Suggests source, guidance, change -- 'to contemplate the
beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life" T.S. Eliot
Facing the Void
When he smelt the fresher sweat,
tasted little tangs of ‘fear’,
saw the faces turn towards
ancient feel of cap-on-head
that’s when he heard the challenge come!
When he faced the faceless drop,
smelt the bitter coffee top,
heard the cuckoo new in Spring,
saw a billboard’s naked charm
fully, this time, empty now:
dilating lungs and lugholes, eyes;
he named a deeper prayer inside (not history);
but mystery.
One (after Rilke)
Largely on his own, young Andrew sits
considering his crayons, woolly toys;
more single than the loneliest of boys
encoded in a matrix, special net:
Down’s Syndrome his recurring epithet
and, in his head, a special kind of noise,
‘contain the world, oh hold it!’ cry his muse’
and woolly toys and crayons are his mates.
But aren’t we all like that, within our ways,
stabilizing bubbles in our head,
turning inwards - into iphones, net -
(not ambling forward like the tiger, lamb
open to the river or the land)
hyonotised by spouses, girls and boys?
Largely on his own, young Andrew sits
considering his crayons, woolly toys;
more single than the loneliest of boys
encoded in a matrix, special net:
Down’s Syndrome his recurring epithet
and, in his head, a special kind of noise,
‘contain the world, oh hold it!’ cry his muse’
and woolly toys and crayons are his mates.
But aren’t we all like that, within our ways,
stabilizing bubbles in our head,
turning inwards - into iphones, net -
(not ambling forward like the tiger, lamb
open to the river or the land)
hyonotised by spouses, girls and boys?
John, totally appreciate your thought-provoking and deeply insightful poetry. Thank you for always sharing, even those deepest and most personal of thoughts. Blessings to you and Andrew.
ReplyDeleteMoving, thoughtful and insightful. Thank you.
ReplyDelete