It’s the things that aren’t said that hurt the most.
I can hear the tower clock chime from my pillow
It is the only constant I hear.
But even this clock;
I envy the care and attention
it receives for its restoration.
I hope to have its constancy at heart.
Spiritus Sanctus:
‘O Holy Spirit, as the sun is full of light, the ocean full of water,
Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of thee.’
The lights confuse us in the night
Tracking right to left and left to right
Steady beacon constant on the bow
Torch flashing sail; waves on metal plough
All eyes front, gazing at the steady stream
Of fishermen, leisure yachts passing near abeam
Pitch black warrior of steel, cruising twenty knots
Through a minefield of coral reef and sandy spots
In the dead of night watch, that steady light ahead
Lost our nerve, our confidence, woke captain from his bed
Stop all engines, reassess, ignore the fuming Nav
No saving face, or gold of rank, sleeping sailors we have
Keep them safe, secure in racks dreaming of their home
On the bridge the young watchkeeper has eyes like radar dome
It was the year I did execute the perfect come ’round
Aft of the Nottingham, the day before it ran aground
Barstools, beers and lonely cheers
Sideways glances, sound and fears
Top of the loft, corner of the street
Just dropping off, by chance again we meet
Perched high above on a leather bus seat
Looking down on you as sun and horizon meet
Living through pictures on your wall
Passing on paper cranes, love and all
Resonating strings and sings around
Searching for words unspoken sound
Fathom feeling depths unknown
Silence falls like shell shock tone
Rivers of lyrical, satirical rhymes
Flood down the mount of eternal time
A single vase of living water, blooms
Tapped from the source in our living rooms
I didn’t see steal your car
I didn’t wreck your life
I didn’t break your heart
I didn’t want be your wife
I take you as you are
No longer keep a score
In fact, it was you, my friend
Who knocked upon my door.
It is not a situation where
what you emanate
reaches me unchanged,
to reflect what you radiate.
It is the essence of my being
to take in and absorb
the streams of mercy
that flow out from your source;
feed me and make me whole,
make me grow beyond my limits –
strong, broad, I tower over all.
You give your all to me,
I soak up your energy
preoccupied with you
Until the fall..
I hope…
keep yourself from feeling
resentment at my leaving you
here, my dearest.
It is joyous to depart,
do not let sadness taint
the inevitable start
to a “new” day.
Do not hold it against Him,
let comfort cover you
and soften the impact
you feel after free-fall.
It will save you, bruised not broken.
I am nothing but
a haunted house
occupied by a Ghost
that keeps all others out.
I fear it not, for it dispels all fears
– the hate and the fight –
it lets in the light through darkened shutters,
breaks down inhabitable disguise.
I stare into your face
no mask, of self – a trace,
an empty broken shell
awaiting to be whole
and filled with life anew.
No cold, hard, barren ground,
broken fossils incomplete
no slowly sinking mound
weathered turf, carved concrete,
chiselled words standing proud.
Within one heart rests humanity, whole –
my only other hope is you are there
once you too, are grown and old.
—————————————————-
Image source
Swamped by rapids and torrents
sweeping debris downstream
eroding every sandbank
every creature’s home of dreams
pulling on weeds and reeds
that populate the banks
irrigating flood lands
without a word of thanks
Such forces here faced
buried deep in to bedrock
a boulder immersed in waters deep
clear water for the flock
The gushing noise it causes
could illuminate our fears
But rather not still water
growing tepid over years
Such solid rock is moulded
constant force of river wide
smooths out all imperfections
buffs the surface to a shine
no watershed moment could
make a boulder weak
one so vast and solid
made from mountains’ peak
————————————–Photo by Beverly Nguyen
Look! you live in a fortress
with stone walls built up high
the workmanship is old
the roof lets in the sky
there is treasure in the mortar
if it all falls in
the slightest gap a way
for new life to begin
a record of your past
lies hidden here within
the mansion in the sky
is quite unlike these walls
Its Caretaker welcomes you and I
and would never let it fall.
Count the stars of heaven 