel of clay to naught,
And forever in my mind arrays,

In the culminating hour,
When darkness and light share an opinion,
When time loses all dominion,
And death is stripped of power,

When I see beyond eternity,
With eyes of immortal fire,
With the voice of a celestial choir
I shall sing across infinity.

I shall sprout untethered pinions,
Wings of endless space.
With perpetuation as my face,
And seasons as my minions,

Across the sea in countless ships,

I shall sail away from sorrow and pain.
I shall count an immeasurable gain,
With timeless tomorrow at my fingertips,

Embracing fate as my sister,
When love and lovers have become one.
And though I kiss the eclipse of the sun,
My lips shall not blister.

Echos from Atlantis

Take a ride on the cosmic tide,
Out across to the other side,
Where perfection is sustained,
And possibly obtained.

Their books appear in watery guise,
With wisdom of the ancient wise,
And all the many hopes that used to be.

Their echos from the deep arise,
Words voiced before their thoughts’ demise,
And graved upon the memory of the sea.

Twilight tongues of coral caves
Flow forth from never-silent graves,
Lost in the sound of skyward-rushing waves.

Turn your eyes from what is past.
These tales of time but moments last.
The truth, beneath lost fable, buried lies.

The tide ahead flows not behind.
The oceans of a sage you’ll find
Reflected in the farthest-reaching skies.

Within the mists of faith swift fly.
To the heart of Sirius hie.
And think not that your efforts are in vain.

Waste not a single tear to cry,
That Isis save you by and by.
Nor pray that Alantis may rise again.

Heracles’ Final Fancy

Deep in the shady vale of fading day,
Softly pillowed upon the feathered grass,
Heracles mustered his remaining strength,
To gaze beyond his murky mortal mask
At the far winking of the evening star.
There he sought solace for his deep dismay,
And prayed for this infirmity to pass,
For the gods to hear his pleas at long length,
To grant to him one last immortal task,
To occupy a realm where titans are.

A vision of rest came to his mind’s eye,
A garden where a mystical tree grew,
Beneath the lapis lazuli dapple
Of a lofty ceiling of autumn sky,
Where the guardian Hesperides three,
Singing the fall of a serpent he slew,
Hand in hand ringing him, danced gleefully.
And Heracles resigned to ecstasy,
And there partook of a golden apple.

In the Dreams of Many Separate Minds

In a shade of ages, long-ago lost,
We kissed farewell the dust of the first hand.
Upon a chariot of fire we crossed
Into the garden of a newborn land.

In the mud of a primordial field,
Within a shielding fog of ignorance,
We cultivated a marvelous yield,
There, formed more faces of our countenance,

To gaze with a myriad host of eyes
Upon our conquest of the endless sea,
Beneath an ether of numberless skies -
To be as one, yet as many things be.

This is the wisest life we’ve ever known!
What reason misses, omnipresence finds.
Omniscience with spreading roots is grown
In the dreams of many separate minds.

Upon the Buxom Wings of Night

Upon the buxom wings of night,
Cupid flew as the moon might ride.
Arrived a dim nocturnal tide
Of undulating, cloud-swept light,

Upon her skin of pearl white,
Upon her countenance of sheer delight,
Upon her serene station,
In a transcendental revelation.

I found sublime enlightenment
In the cool embrace of the moon.
I partook of her sacrament
In the steam of a torrid swoon.

In a beam of silver elegance,
The worldly mask lifted from my eyes,
And in the spell of a moonlit trance,
I beheld soul beneath her disguise.

Stars and Fireflies

Lo, the twinkling of sparks out in the night!
Glittering gold between the stalks of corn!
Weaving through the rows, closer than before!
Now silver! Now topaz! Now out of sight.

For a while, in darkness we are forlorn.

But soon the beacons are kindled once more!

Shall we measure the distance from this trance?

Whether shooting stars or firefly romance?

Nay! Let us distinguish neither disguise!
Tonight we will dance with stars and fireflies!
Light my fire, most divine fire of my light!
In a night cornfield, dance with me tonight!

Melodious Notes by Moonlight

I knew not thy name, nor for what fair cause
Thou, dryad feathered in thy shadowed lair,
Bid me from my dark meditations pause,
To witness hope throated on the night air.
Soul, who spoke only contentment and peace
Though wind through the cedars whispered of doom,
Blessed be, eternally in thy height!
I praise as my savior, and never cease,
Thee, who cheered so fearlessly from the gloom,
Making melodious notes by moonlight!

Joy Beyond Measure

Will you stay with me?
Will you be my love?
Will you walk the garden at my side,
In a blissful beam abide?

I long to be
Lifted above,
Beyond my tears,
Beyond my fears,

Beyond all mortal care,
Rising into the air
On burning desire,
Where our dreams inspire.

I look to fields afar.
Will you fly there with me,
To any random star,
Where anything can be?

Not yielding to the loss of youth,
We may know one more unfound pleasure,
Beyond the veil of lies and truth -
Perhaps joy beyond measure.

I Am Content with Silence

Observe the vastness of the universe,
The profound idiom of its order.
See the stars shine through inviolate calm,
The wordless drama they nightly rehearse.
Note the sun tracing out heaven’s border,
Daily playing its magnificent psalm.
What measure of sound have I to presume,
These celestial melodies to impeech?
Why break the peace with verbal violence!
For the time I am content with silence,
Until I find a thought worthy of speech.

O Peace of Night

Thou art my love and my longing.
Tis of thee I pine the day long,
Till twilight to thee comes thronging,
And shadows gather for thy song.

While errant sunbeams wander,
As daylight falls off to sleep,
The stars arrive to ponder
Thy fields of infinite deep.

I come to thee for space.
In thee I seek my inner light.
In thee I found my place.
Thou art my love, O peace of night.