Hero of Midnight


20

November is a solemn sentence
on my tongue, the fabric of scarcity
an interior intonation of the hermitage
before the hibernation, and winter
where so many soul-thoughts drift

like empty shells of the past
and i know from previous experience
the freedom freeze as soon as
your dignity is taken away, like
trying to live in poverty or to exist

when lovers and friends have abandoned you
for whatever superficial reason
that move people to be disloyal
the stern voice of necessity has never
been louder for me, in my psyche

where economic conditions have become
how the bell tolls for me, and how
the labour inflicts me with dread
longer and later, as if, the lilacs
on the other side might never open

In late march or april when the fever
rejoices after the long-cold suffering
the rich earth purified by her rituals
might once again know the candor of spring
and the touch of sunlight, not to be seen
for these harsh weeks, the depths of solitude.

Bouquet on an old wave of silence


19

I sang into an invisible Country
I called it Home, breathless
For the future and poetry
I sang a canto in stuttered
Hope, that filters through
Years full of sunshine
Pillars of sacrifice and people
People who unknowingly
All contributed to the same aim
In a harmony of music and energy
I sang into a moment, that kept
On being timeless, a transcendent breach
Into the clean air of worlds
I stood and sang with the voice
Of Silence, I wanted the diamond
Pivot bright to bathe me in
Transparency and wonder
So that the luminous pages
And on my knees, I might
Whisper something of a lost divinity
I sang for all the creatures who had died
For principles, ideals, survival.

Self-Portrait of a Poet


18

I wish I was twenty and in love with life
And still wanted to change
To change the world
Inwards, old brain!

Who has the heart of a universe
There is no adversity
Only the opportunities
Given by evolution

Roses and blooming
For those who see God
In created things
I wish I was twenty and

So ready to make a self-portrait
That had dreams beyond ambition
And still wanted to love
The goodness of this world

Onwards, fantastic spirit!
We have lives for this yet
And hours, and days, and years.

Of Love


17

Love is not something
Between a man and a woman
But the greater act
Of feeing alive
Of giving back to creation

All it has given to you
Do you ever admit the gift?
Love is not, the
Securing of a mate
Or the wonder of breeding

It is also to improve
The town where you live
The humanity of your people
And to protect those who cannot
Defend themselves, the nature

And the world which has
Given so much to our species
Love is not something
To hoard, dramatize, victimize oneself with
But the place where energy

Is best shared, where hope is
Best revealed, and where the
Eyes of morning can renew
Their tutelage that life is good

And love is that pure revelation
Of this Earth’s goodness
Whatever that may be
Love has nothing to do with sex
Or the illusion of security.