POEMS

 

AGAPE AT EROS

​

You are the Nile Delta,

The fertile crescent,

The Song of Solomon,

Incarnate in the present.

 

The geography of your being

Is a biology of belief

That arrives in the night

And leaves like a thief.

 

There’s a price to be paid.

Contradictions abound.

Your armor is thick.

Your logic is sound.

 

A renaissance virgin

Untouched by the few,

With hints of your glory

Confused by the new.

 

A perilous journey

To scale your high walls

With death to the knight

Who falters and falls.

 

A timeless tale,

Archaic but true,

Fades into memory

And lost shades of blue.

 

Cut like a knife,

A memory sweet,

Leaves in the wind,

As you cross the street.

 

 

MISAPPREHENSION

 

The real ideal which fills me with life,

With hope for perfection springing from strife,

Looms ever larger from mother to wife.

 

Relief from perfection absorbing our cares,

We walk and we stumble up the glass stairs

Which present such an obstacle, a fanciful sight

leading from daylight into the night.

 

For night is the place of shadowy creatures without any eyes

who lust for perfection, thriving on lies.

 

Powerful words, missiles of idolatry proclaim our cause.

We search for the hidden places without any pause.

Stumbling ever up the steep slopes of eros

Asking the question of what comes first.

Sensation or feeling, once blest’, twice cursed.

 

Don’t bore me with your fallacy.

All things are possible to the strong, to the seeker

Who believes that the weaker

will find their own way or perish in the attempt.

 

Can’t you see what I’m after, the noise and the laughter,

the gardens of light and perfumes of the night

which blow from the sea

bringing angels to me.

 

Ever closer, running, stumbling, delirious with joy,

My new found companion, my new little toy.

Running in circles we fall to the ground.

We reach out to touch the thing that we’ve found.

 

But we can’t.  Like a snake it slithers away.

Doesn’t know where to go, or know what to say.

Attracted by your thin disguise,

I start the dance of hope and lies.

 

Our origins in time are lost.

We dare not rhyme, or read the cost.

We dare to touch and can’t let go.

Become confused by outward show.

I thought you knew what was best for me.

A thought I lost, drowned in the sea

 

Where dark currents flow and predators feed

My love for you was love in need

Of greed and endless ecstasy

Of boundaries crossed

And love we lost.

 

 

 VENEREAL DIS-EASE

(A Tale of unrequited love)

 

If,

If only,

If only you,

If only you had seen,

If only you had seen what I saw,

If only you had not been,

You would not have been seen.

And I would not have possessed you.

 

If,

If only,

If only I,

If only I had not,

If only I had not looked,

If only I had not looked into your eyes,

And imagined what I thought I saw,

None of this would have happened.

 

Now,

Now you,

Now you are.

Are you not?

But where are you except behind my eyes

And beyond my reach?

 

A long time ago,

You turned away,

Refused to consider, refused to say,

The things which lay within your heart,

The things we needed for love to start.

 

Stillborn,

Transformed into a reclusive yearning.

We were a miracle of one way glass,

of hopeless longing in the past.

Though I can’t see you,

You are still here

Inside me.

I can’t have you

So I created you.

And now you will never,

Ever, leave.

 

Do I possess you?

Or do you possess me?

I no longer know or care.

For though you don’t even know it,

you are always here,

A prisoner of my love

And your neglect.

 

I will never know you.

Your true nature,

Real or ideal

Will remain shrouded.

For beyond my control,

I have formed you to my liking.

And you will remain with me

To the end of time.

 

An act of cowardice or of kindness

That I did not seize the moment?

Without any blame, it remains unclear.

You left me no choice.

But at least you are here.

 

 

 WORSHIP AT BROADWAY AND 50th

​

Outwardly cool, yet I quiver and shake.

Desire swells deep. For perfection I ache.

My brain knows no words.  I stammer and stare.

My breathing is short.  No one can compare.

 

You hold the key to turn up the heat.

Yet here I stand rooted under the street.

The train rumbles in. An inch closer I move.

What is the point?  What is there to prove?

 

Tomorrow I’ll see you.  Tomorrow we’ll meet.

Tomorrow I’ll somehow accomplish this feat.

What gives you this power to cause such unrest?

My heart like a jackhammer inside my chest.

 

Stop after stop, your eye catches mine,

Inflating my vision of failure defined.

Who is this ghost looking over my shoulder

Holding me back as each moment grows colder?

 

Too good, or no good?  I can’t decide.

Making a church of this underground ride.

Never the one for small talk and chatter,

She won’t understand me.  That’s what’s the matter!

 

The train screeches, “Stop!” and the doors open wide.

Her eyes flash impatience as we step outside.

Opportunity lost, invitation implied,

Frozen in time on this underground ride.

 

  

 AN OXYMORON

 

There are no words for love.

Reaching, blending, slicing through all the meaningless jargon.

What do you mean irrational ecstasy,

Mystical, transcendent burst of glory

Bound in softness and light?

Shearing through the cloud cover

And making for endless parallel lines

Converging at the boundaries of existence.

 

There are no words for love.

Flame burning, bursting in my brain,

In my pockets, in my loins,

Guaranteeing the survival of the ape species.

Rocking and rolling,

Back and forth, forward and backwards, up and down.

Three dimensional space is gone, meaningless.

It’s indescribably, deliciously bulging at the seams

With fertile electronic impulses

Coursing through every nerve, every fiber.

Can you take it?

 

There are no words for love.

Flaring, shooting male, soaking, absorbing female,

Hydrogenous soy bean oil fulminating and frothing

At the mere thought of Super Bowl XLIII.

Don’t get lost in it.  Don’t give up.

Be. Here. Now.

Oh come on.  You don’t mean it.

I do. Every word.  It’s all so faux, faux, faux pas

Foie de Gras, pas de quoi.

(Breathe in) Wow!

 

 

 BROKEN

  

You complete me,

One out of two.

Appearing on cue,

I complete you.

The rest is history,

Enjoying the view.

 

The broken pieces were strewn all around,

Lying in state all over the ground.

Deafening shout, a shattering sound.

The promise delivered,

Prometheus bound.

 

Surprisingly,

It hurt to be put back together.

As it hurt to be apart.

E pluribus unum,

Straight from the heart.

 

What’s the matter with me,

Is the matter with you,

Is the matter we see

While enjoying the view.

 

Promises assumed and promises made,

Oops, that’s my mistake

While closing the shade.

Your heart in a nutshell

Was there on display.

Talk to me.

Surely you’ve something to say.

 

Can you remember?  Do you recall,

The long winter solstice after the Fall?

The bonds that we broke, forging our yoke,

From misguided pride, a permanent joke.

 

A word to the wise would be no surprise,

If it were just we.

But the problem you see

Is just you, just me.

 

With critical mass, our atoms collide.

Our worlds fly apart.

We take it in stride,

Repentant we came

Along for the ride.

 

You complete me,

One out of two.

Appearing on cue,

I complete you.

The rest is history

Enjoying the view.