Monarchy:
Divine is the right of king and queen
To tax me for their drink and bread,
So they can fatten up themselves,
To better shit upon my head.
Aristocracy:
If you are born to the proper blood,
Then you can shit on me,
And I will kneel to you and plead
That you might piss as graciously.
Oligarchy:
The few combine and cartelize
The liberty to shit,
Then shit upon the rest of us
And make us pay for it.
Democracy:
I get the right to shit on you,
And you the right to shit on me,
As long as we can both consent
To shit with full equality.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
And So Goodbye (2009)
And so goodbye, and so goodbye,
The time has come to part,
For new journeys have to start;
It is only joy that wells my eye,
Though I may seem to cry
As I depart.
So fare you well, and now farewell;
Fond memories I’ll keep,
Though for sorrows we must weep.
Take from me this little shell,
And listen to its spell
Before you sleep:
It arose from deepest ocean,
And it washed upon the coast,
Where we knew each other most;
It intones a soft emotion
With the tenderest devotion
Love may boast.
So fare you well, and now farewell;
Across the vale and over the hill
Wandering where your spirit will,
Attend to this, my little shell,
And know, in some far dell,
I love you still.
The time has come to part,
For new journeys have to start;
It is only joy that wells my eye,
Though I may seem to cry
As I depart.
So fare you well, and now farewell;
Fond memories I’ll keep,
Though for sorrows we must weep.
Take from me this little shell,
And listen to its spell
Before you sleep:
It arose from deepest ocean,
And it washed upon the coast,
Where we knew each other most;
It intones a soft emotion
With the tenderest devotion
Love may boast.
So fare you well, and now farewell;
Across the vale and over the hill
Wandering where your spirit will,
Attend to this, my little shell,
And know, in some far dell,
I love you still.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Friendship (2012)
For Valerie
Of all the riches found beneath the sun
That sweeten life, and strengthen us to bear
Our griefs and sorrows, friendship is the one
We treasure most – as vital as the air.
Friendship is a light-filled jewel, rare
And sacred, blazing more when day is done
And darkness comes – the answer to a prayer
Before the prayer has even been begun.
Though such a jewel be buried in the sand
For years, forgotten, lost to every eye,
It never fades; it merely waits the hand
That digs it up and mounts it in the sky.
And so once more this jewel sends forth its light,
And darkness bends before its gentle might.
Of all the riches found beneath the sun
That sweeten life, and strengthen us to bear
Our griefs and sorrows, friendship is the one
We treasure most – as vital as the air.
Friendship is a light-filled jewel, rare
And sacred, blazing more when day is done
And darkness comes – the answer to a prayer
Before the prayer has even been begun.
Though such a jewel be buried in the sand
For years, forgotten, lost to every eye,
It never fades; it merely waits the hand
That digs it up and mounts it in the sky.
And so once more this jewel sends forth its light,
And darkness bends before its gentle might.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Wedding Day (2011)
The hillsides smile with summer joy,
The vales with high romance,
While dryads play and fairies dance
In dreaming shadows, round a girl and boy.
He kisses her and leads the way
On this, the morning of their wedding day.
“So many times, my love and life,
We’ve walked this emerald lane,
And after this we shall again,
But ever more we’ll walk as man and wife.
Today we join as way to way
On this, at last, at last, our wedding day.”
And as he laughs and smiles and talks
And dreams across the ground,
She follows him without a sound,
For everywhere he wanders so she walks,
As now beneath the sun’s new ray
She follows him upon their wedding day.
The noontide waxes high and proud,
Froth-full of boisterous fire –
The image of his fierce desire,
For soon their love will finally be allowed;
Yet in her eyes the briefest grey
Passes, cloudlike, across their wedding day.
“My life,” he hears her softly call,
Her whispers brush his cheek,
“I’ll love you ‘til the sun grows weak,
Until the last and final night shall fall.
I’ll love you as I do today,
And all our life will be our wedding day.”
“Until the final night shall fall,”
He cries, “until the sun
Grows weak, you’ll be my lovely one
And never shall the vision of you pall!
We have what none can take away:
A love to live beyond the final day.”
They walk through forest, field and glade,
And by a running stream;
The hours each she sings to him
While lulling noontide slips to evenshade.
Around them now the shadows sway
From winds that moan the dying of the day.
They enter in an ancient dell,
The place their love was born
Before his wandering, lost and lorn,
Where first he sank beneath her lovely spell.
Again he hears that music play
Those dream-like songs, forgetful of the day.
A thousand voices, saccharine,
Suffused with subtle light,
Beguiling musics full of warm delight –
All flowing round him, rich and dark as wine.
Long would he linger, long would he stay
And drink their hymns until the final day.
His senses cloyed, he scarcely hears
His love’s insistent song,
Of how he’s lingered overlong,
How moments somehow stretched themselves to years,
Recalling now to his dismay
That this was once to be his wedding day.
He starts to run. He knows it’s near,
The place they are to wed,
But all is darkness and heavy dread,
For when he shouts his love does not appear!
Instead he hears her far away
Soft-moaning dirges for their wedding day.
He chases her, but still she fades,
And soon he is alone.
The only sound the tired groan
Of ancient spirits restless in their glades.
He looks upon the sun’s last ray
Fast falling earthward upon his wedding day.
“Until the final night shall fall,”
He whispers, “‘til the sun
Grows weak, we said. And now it’s done,
Yet never did I dream of this at all.
Now time sweeps on and I decay,
And never shall I have my wedding day.”
He wanders, lost. He’s deadly tired.
His only wish to sleep
Forever in the shadows deep,
For now the day’s last ember is expired.
He wonders how they went astray
When this was meant to be their wedding day.
He’s old, too old to carry on.
But here’s the burial tree,
The heart of his eternity,
His loneliness and grief at what is gone.
It beckons him beneath its sway,
And there he sleeps until his wedding day.
The morning stretches forth the sky
And kisses warm the earth.
The sun – the mystery of rebirth,
The hope of men who know they are to die,
The eye of God to whom they pray
That He will bless their momentary day –
The sun peers down upon a boy
And girl, who hand in hand
Skip happily through a dreaming land,
So full of life, so full of hope and joy.
They laugh and dance upon their way,
On this, at last, at last, their wedding day.
The vales with high romance,
While dryads play and fairies dance
In dreaming shadows, round a girl and boy.
He kisses her and leads the way
On this, the morning of their wedding day.
“So many times, my love and life,
We’ve walked this emerald lane,
And after this we shall again,
But ever more we’ll walk as man and wife.
Today we join as way to way
On this, at last, at last, our wedding day.”
And as he laughs and smiles and talks
And dreams across the ground,
She follows him without a sound,
For everywhere he wanders so she walks,
As now beneath the sun’s new ray
She follows him upon their wedding day.
The noontide waxes high and proud,
Froth-full of boisterous fire –
The image of his fierce desire,
For soon their love will finally be allowed;
Yet in her eyes the briefest grey
Passes, cloudlike, across their wedding day.
“My life,” he hears her softly call,
Her whispers brush his cheek,
“I’ll love you ‘til the sun grows weak,
Until the last and final night shall fall.
I’ll love you as I do today,
And all our life will be our wedding day.”
“Until the final night shall fall,”
He cries, “until the sun
Grows weak, you’ll be my lovely one
And never shall the vision of you pall!
We have what none can take away:
A love to live beyond the final day.”
They walk through forest, field and glade,
And by a running stream;
The hours each she sings to him
While lulling noontide slips to evenshade.
Around them now the shadows sway
From winds that moan the dying of the day.
They enter in an ancient dell,
The place their love was born
Before his wandering, lost and lorn,
Where first he sank beneath her lovely spell.
Again he hears that music play
Those dream-like songs, forgetful of the day.
A thousand voices, saccharine,
Suffused with subtle light,
Beguiling musics full of warm delight –
All flowing round him, rich and dark as wine.
Long would he linger, long would he stay
And drink their hymns until the final day.
His senses cloyed, he scarcely hears
His love’s insistent song,
Of how he’s lingered overlong,
How moments somehow stretched themselves to years,
Recalling now to his dismay
That this was once to be his wedding day.
He starts to run. He knows it’s near,
The place they are to wed,
But all is darkness and heavy dread,
For when he shouts his love does not appear!
Instead he hears her far away
Soft-moaning dirges for their wedding day.
He chases her, but still she fades,
And soon he is alone.
The only sound the tired groan
Of ancient spirits restless in their glades.
He looks upon the sun’s last ray
Fast falling earthward upon his wedding day.
“Until the final night shall fall,”
He whispers, “‘til the sun
Grows weak, we said. And now it’s done,
Yet never did I dream of this at all.
Now time sweeps on and I decay,
And never shall I have my wedding day.”
He wanders, lost. He’s deadly tired.
His only wish to sleep
Forever in the shadows deep,
For now the day’s last ember is expired.
He wonders how they went astray
When this was meant to be their wedding day.
He’s old, too old to carry on.
But here’s the burial tree,
The heart of his eternity,
His loneliness and grief at what is gone.
It beckons him beneath its sway,
And there he sleeps until his wedding day.
The morning stretches forth the sky
And kisses warm the earth.
The sun – the mystery of rebirth,
The hope of men who know they are to die,
The eye of God to whom they pray
That He will bless their momentary day –
The sun peers down upon a boy
And girl, who hand in hand
Skip happily through a dreaming land,
So full of life, so full of hope and joy.
They laugh and dance upon their way,
On this, at last, at last, their wedding day.
Friday, January 6, 2012
On Love (2009)
No titanic kiss, no picture-perfect surge,
No sweeping off, no frantic, tidal rise,
As fantasy and cinema would urge,
The instant he peers deep, deep in her eyes.
Love is not blind, though many have been blind
Who thought they loved, but learnt it was not so;
For love is patient, open-eyed and kind,
It sees the stars, past clouds and wind and snow.
Love is the heavenly vault, the starry dome
Enclosing all, the power driving round
The planets; unwavering, safely guiding home
The sailor, sick for his familiar ground;
The dauntless, faithful hand upon the helm,
When seas and storms seem most to overwhelm.
No sweeping off, no frantic, tidal rise,
As fantasy and cinema would urge,
The instant he peers deep, deep in her eyes.
Love is not blind, though many have been blind
Who thought they loved, but learnt it was not so;
For love is patient, open-eyed and kind,
It sees the stars, past clouds and wind and snow.
Love is the heavenly vault, the starry dome
Enclosing all, the power driving round
The planets; unwavering, safely guiding home
The sailor, sick for his familiar ground;
The dauntless, faithful hand upon the helm,
When seas and storms seem most to overwhelm.
Monday, January 2, 2012
After the Storm (2012)
Awake, my soul! The storm has passed.
Arise! Arise! No longer sleep –
The storm has broken off at last!
The tempest raged with surge and blast
And swollen clouds to drown and weep;
Awake, my soul, the storm has passed
And spent are the winds that hurled you fast
Upon the tempest’s darkling sweep;
The storm has broken off at last.
Despite the sorrows you’ve amassed,
Heed not the calling of the deep.
Awake, my soul, the storm has passed.
The deep! The deep! Its power vast:
It calls, my soul, but do not sleep –
The storm has broken off at last!
My soul! The suffering night is past,
And you are cleansed; no longer weep.
Awake, my soul, the storm has passed,
The storm has broken off at last.
Arise! Arise! No longer sleep –
The storm has broken off at last!
The tempest raged with surge and blast
And swollen clouds to drown and weep;
Awake, my soul, the storm has passed
And spent are the winds that hurled you fast
Upon the tempest’s darkling sweep;
The storm has broken off at last.
Despite the sorrows you’ve amassed,
Heed not the calling of the deep.
Awake, my soul, the storm has passed.
The deep! The deep! Its power vast:
It calls, my soul, but do not sleep –
The storm has broken off at last!
My soul! The suffering night is past,
And you are cleansed; no longer weep.
Awake, my soul, the storm has passed,
The storm has broken off at last.
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