NOTE: The Declaration of Independence ends thus:
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
How do we stand up – we, who came of age
in eras that did not require our blood?
How do we march today, who did not march
when liberty depended on the ranks
of righteous soldiers? What can we proclaim
to loyal sons and daughters who descried
the certain cancers lurking in our core?
We honor those who fought so we could live
by living well: by trying to be good
and honest stewards; offering this soil
to every seedling; shoring up the kind,
and leaving perfidy no place to hide.
May every martyr on the other side
who came too early to a hero’s grave
regard my life, and tell Eternity,
“This is how I would have lived myself.”
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Numbskeller
If Helen Keller
can see and hear in Heaven,
she is exhausted by
the endless horizon of clouds,
and she is addled by the prattle
of prayers and oaths.
She who wrung meaning
from silence, and tilled
the stubborn soil of darkness
is acquainted,
now and forever,
with distraction.
She is numb,
and Heaven for her
is not Heaven at all.
can see and hear in Heaven,
she is exhausted by
the endless horizon of clouds,
and she is addled by the prattle
of prayers and oaths.
She who wrung meaning
from silence, and tilled
the stubborn soil of darkness
is acquainted,
now and forever,
with distraction.
She is numb,
and Heaven for her
is not Heaven at all.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Ace of Hearts is Proud of Me Tonight
She touches me with clammy palms,
and smiles at me with crooked teeth.
The Ace of Hearts is proud of me tonight:
I wink; I blow a little kiss.
No one can get me out of this,
no one can show me where to step,
but I am glad to be alive,
and I will not take back a word.
She worries me with withered looks.
She pardons me with martyr’s smile.
The Ace of Hearts is proud of me tonight:
I left no ring around her life.
Each one has left his best advice –
I’ll never get to read it all,
but I am glad to be alive,
and I will not take back a word.
She stood on summits made of glass,
and gnawed a fingernail for luck.
The Ace of Hearts is proud of me tonight:
I let her win, and said good night.
And if they ask me what I think
as they prepare to spring the trap,
I’ll say I’m glad to be alive,
and I will not take back a word.
and smiles at me with crooked teeth.
The Ace of Hearts is proud of me tonight:
I wink; I blow a little kiss.
No one can get me out of this,
no one can show me where to step,
but I am glad to be alive,
and I will not take back a word.
She worries me with withered looks.
She pardons me with martyr’s smile.
The Ace of Hearts is proud of me tonight:
I left no ring around her life.
Each one has left his best advice –
I’ll never get to read it all,
but I am glad to be alive,
and I will not take back a word.
She stood on summits made of glass,
and gnawed a fingernail for luck.
The Ace of Hearts is proud of me tonight:
I let her win, and said good night.
And if they ask me what I think
as they prepare to spring the trap,
I’ll say I’m glad to be alive,
and I will not take back a word.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
One Woman; Three Sonnets.
For once I know exactly where I am
as God dispels the shadow from the Sun,
O'Clarity, sez I, you will not fail:
today's the day you tell her she's the one.
"A Woman is the Heaven You Must Leave." -
this vain lament wreaks havoc on my soul,
but when I say your name, it gives me peace,
and when I hear your voice, it makes me whole.
My days draw out as yawns, and have no form.
My years become dry instants for the flame,
but by this light, I'm learning to be warm,
and in this warmth,I'm possible again.
You may not love me, but at least you'll know:
I'll love you better through the ebb and flow.
Twice now, I've set those fire-enslaving jewels
too deep into the plaster of my crown
until they fell into my matted hair
and settled in the furrow of my brow.
When time comes for refreshment,let me pour:
I trickled brand-new blood on borrowed lace;
I ladled good ole blood on barroom floors,
and drizzled tears from my beleaguered face.
Now, let me cleanse it all with birthday coats
ridiculous upon this naked frame:
Now, let me clear this air of empty oaths,
and bind the burning wounds from former flames.
You may not love me, but at least you'll know:
I'll love you better through the ebb and flow.
One third was spent and much too long at toil.
One third was spent in pleasure's cold embrace.
One third spent weak inside exhaustion's coil
before the day I first beheld your face.
If you had no idea where I have been,
then I would keep it so forever, true -
but I would go through all of it again
If all of it would put me here with you:
I'd watch you as you slowly drew the shade,
and hold you as we lay ourselves to sleep,
O'Clarity, sez I, enshrine the day
when heaven granted you a soul to keep.
You may not love me, but at least you'll know:
I'll love you better through the ebb and flow.
as God dispels the shadow from the Sun,
O'Clarity, sez I, you will not fail:
today's the day you tell her she's the one.
"A Woman is the Heaven You Must Leave." -
this vain lament wreaks havoc on my soul,
but when I say your name, it gives me peace,
and when I hear your voice, it makes me whole.
My days draw out as yawns, and have no form.
My years become dry instants for the flame,
but by this light, I'm learning to be warm,
and in this warmth,I'm possible again.
You may not love me, but at least you'll know:
I'll love you better through the ebb and flow.
Twice now, I've set those fire-enslaving jewels
too deep into the plaster of my crown
until they fell into my matted hair
and settled in the furrow of my brow.
When time comes for refreshment,let me pour:
I trickled brand-new blood on borrowed lace;
I ladled good ole blood on barroom floors,
and drizzled tears from my beleaguered face.
Now, let me cleanse it all with birthday coats
ridiculous upon this naked frame:
Now, let me clear this air of empty oaths,
and bind the burning wounds from former flames.
You may not love me, but at least you'll know:
I'll love you better through the ebb and flow.
One third was spent and much too long at toil.
One third was spent in pleasure's cold embrace.
One third spent weak inside exhaustion's coil
before the day I first beheld your face.
If you had no idea where I have been,
then I would keep it so forever, true -
but I would go through all of it again
If all of it would put me here with you:
I'd watch you as you slowly drew the shade,
and hold you as we lay ourselves to sleep,
O'Clarity, sez I, enshrine the day
when heaven granted you a soul to keep.
You may not love me, but at least you'll know:
I'll love you better through the ebb and flow.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Fits and Starts
If there were words
that shattered
locks and chains
or penetrated
any earthly gloom,
the poets
and the scientists
would vie
to isolate them
in a petri dish -
or press them
in a new anthology.
If there were words
that killed
bacteria
or rendered
any vicious growth
benign,
Poetry and science
would combine
that much more quickly,
and to antiquate
both surgery
and rosy platitudes.
If words were seeds
robust enough
to grow
on any field,
in any earthly clime -
if they were sown
wherever hunger lived,
in time to fill
each empty belly,
we
would scorn to ask
the planter's pedigree.
Words educate
the body, mind,
and soul -
completely,
or in subtle
fits and starts.
Words will root out
remedies enough
to vanquish
misery,
and forestall
death -
or help us
to wrest
victories
from
both.
that shattered
locks and chains
or penetrated
any earthly gloom,
the poets
and the scientists
would vie
to isolate them
in a petri dish -
or press them
in a new anthology.
If there were words
that killed
bacteria
or rendered
any vicious growth
benign,
Poetry and science
would combine
that much more quickly,
and to antiquate
both surgery
and rosy platitudes.
If words were seeds
robust enough
to grow
on any field,
in any earthly clime -
if they were sown
wherever hunger lived,
in time to fill
each empty belly,
we
would scorn to ask
the planter's pedigree.
Words educate
the body, mind,
and soul -
completely,
or in subtle
fits and starts.
Words will root out
remedies enough
to vanquish
misery,
and forestall
death -
or help us
to wrest
victories
from
both.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friends Don’t Let Friends
Friends don’t let friends cruise
along the razor-sharp shores
that hug the porous borders
of Lower Agoraphobia.
Friends don’t let friends lose
the petty cash or the private stash
in the venial casinos
of New Babylonia
Friends don’t let friends know
what friends don’t need to know:
and friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends choose
To be hampered by dampers or briers
when the purest desire is to sing
‘round inspiring fires.
Friends don’t let friends bruise
scarred, aching shoulders on boulders
when some timely assistance
might slightly enhance this Resistance.
Friends don’t let friends show
what friends don’t need to show:
and friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends use
cold, moldy towels,
diaphanous cowls, too many vowels
or breakaway trowels.
Friends don’t let friends fuse
restraining enjoiners
to courageous deployment
of outrageous rejoinders.
Friends don’t let friends sow
what friends can’t bear to grow:
and friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends go.
along the razor-sharp shores
that hug the porous borders
of Lower Agoraphobia.
Friends don’t let friends lose
the petty cash or the private stash
in the venial casinos
of New Babylonia
Friends don’t let friends know
what friends don’t need to know:
and friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends choose
To be hampered by dampers or briers
when the purest desire is to sing
‘round inspiring fires.
Friends don’t let friends bruise
scarred, aching shoulders on boulders
when some timely assistance
might slightly enhance this Resistance.
Friends don’t let friends show
what friends don’t need to show:
and friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends use
cold, moldy towels,
diaphanous cowls, too many vowels
or breakaway trowels.
Friends don’t let friends fuse
restraining enjoiners
to courageous deployment
of outrageous rejoinders.
Friends don’t let friends sow
what friends can’t bear to grow:
and friends don’t let friends go.
Friends don’t let friends go.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Saw Mill Sonnet #1
Oh, Great Perhaps, let me be unafraid
of blind spots, thorny patches, and the stars.
Thank you for things exactly as they are:
Revealed by dawn, or lurking in the shade.
Oh, Great Perhaps, let me be unafraid
of black ice, as-yet-unrequited scars,
pernicious felons dressed as avatars,
and treasure trickling out of bloodied spades.
You are the only deity for me,
and I will send you purple flowers of praise:
for you alone know when to let me be,
and when to send the chilly winds of grace.
Deliver me from pallid normalcy,
and I will live forever every day.
of blind spots, thorny patches, and the stars.
Thank you for things exactly as they are:
Revealed by dawn, or lurking in the shade.
Oh, Great Perhaps, let me be unafraid
of black ice, as-yet-unrequited scars,
pernicious felons dressed as avatars,
and treasure trickling out of bloodied spades.
You are the only deity for me,
and I will send you purple flowers of praise:
for you alone know when to let me be,
and when to send the chilly winds of grace.
Deliver me from pallid normalcy,
and I will live forever every day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
