alma mater

some are possessed

of a mothers

arms and milk

to whom hymns eternal are sung

others of another obsessed ilk

are to a bitches litter born

whose wont is to ravage her young

the former wishes her warmer

the latter for a mater swatter


as this life begins to end

what have I gained to spend

memories of a time to span

my son a joy

from boy to man

the loves of

chanced romances

the losses of heartless bosses

of broken bones and other pains

a vague aching still remains

the traveled world

unraveled through

the play of senses

a seer of desire

a prevaricator of experiences

provocatuer of jouissance

an entire age of renaissance

but now the insight

of in extremis

does not portend of peace

just the void

in the wake of release


Festal pomp

the vestal romp

a clear bell

bodes all well

and noble

upstanding and

forthright pure

sure of thought

shed of doubt

shut of dark

blowing the

fortokened ember

to awaken inner spark

eager to embark

into flame

remembering

that hosanna

is our

given name


In its turn

eclipsed the

sesquicentennial moon

is twice overshadowed

by the quotidian dawn


In reality

the only real

currency is time

whether perceived

to be saved spent

or wasted

it is illusory

cannot be minted

amassed, passed

down, willed

bequeathed denominated

or demised to

it belongs

for the time being

only to you


peeking on tiptoe

through the stained

glass windows

of the cathedral immemorial

constructed only with

fragmented mementoes

recorded on any manuscript

to hand

rocks weeds vellum voice

we erect the elephant

of the blind in an

effort to visualize

a life beyond life

a child’s chant

which may only resurrect

the void we left


glassed with

the first frost

all green dazed

lifeless

glazed with

the redundant shock


the frustrated feral wind

furrowing the lake

with icicle tined rake

harrowing the still blue field’s

unmouldable fickle fluid rows

its cold coulter clawing

unrewarded

by the poor sod

a liquid enigma

becoming rigid

when frigid

enviably able

to return its briefly

furrowed surface

to a placid pacific

state of mind


the forest grays

with annual autumnal

balding

even the corn is

scarecrow stalked

to a skeletal husk

of skulled

yellow teeth

as days end

in early dusk

that scald the

fields fallow

with sheaves of

raked whorled grasses

frosty as the season passes


the coal rimmed

maw of dawn

yawning in supine

circumference

an oracle

to the awakening

gaping gasp

an oral aping

of our expression

on expressing

the primal breath