The Heart of a Child

In the heart of a child lies a void

Too wide for Mother to ever fill

The opening eye, the inner horizon

Will gorge a child on dreams of making worlds

And each dream deepen the avarice

Until the child is lost, the Demiurge freed



__________

The Tyrant Hag

The tyrant hag is dumb and young

Yet cripples with her trained tongue

A lover whom she treats her son

She fears her death while slurping eggs

And grinds her ankles to be loved


__________

Symbols

Small symbols are the anchor of my stay on foreign ground

A gravity exudes from one mere pamphlet plastic-bound

White papers stamped by lawyers are more potent than a sign

From God to state I'm sanctioned living, working in this town



The beggars on the street beneath my window may not know

The effort it may take to call a place on Earth your home

Or maybe they have dug in deep and battled for their roots

I do not know these people, but we've shared some telling looks



In three months' stay I've seen the glaze of symbols over eyes

A people seeking symbols, swapping symbols to survive

Amid it all I glance with eyes that seem to dart, naïve

From building to begonia then to dogs that roam the streets



To base a life on symbols seems so frivolous to me

And this is how I jeopardize my faith with the police

Like wolves behind their badges they do snarl at the prospect

Of one who strays from symbols and exposes a soft neck



So I will run this morning to the church where symbols glow

Upon an altar brimming with all symbols that man knows

And I'll submit my meager stack of symbols to the judge

Then orbit will commence around those symbols I begrudge



Perhaps the men on high will smile, proclaiming that I'm free

Perhaps I will be flown back to the country where I'm “free”

It seems that either way they want to tell me that I'm free

And either way I'll keep on glancing sideways, till I'm free


__________

Rainbows Passing

Author’s Note: This memoir, presented in song, may be called Rainbows Passing or Sepulchra’s Evensong.

(It was written for a fictional novel, moreover composed by a character in the novel.)
~


Love the grass and love the mistrals,
Sweep your heels and sweep your face
Pick a flower from the meadows
Step with smiles and step with grace

Love goes fiercely, Love goes forward
Clutch it ‘neath the quilt of dawn
Take your friends’ eyes, Take them fully
Drink those feelings ‘til they’re gone

Hearts glide higher, Tongues trill softer
Paths collide in clouds’ decree
Footfall brings us ever nearer
Search of you and search of me

Don’t let time take vantage of you
Speak your heart while light stays warm
Know your friend and love her fully
Seek the day when dusk is dawn

Treading stops, Your feet are crossed now
Mind the breeze that bears two lungs
Sometimes raking, Sometimes calming
Stroke the petals as you hum


Rainbows passing, Sunset fading
Beauty on a dropper tip
When we see them, We wave goodbye
Smiles are brighter than we know


Resting’s over, Stretch those legs now
Get back up and seek your dreams
Take each pace with tidy measure
Sight is seldom what it seems

Journey forward, Find your skyline
Track the clouds and look in awe
Pay attention, Don’t neglect now
All your joy from me you draw

Keep your wings and tuck them tightly
Treasure freedom at its core
Don’t unwind until you need it
Life to haste will slam its door

Sight the ocean, Loose your joy cry
Run forever, Lest death rise
Feet throw faster, Hearts beat harder
Now we’re here, Just you and I


Rainbows passing, Sunset fading
Beauty on a dropper tip
When we see them, We wave goodbye
Smiles are brighter than we know


Watch the seashore, Watch it softly
See if gulls lament their wings
Find your center, Stand and fall now
Blessings full the tide will bring

Clouds flare up and blue sky bruises
Smiles may fade, Please find me soon
Daytime throbs in ailing splendor
Grace your friend with cheerful tune

Seek her eyes in tranquil twilight
Verse your love until you die
Don’t forsake the bond we share now
Through those pools so far you fly

Steel your nerves for nighttime’s shadow
Fingers brush the swirling sand
Biding breath for closing show now
Sunlight’s sliver swells so grand

Moon’s arc rising, Sun’s ark waning
Darkness’ throat advents the chill
Warm airs shrinking, Cool stars shining
Day sprites’ shells glide down to nil

Adders dash us, Ribbons wrap us
Ghosts’ constraints so long for clones
Must abate them, We’ll not fall down
Now this flower’s mine to own

Feel my warmth in her embrace now
I’m alive in each young soul
Fill your hearts with nightly revels
Each hot beat in my control

Twixt each other, twined up spirits
Dusk enclosing, Shine like fire
Tempered hearts becoming one now
Watch I do, And never tire 


Rainbows passing, Sunset fading
Beauty on a dropper tip
When we see them, We wave goodbye
Smiles are brighter than we know


Now you rest, your love completed
Heaving with the ocean’s throws
Legs lie weak but not depleted
Ponder you a place to go

Pique your ears for pleasant shifting
Water’s edge holds rhythm pure
Ripples catch the silver specter
Distant moon bobs oh so near

While you’re here you’d better test them
Tiptoe out to waters fair
Nighttime shields your heart, So soar now
None can capture what you bear

Kiss your love a fierce farewell now
You’ll be back in time for dawn
Clutch the stem with all your vigor
Drunk you have, And fear forgone


Rainbows passing, Sunset fading
Beauty on a dropper tip
When we see them, We wave goodbye
Smiles are brighter than we know


Midnight yields a whispering rainstorm
Flapping high you taste the beads
Memories of your love will drive you
Soar through time to plant new seeds

Sight the stars through sheets of diamond
Pierce the torrents, Pierce the clouds
Blooming lantern gripped so tightly
Blazing bright dispels the shroud

Watch the land and sea shrink downward
You’ve come far from shoes and feet
Wind has helped you, Day has born you
Through the night, Your quest complete

‘Neath the moon spills forth a rainbow
Morrow’s sun will no doubt bleed
Small is Earth and free is vastness
Starlight’s hope is all you need

Love the grass and love the mistrals,
Sweep your heels and sweep your face
Pick a flower from the meadows
Step with smiles and step with grace


Rainbows passing, Sunset fading
Beauty on a dropper tip
When we see them, We wave goodbye
Smiles are brighter than we know


~
Verse, Orchestration and Choreography:
Sir Lucius Auraleus Dai Grepher


__________

Soul Blade

- a haiku


White-hot metal glows
Emerging from the furnace
A molten mirror

Placed on the anvil
It screeches with crimson sparks
The hammer pounds it

Sounds like crystal bell
Ringing purely across stone
The room reveres it

Blade’s edge grows keener
Steel angel in fire simmers
Newborn soul of war

Merged in clear water
Steam rises in surging clouds
The angry blade cools

Submerged and reborn
Tempered obedient tool
Prepared for battle

Refined and folded
Flawlessly beaten to form
Pure metal seraph

Polished, finally
Reflection of the forger
Bearing inscription

Hilt bound with black cloth
Blade sheathed by lacquered scabbard
Clothed as royalty

The sword goes to man
Two spirits merge- man and blade
Souls advance to war