And of my weeping something has been left, which must now die

And of my weeping something has been left, Which must die now
Tell me when, How much
Sorry eyes have taken in, And then repelled
There is no evening sorrow too soon or slow, For love's door
Dream again now, Night comes sure
Empty-armed, Enfolded, Sleep tight my love
The morning will beckon us once more
First light is in our breaking

No Room

The house is full
The door shut
Under lock and key
To keep in the old
Exclude the new
Ban possibility

Pale light smoulders
Shadows lengthen
No invite
But a star is high
And a way unfolds
Drive on dark night

No room
No welcome
Such a long ride
House shut
Door filled in
Baby is born this cold eve

Outside

Afterword

When it was all over I asked the wisest man I could find which way to go. He looked me straight in the heart and said “Stay right here and let the silence fill you.”

Spring in Winter

My heart is not afraid anymore
My eyes are not dazzled by the glitz and glamour of this world
Blinded by the clamour
Or clouded by the judgments of others

I do not presume, assume, consume
Or take for granted anymore
God's loving kindness and compassion

I give space to my soul's expression
My soul is like newly washed curtains that I must draw at nightfall
So I can abide, confide, not strive
And open them again at the dawning of a new day

This causes me to come and go with rejoicing
A spring in my step though it may be winter all around

In my travelling, arriving, waiting returning or departing
There is a distance to cross
A journey, a race, a destination to reach
A space to exist within

At last
It's the palm of His hand

don't go back

what will u find?

no child hides
no room prepared
no table laid

the dying are busy
burying the living

strange cloud eclipes
the star

the wind of repetition
blows and blows

don't go back
she is here

the child
travels with u

flying home

horizon coloured sunset
ocean boat plane
there was a call
there is a name
waves far below
soundless soundless sea
sited land
wing tips
lights flicker

turning of a season

swiftly summer light descends into autumn breeze
beloved, tell me what I cannot see
as the leaves are falling from the trees

God ...

... The rock from which I was hewn
The quarry from which I was dug

Abraham my father
Sarah my mother

My desert a garden
Joy and gladness found

Waste places comforted
Melodious sound

blood brother

god created man
man revealed woman
woman brought forth child with the help of god and man
child grew with the help of woman man and god
man and woman wondered at this image of each other and god that was before them
and so made another child who grew and murdered his brother who was also his image as well as the image of the man the woman and god
the brother's blood cried out for vengeance upon his blood brother who left marked by god to build a city and try to forget the loss of the image of himself the man the woman and god
sin is a dog that crouchest at your door said god to the marked man brother you mayest master it

decades of yearning broken promises and slavery piled up on the marked blood brother's children's children
until there came the elder brother of god's house who gave his life blood to answer the blood still crying out from vengeance's field
god forsaken son of humanity a bloody spectacle in the field
in a strange twist the elder brother son of humanity was betrayed for blood money by another brother's kiss
covered by shame blood money brought a grave
field of blood the earth became on the day the elder brother son of humanity died
at last son of man's blood covered the blood of the first man's son
blood brother for blood brother
vengeance is mine whispered god vengeance is mine
as the cross was implanted in the field and god's beloved son was slain

internal

earth
mixed in my hands

fire
smoldered in my heart

air
swirled in my lungs

water
seeped from my eyes

life
radiated outwards

elemental
words failed me

inside
I've taken it all

People of the Time

Open your mouth to say what?
These days people speak, I speak, too often only to self

Open your ears to hear what?
Indistinct words, lies or a reputation being trashed

Open your eyes to see what?
Flesh lifted on high, daily to be devoured

Open your mind to understand what?
Crashing stocks, life through the lens, the crying of the war torn, died too soon

Open your heart to feel what?
Emptiness that whirls you in its arms in an endless dance

Open your closed door to what?
The entrance of sorrow

Like candles flickering in a remote outpost
We give light only to our imaginations

But sometimes when it is very quiet
You can hear a whisper from the mountain's edge

Open only once - to speak, to hear, to see, to understand, to feel
The other side of fear; which is faith

the centre of sorrow

ripples on a surface expanding
the edge not seen
a stone dropped from a great height
the depth not fathomed

plummeting pebble of yesterday
sinking still
seeking the centre of sorrow
falling, falling

through all those soundless places
o if i could see
if i could know
if i could grasp

the pierced hand
delving to catch
this weighted
pain-filled thing

and swallow it down
drowning the swathes
of darkness
that fostered such a child

and there it is
transfigured and blessed
body containing sorrow's centre
how could you injest this most bitter pill

and not die again?
once and for all
a heart beat ceases
blood and water flows

forgive me
if i cannot stand
on the banks
of fathomless love

where there' s no edge
no bottom
no end
to be swept where by the tide?

but encompassed
i would
be truly
forever yours x

time is the measure equal to none

running out, passing by, catching up
fixed, moving, marked
captured is what i am
an hourglass containing
many grains slipping
through various fingers

closing eyes
counting to ten
time hides and seeks
and always finds
the crack in the armour
the chink in the chain

The sound of the sea

the roar drowns out all other sound
coming from fathoms away towards shore
i am fishing today for what was lost
generations before

Belshazzar's Feast

I set a place of forgetting at the table.
It was only after the meal that I remembered,
And then it was too late ...

The spirit cannot stand for too long

Prostitution
Adultery
Promiscuity
Idolatry

Deception

Forbidden fruit poisons
And the death that follows is very, very quick

The soul cannot stand for too long

Reality tv
Breakfast tv
Celebrity

Free papers
News obsession
Tabloid lying

No good thought
No good word
No good act

No art
No passion
No pain

Memorise the few things that the soul cannot stand for too long
So as to avoid a slow, slow death
Rehearse them every morning whilst looking in the mirror
Because they are easily forgotten and very, very hard to resist

The body cannot stand for too long

Bereavement
Betrayal
A brave face
Torture
Solitary confinement
The flow of water and of memory
Questions unanswered and unseeking
The eye of the storm
Sadness entering the soul
Unending snowfall
Relentless sunshine
Waterless places
Lovelessness
Foodlessness
Homelessness
A diet of carelessness and control
Tiredness and loneliness and bloodshed
A slow heart beat or a fast one
Or Impact
Or dictatorships
Obscenity or obesity
Trivia or tireless complexity
Concrete
The colour grey
Confusion
Negation
No touch
No air
No light
Nonsense
There are many, many things under heaven that a body cannot stand for too long
Start your own list
Publish the findings
Call a summit
Deprivation and excess are crimes against humanity <> perpetual death

Spectacle

This is not the time to come clean
This is not the time to be seen

Come out of the shadows
Lift up your eyes to the hills
A helper comes

This is the time of clouds
The opening of heaven's gate

People are dying
Slower than a fading star

People are living
Faster than a speeding bullet

The Letter A – a

What can I say about an A?
A – star, A – list
Alpha male
High flying, soaring
Looking down from above is A
Amazing, adored, appreciated
All inclusive
Always dependable
An A courts
Go-getting action
Jet-setting attention
Like no other
Awake, awake
Ask anything you like
Of an A
First of 26
Announcing the dawn
Believe me
Anything is possible
At the beginning
Of a list
Representing sound

After long night, up-risen is the morn

After shock, silence
After silence, speech

After speech, sleep
After sleep, seek

After long night
Up-risen is the morn

Mourn dark days
Up-rise the tide of dawn

The Letter D – d

The letter D has it hard
The black sheep of the alphabet fold
A sound like no other to sum up
Life's devastations
Man's deviations
Woman's depressions
My desperate search
No other letter does it like a d
Don't doubt
It'll drag you down
Disaster creeping like the devil himself
Through every open door
Despair, disparage – too many dis' to mention
Too much deception to know a lie
Too much darkness to be able to see
Driven to distraction
So much death, departure
Damage done

The Ravine of Kidron

Strength from above
Pressed on every side
Life blood squeezed out
One drop of a bloody
Tide to flow

One betraying
As footsteps fill the air
Torches, lanterns, weapons
To extinguish
The world’s light

Taken down with a kiss
A sword’s flash
A severed ear
And one final miracle
In the garden of your circle
Breaking

summer of my life

i recall the sand - the cliffs - the strong tide
the rocks - the walks - the fire in the year of drought
walking quickly through thick smoke
so as not to get licked - hot tongues
panting for water and for love

the descent to autumn is not as i thought
a movement of leaves - of winds - of the sober colours of dying
who calls - who sees - who knows what winter will be
spring will not come again
and summer is gone