Where were we now?

Where were we now?
the thing just happened
it was neither short nor long
nor sweet nor sour    nor blue nor gay
it was -    as I said

this alone is news    between the headlines
and the classified we find
a piece of mind stamped with the idiom of laconics
simplified and qualified to suit
the tastes of no-one in particular
it is vehicular

as I said:    no-one spoke
or wrote    or thought
it just fell out    -spontaneously?
come    let's agree
the point is missed
if you insist on knowing
tactful as a 'coon at feeding-time
I wash my hands
I'm going


mcmlx

No exceptions

 
"Each of us
        must eventually be alone
    so why kid ourselves
        love can make any exceptions?"
he said
    as he slipped into bed beside her
    beside himself
she grunted
"brother, don't work yourself into a lather
        before the event
    never fear, you'll be alone soon enough
        after we're done"

together they made out
    hand in hand    face to face
        under the white sheet
    laying ghosts
    comforted

mcmlxxiii

The time has run

The time has run on both our lives
has run on sweet
has run on tart
and sweet somehow survives
has run on god knows how
and sweet survives
has run on god knows how
together and apart
and sweet survives

mcmxcix

To Remind you when Beauty

To remind you when beauty
    lies dead in the grass
her cheer we can cherish
    now she is done
for alas with the season
    whose pleasures have flown
our eyes tracking backwards
    we find beauty less

But off with such sorrow
    for seasons will turn
and pleasures renewed
    though breast sorely torn
feels dolour at hand
    with sun sinking low
we must gather the shadows
    and lay them to rest

Distress is not gain
    the sun’s running on
and bears us all forward
    despite pain and grief
hope is a promise
    that’s best left to time
while beauty’s reborn
    in the rime and the mist

mmiv

At the top of the food-chain

At the top of the food-chain
he who fell
fell ill
what a to-do about
nothing that whatever could be done
until the spill-
age     upset
was righted
alright! he remained
at the top
not the height
of the food-chain
lower than before
before the fall
for the chain is a cycle
nobody's on top
of this     never-bottoming-out
well ...?
never!
or always as long as
that


mmv

Compelling tidal rhythms

Compelling tidal rhythms
    enthrall our corporeal selves
demand pertinent attention:
    pulsing waves awash
heart's drumbeat in earthmother's womb
    like cathedral choirs
voices raised    and falling
    organic accompaniment
periodic cascades of seafoam
    that caress and embrace with force
recipient shores
    transition from what goes before
into what comes after
    flex and reflex
progressively alternate
    impromptu most consummate
this everlasting now

mmvii