Friday 27 February 1998

A Dedication

1998


all that i write
is all that i am
and all i will be
and all that i plan

and right at the core
of all that is me
is a child of the waves
for she set me free

so these poems are hers
i relinquish all claim
and as long as i live
it's her you should blame

:~)




Come Death

1998


come death
come quick
let me pass
give me your tick
i've nothing here
take me away
she is gone
take me i pray



Heaven and Hell

1998


from bottom to top
i've walked the path
and back again
but that's not half
i've been to heaven
now to hell
and here i fear
is where i'll dwell


I threw bread upon the water

1998


I went to the river
and threw bread upon the water
and my dumb dog
dragged it back sodden
and dropped it in my lap

then he shook himself dry
all over my self-contempt
and grinned his dumb grin
as if to say
"it could be worse"


true love lost

1998


There was really only you and I but then the others came
with stars and cards and even friends to douse our vital flame
and though with honour we did walk and truth was in our hearts
it fell in ruin and we are lost and forever now apart

I guess that i am most to blame for patience have i none
and though i tried to quell my heart our love was all undone
now all alone to walk this earth with nowhere i can rest
for you to me are lost it seems and i have failed the test

I'll wait and maybe time will break the bonds that hold you fast
and on some distant future day we'll make another start
On that fine day a call will come or letter in the mail
that all my life i will expect for true love never fails

Again will you and i be one as we were meant to be
and from that day forever more our love will be set free
So love me yet and don't forget what we together shared
for it was ours and ours alone and we were rightly paired

So love me yet and don't forget what we together share
for it is ours and ours alone and I hope you still care


all that's left is dreams

1998


I walk on lonely through this life
a smile upon my face
but in my heart is emptiness
it is a hollow place.

I'll find a way to give to all
what they are sure to lack
but i will never have my peace
and there is no way back.

I have no skill with anything
that has much worth at all
a trickle here or there of words
but then i drop the ball.

I've tried a time or two to find
some love to fill my life
succeeded once in all these years
but she is someone's wife.

A simple friendship innocent
across an ocean wide
of simple thoughts and kindly words
but then the friendship died

For we forgot the world at large
and everything that means
and now we both have lost it all
and all that's left is dreams


Come to me oh Irish

1998


come to me oh Irish and do what you do well
i've hunger for your amber ways and with you i would dwell
i've many reasons good and bad with you to share some time
and you have never let me down but that's true of your kind

so come and make me what i'd be and let me pain forget
and we will up and down a spell - you'll be my best friend yet
i've never known the likes of you to fall below the mark
though emptiness between us both has drowned my vital spark

your heavy crystal friendship often finds me at my best
or worst maybe but that's just half and you provide the rest
i guess that's why i've loved your ways each time we've done our dance
there's nothing that looks quite as good as that which you enhance

so let us do our best to make an effort to forget
and drown our troubled souls with what with you i always get
and so it seems my life will be as well it might or stop
but you my friend will always be, upon my shealth, the top


Hope

1998


my flame i know burns pure and clean
and though i stand alone
i hope that i will find a dream
and not be left as stone

but where to look and why at all
is what i can not stand
for looking will defeat the goal
and love cannot be planned

it takes a while for me to trust
and open up my heart
for what i've had has turned to dust
and torn my heart apart

so love for me takes many years
and even then i quake
for always i've been left in tears
and all my life's at stake

and now again it seems i've lost
and lost far more than hope
for i had found my dream at last
so how then shall i cope?


The sad sad cries of children lost

1998


i heard our children calling
calling in my dream
beseeching me, emploring
demanding that they be

i heard their pain and anguish
i heard their strong demands
then i awoke drenched in their cries
and now i wring my hands

for they are of a future
but one that cannot be
a universe that almost was
made by you and me

and now i know the answer
the meaning of our pain
depression is like prophecy
we see our children slain

a brave new world was made by us
some time there in the past
with every detail it required
eternity to last

then we succumbed to other worlds
to other's lies and fears
and let our dream be shattered
but forgot our children's tears

so while we work to let it go
and lay our love to rest
the sad sad cries of children lost
will be our biggest test


Dinner Alone

1998


the gentle murmur of the voices
a sudden joyous laugh
and over here a rising enthusiasm swamps
for a time
before blending back
into the pleasant din of my kind
I close my eyes and listen for my own voice
amongst the sounds
but any could be mine or none
for i sit here alone

i gaze amidst the faces
the couples, young and old
close and distant
the occasional almost flirtatious contact with the eyes
of another
the smiles and the general gaiety lift me
and soon i'm drifting with the flow
for this is togetherness
as much as it might ever be
for i sit here alone


A lot to sing about

1998

my life has been an endless flow of problems poorly met
and people i have not allowed my heart to not forget
and here now as i see the end not far from where i sit
it comes to me i've let a lot go by and let life slip

So what i do from here on in as i work to the end
will have to be a better go and that's what i intend
i know that if i focus on the things that really count
my life will be a tapestry of actions all devout

for all must die and all we leave are signs that others see
that mark the way to where they might and where they might not be
and better markers left in place will light the path that's true
and i can not believe that there is better I could do

my gift with words i sought it not but so it seems to me
that i have now a purpose that is clear and right and free
of any failing that might make a focus for attack
and so i know that as i walk i needn't watch my back

i've turned the other cheek to those i've suffered from before
and now i find their love emerging even though they're poor
for riches in the heart are really what it's all about
and so my friends there is a path and i am but a scout

so brighten up and hold your head up high as you live on
for you are as a king or poet, filled with power and song
and once you have like me found out that life is really good
you too might seek to spread this news and so it is you should

so spread it wide and feel secure that love is all we need
to make the world a better place and conquer fear and greed
for fear and greed are just the signs that we are full of doubt
and once that doubt is gone there is a lot to sing about


Ho Hum

1998


today i pick myself up
and start again

a friend told me to look to the heavens and smile
and remember those other moments
for memories, unlike dreams, can not be shattered

so i gave up trying
to mend a shattered dream
and i let the broken pieces fall from my grasp

"it is better to have loved" said a poet
yes, i accept that it is

but dreams are the measure of us
and for some
dreams come but once or twice
in a lifetime

ho hum


Offering

1998


the sun in blazing fire torments the drying land
the mountains shrunk in glare seem far away
i wander without reason about a shadowy stand
for what is in my mind i can not say

a small and wispy shadow flits across my sight
but when i look i see there's nothing there
then all at once a vision that fills my eyes with light
has taken me and made me all aware

and in this vision splendid I see a little girl
her hair is dark and so too are her eyes
upon her hand a token - a shining silver pearl
that springs to life and rises to the sky

above me then it hovers and all about my feet
a soft and silver light begins to shine
the girl it seems has vanished into the noon-day heat
and i am all alone with light divine

then all at once a poem that springs into my mind
is there as if the words were cast in gold
and suddenly it's over the vision now behind
and all that's left is this the poem told


if you liked this you might also like "Soul Fire"


Jasmine

1998


"i wondered a while then i wandered away"
these are the words that Jasmine did say
and who is this girl whose words you are told?
well she's my friend and she's 2 years old