Poetry - 6th decade

Knowing

(Two to the Fifth Power)

Can we be together when we are apart

And so share our loneliness and love?

Remember when to meet then part we flew or drove

Ourselves?  Are we closer now, or was that start

Love's nova noon, when burst a star's fierce heart?

Just now, is it more like hand and glove

And the comfortable warmth of a friendly cove,

Good to rest in, easy to find on the chart?

Each time we pull away to join once more, we yearn,

Rekindle our desire by drawing back -- or trying.

Joined again, we soar, then return to earth

Urgently craving to crave, burning to burn

Once more.  Love, born in loneliness’ sweet dying,

Yet lives, each death continual rebirth.

Overpathed Fragment

The first few times I tried to read his mind, I didn't get very far --

The fine print, all those characters coming and going, all those long stretches when nothing happened, just interminable repetitious description --

But I kept trying to read it.  I knew there was a wealth of useful information there, if only I could stay awake long enough to find it,

But it was just too much for me.  The contents were so complicated that each time, sooner or later, I'd feel my head swimming.

There was just one thing to do.  I hated to do it, but it had to be done.

I simplified his mind.  There was less there - of course - afterward, but at least I could make use of it.

 

                          It’s been a little game of tenderness and tears,

                          The little time from morning’s nap to evening’s,

                          Not worth to make a childish fuss about;

                          Who cares they took your bestest doll away

                          Or made you wear the ugly shoes to play?

                          So think about your day, prepare yourself for sleep,

                          And listen to the tale you half believe.

                          This morning was too many years ago

                          For you to hear again inside your head

                          What Mommy said to coax you out of bed.

                          Inside, you’re tiny, though you pull on grown-up clothes.

                          With thoughts that flutter like bright butterflies,

                          You draw or paint your fancy colored dreams,

                          Or sing in sweetly silly baby verse,

                          Your hopes, although by now you’ve learned much worse.

                          Good noon, good afternoon, good night, my sweet.

                          Each time has had its special, secret joys,

                          For every child, the special, secret toys.

                          Though not the best, or most, of course Mom loves you

                          And loves each other of her children, too.

                          If now your head hums hollow with forgetting,

                          Don’t let yourself be scared of your new sleep.

                          Defy the yawning nightmare gate ahead

                          Tell Momma as she kisses you Good Night:

                          “Tonight I’ll sleep without the bedroom light.”

Ulysses and Nausicaa

"But, my dear, you will have to live after I die."

"I don't expect to die, and I’ve decided you won't

"Either."  "Thank you."  " . . . Where were you yesterday?"

"Before you were born?"  "Oh, come on.  I wish you would try

"For a change to be serious with me.  You know I don't

"Like to be treated like a child."  "Um."  "What did you say?"

"I said 'Um.'  I meant I would have to think about that."

"Well, where were you?"  "I visited my lover."  "How is she?"

"Fine. . . .  I have a surprise for you:

"I've decided I don't care if you get fat,

"So here's a candy for you.  I brought it with me

"From my lover's house."  "Is that an old love, or is she new?"

"Very new.  Born just yesterday evening."  "How could

"You visit her before she was born?"  "It was her fetal charm."

" . . . Uly, what sort of diamond did you stare at?  Was it flawed?

"How did you bare it to the light?  Was there some

"Magic spell that protected you from harm?

"When you saw me, were you scared?  Awed?"

"I'm scared now.  You shouldn't change roles like that.

"You shouldn't break the rhythm."

"Nothing rhymes with rhythm."

"That's quite a farfetched rhyme."  "From beyond the universe."

"Will you stay like this for a while?  I think I'm going to be impotent."

"No.  I won't let you.  My dear, you will have to live before you die."

Love Is Wherever You Look for It

Suppose that a star should uncover her face

And light up the sky with her blush;

Suppose that the night would embrace us here

As we stroll through her intimate hush,

And we entered her secret feminine place

She never before let us near:

Then, in the darkness where all things live

Swollen and throbbing with love,

The ground ashudder with passionate fire,

The moon softly moaning above,

Would there be any caress we could give

To join in her dance of desire?

Yet -- yet love is near,

Though the night hides her passion, though the stars remain veiled;

In our dreams, in our hearts, in the air,

Underneath our belief that we've failed,

Behind anger and under our fear,

The chorus sings joy everywhere:

We two are part of the night, as we yearn;

We, too, are one with the night, and return.

Homeless*

Love, when music breaks my heart

Or sunrise kisses the town awake,

I miss the brews you used to make;

I miss the bruise you used to make.

The coffee we would share in bed

Before we shared the bath's delight

Would start our juices flowing right,

Would start our juices-flowing rite.

I gulp my coffee now at stands

Where loneliness is what one buys

Avoiding other lonely eyes,

Avoiding other lonely I's,

Forgetting thorns, recalling roses,

Dreaming of love's ecstatic pleasure,

Remembering my heart's lost treasure;

Remembering, my heart's last treasure.

---

* http://www.poetry.com/Publications/display.asp?ID=W6012255&BN=999&PN=1.  Copyright 2002, Herbert George Gerjuoy.