From time to time a poem

Winter Blue

These winter nights are darkness
Under skies of frostbit black, rolled back;
Stars shimmer out to nothing
Through quick-lost ghosts and vapour trails;
Evaporate in evening
Vacant aeon holding all that's left as one:

Those clear blue eyes are shining
Delicate as dim-remembered daybreak;
Slim elegance of kindness
Bow-bent forms which sway and softly settle;
Under one pure colour flying,
Sailing, sinking in the still encircling oceans.

From the Agamemnon


We learn nothing save through suffering,
The pain of wisdom falls drop by drop upon the heart in sleep
Against our will comes wisdom,
The Grace of the Gods is forced on us.

~Aeschylus

Picture from
http://merlkir.deviantart.com/art/Battle-of-Troy-38399862

Translation by Wescli

The Shell

Cultivate an emptiness
Hollow out the heart
Scoop the messy substance
Leave only the shell.

Sea-sounds' slow reverberation
Air pressure and modulation

Ping and resonate when knocked
Crack and smash when hit
Collapse with every heartbeat
Every smile a split.

Sculpture

The idea which keeps me up at night
Formed from darkness, unseen feeling pressed
Against myself, to seek for clarity
To push and press and rend and crack
With rusting tools expose every slim curve
And line and hair and unseen detail dreamt.

The sculpture is open to me, more open
Than any canvas. It is for me to measure
Touch and probe and check and that is why I hesitate;
One slip, one wayward hammer blow
Could shatter all that I expose, and reduce
The slender marble form to scattered rubble.

The sculpture smiles with knowing eyes
She sees my nervous heart and knows it better
Than perhaps I ever will. But still
We spend those twilit hours locked
In mutual exploration, chisel twisting
Through gentle peals of metal meeting rock.

One day the sculpture will grow tired
Of sitting in this dusty room, her legs
When fully carved from the blank stone
Will send her out to find another sculptor,
Perhaps another novice to begin again
Another patient loving excavation.

Until then I try to make myself forget,
And fix on just these cherished sleepless
Hours of silent joyful conversation.

Up

Green giants couch a cage
Perfect prison pressed shut by thick air
Glowing footprints lead away, but
We cannot go
Blind and blank and blinking

We breathe
And then,
Up.

Up past ancient enemies
Moss-hearted, thick and furred
Up through a garden of talons and claws
Relief with every perfect stretching wingbeat
We climb, and climb.

The sky is open here
And past the clouds the sun is always out
We gaze down on emerald forests
Deserts, mountains, oceans.

In the silent grey of morning
I watched the mist surround
Where rain had once been falling
New puddles circled round
I grew to love reflections
I learned to crave the cold
For, long ago she wandered
The sun that shone so bold
Frozen here for ages
In ice encrusted fields
Loneliness there sheltered
From all the pain it yields
Numb and left alone
I finally grew tired
Surrendered to the sadness
And all that it inspired
So mourning for the sun
I set out for the stars
To seek another out
That might return to Mars
An atmosphere of wonder
Vast oceans filled with love
The lush green grasses flowing
Past earthen memories of
The days we lived here happy
The dreams we gave to light
The pleasant wish of lovers
That whispered in the night
And now the world has turned
The sun does crest the hill
The dry air fills with moisture
The basins slow do fill
I wait for perfumed grasses
For ocean sound to play
I smile anticipating
The waves that soon will sway
I close my eyes and listen
For her voice to fill my ears
And know that I will lay there
Though it take many years
I found my peace in knowing
Our city yet remains
Beneath the crust of wanting
Beyond the longing plains…

PACHYCEPHALOSAURUS

Among the later dinosaurs
Though not the largest, strongest,
PACHYCEPHALOSAURUS had
The name that was the longest.

Yet he had more than syllables,
As you may well suppose.
He had great knobs upon his cheeks
And spikes upon his nose.

Ten inches thick, atop his head,
A bump of bone projected.
By this his brain, though hardly worth
Protecting, was protected.

No claw or tooth, no tree that fell
Upon his head kerwhacky,
Could crack or crease or jar or scar
That stony part of Paky.

And so he nibbled plants in peace
And lived untroubled days.
Sometimes, in fact, as Paky proved,
To be a bonehead pays.

~ Richard Armour


I might be too old to have a favorite dinosaur.. but this one is it and I found the poem when I was about 23 or so.

In the Temple the knight kept his guard,
though this task was very hard.
He could hear the voices from the deep,
like the songs of a funeral dream.

The sirens cast their net with pride,
trying to seduce the noble knight;
there he kept to the painted walls,
never letting his voice be stalled.

Over time there was a toll
on the knights eternal soul.
He dallied with the temptations long,
listening to the evil song.

Yet there he stood without a care
in the dark where no one dared,
keeping long to the vigil's call,
the knight was not seduced to fall.

The Temple is lit over long
with the fire of the song,
the song that issues through the night
to the souls that never die.

Sages

Those dim candle-lit chambers
Within ourselves, secluded
Where the old sages sit

Ringed in darkness, meditating
They speak without words
Know without needing to see

You led me to another room
Where, gazing at the dancing flame
In silent thought I found myself.

Shadow

In my dreams we’re always alone
Hands touch, escape
Curl into shadow,
Bolt and run, and run forever
Slipped from every scene together

Back behind the world
The corners of abandoned lots and
Ghost town alleyways

I chased you to the end of the garden
Dew on our bare feet
And we stood there
Facing each other

At six paces
Morning sun not over the hedgerow
Smoke in our breath
Our hands were empty

Sometimes I wonder
When or how we died
It’s gone, and I’m glad.

In my dreams we’re always alone
Lost, unafraid
Stretched long in sunlight;
I will carry you with me
Wherever I go.

Perhaps I am a Jedi Seer,
although to me this isn't clear.
But I put my
visions
into rhyme,
at times oblique,
sometimes sublime.
Sometimes
the visions
do come true,
maybe offer
what we must do.
Sometimes
they come to naught
and hold some things
that should not be taught.
Other things
that I have seen
may yet
be those
that have
yet to be.

Of course
there are those
that think
me the fool,
that I never
see the truth.
But although
we may feel
a certain way,
the truth remains
like a bright blue day.

The Moon

The stars about the lovely moon
Fade back and vanish very soon,
When, round and full, her silver face
Swims into sight, and lights all space

-Sappho

Black Ink

The swimming swirl of
Lines
Curving inwards
Shapes that shifting join

Vetiver scent, leads
South
And far, far west
Over oceans you wait

Smouldering wood, burnt
Black
Wet leaves pile as
Futures pull closer

Eclipse

One glimpse blinding, turning slowly
Gently shift each other's axis
Share totality's alignment
We will merge and flood the sky

You are like the heavens to me
Full of strange and distant wonder
I will fill my heart with silver
Radiate a golden light


Diamond ring as birds fall silent
Every feathered heartbeat stops
And the moment stretches, timeless, endless
Lost


The wide earth has become smaller
From our sudden cosmic distance
Though it's newly filled with wonder
Sometimes shadows fall at night

But there's promise in that blackness
Like the vastness of the cosmos
Mirroring, magnetic, driving
Perfect in each other's eyes.

Follow Your Dreams

If while pursuing distant dreams
Your bright hopes turn to gray,
Don't wait for reassuring words
Or hands to lead the way.

For seldom will you find a soul
With dreams the same as yours.
Not often will another help you
Pass through untried doors.

If inner forces urge you
To take a course unknown,
Be ready to go all the way,
Yes, all the way alone.

That's not to say you shouldn't
Draw lessons from the best;
Just don't depend on lauding words
To spur you on your quest.

Find confidence within your heart
And let it be your guide.
Strive ever harder toward your dreams.
And they won't be denied

Bruce B. Wilmer

Satellite

Out above the pier last night
A single cloud flew past in silence
Lit by moonlight, and below I learnt
There is no need to try

The sea that stretches outward
Ever redefines its borders
Without effort, just the push and pull
Of gliding silver light

Silent satellite, we’re dancing
Know, maintain the perfect distance
And in time, your labours ended
Fall back into my arms.

Whole heart opening
Orient to the source
Accept the offer

Sunset

Overhead the birds meet sunset
Ephemeral silhouettes in flight
I’m sorry I can’t be as they are
Light as air and free to fly.

Every glint reflecting daylight
Life I lived for twelve dead years
And what can that mean anymore?
And more, what do you feel and fear?

So out across that endless sea
I watch, and wait, and pace the shore
The pain, it also comes in waves
Lurching, rolling back once more.

Night falls, I swim into darkness
My sole hope to find you there
An island, in this shifting silence
A final, fatal breath of air.

I create this darkness
I have allowed these tears
When faced with these decisions
I summon my own fears

Bound by my own creation
Held in the chains I link
When I grow sick of fighting
I allow myself to sink

Then broken bits of anger
Mask a deeper rooted pain
Only I can stop it
But I give in again

The Quest

Tell me that you'd like to be,
a druid, knight or perhaps a seer.
Something maybe that will steer us clear
of the darkness of our fears.
And if a knight or bard you be,
on a quest you must leave.
To find the Temple in a dream,
that can set the world free,
free of the dark one's plans,
perhaps it can be found
in a sunken land.
Or perhaps on another plane,
where eternal lights never fade.

I cannot tell you more than this,
as quests demand the most of lists,
lists of men and women, too,
guided by the rules of virtue.
So this perhaps is the greatest clue
to show you what you must do.