An Inscription We wandered through the hills of Earth That were before so gray and mean That now by eon-founded birth And sweet spring rain were young and clean Once we saw a rock smoothed off, A surface on it faintly scribed (It was an April tender, soft The rain had washed, the sun had [...]
Beneath the Weight Beneath the weight of death we’d break If God did not lift up that mass, Why? For love and mercy’s sake Until the weight of death should pass Even God had strained and groaned So heavy did our burden prove, That when He moved away that stone It was eternity He moved [...]
Seven Cities Beware. Beware. Be wary as you go All around the country, trees of anger grow Some are of the oak, some are of the beech Some are of the old wood and have a higher reach Look inside the circle where seven cities burn, Of those who enter inward, none of them return, [...]
I am the Seed… I am the seed that fell among the stones, Heedless sowers, yet a stem I grew, A twig, a leaf, and then stood up alone – Child of wastelands, growing I was new I was a seed among the brambles bruised, A tangled shade laced-up above my head, What lived beneath [...]
Debt of Honor O Jeremiah, they threw you in a pit, The bull’s eye of derision, the target of their wit, Ridiculous foretellings, stupid fuss and feathers, Envy of prosperity and the power of his betters The era of good feeling will go on and on and on With credit from the bankers and the [...]
The Canticle Far off I hear the singing of a thrush So far, in some far place, the deepest hush, There rises up a clear sweet sound of faith, Foolish one, to sing a note so brief Foolish one, no soul is there to hear Except the simple spirit of the deer, The heartless trees [...]
If You Wake Phantasm, phantasma, phantom Where have you been hiding? Inside November rain Curtain of the autumn Cold and dense and straight That will not cease In the rain within the chest Where the grey heart beats I am the terror in the night Behind the rain that sleeps You were unaware That waiting [...]
1927 Revolution virgin-pure Covered now in filthy sores, I wonder what he’d think of this: The paradox of class and war Between the lowly and the state – No servant of the Comintern Foretold which class the Party ate: I knew him at one hundred one Channeled Chinese generals For the International, Tangled with the [...]
F-16s I heard the roar of F-16s Cross the city overhead, Sentries high on kerosene Who on their airy pickets sped And we beneath a city wall Without a stone or battlement Thought no more of our downfall That such patrolling should prevent But when the walls go up it means There is a gate [...]
An Evil Dream Based on the Russian folk song: Oy, To Ne Vecher I had a dream, an evil dream For as the night was falling I Rode out upon the steppe, it seemed As if the world itself would die My horse, my crow-black horse began To shiver underneath my grip, And then in [...]
Te Deum Imperium recedes, Two thousand years ago God began to bleed – Benedic, anima mea, Domino The tree receives the ax, Demons strike a blow, Furious they hack – Benedic, anima mea, Domino Furious they strike, Merciful it flows, Who can bleed the like? Benedic, anima mea, Domino Wounded is the tree, Wounded it [...]
Memorial O dragon, dragon, what tower do you build? A tower built in Babylon at which the worm is skilled, Skulls are of the walls of it, mortar made of bone, Who can know the plan of it? Only I alone War and hunger are my slaves, fire is my heart With which to melt [...]
And Even Shame They were drinking vodka And I heard one say: Stas, remember The prisoner we held began to plead: Let me die But we refused You will not perish when you wish But when we choose? He spoke and laughed. I saw him yesterday In that new world Where serpent death uncurls Downward [...]
Fermi’s Question Answered They’ve come. They’ve come. They’ve found us, Those Earth-devoted visitors from space Or somewhere off the world apart and luminous, It may be in a time not present here or anyplace Why don’t they come to Earth, descend? Our leaders, soldiers, dignitaries wait With florid ceremonial, agreeable intent And speeches of the [...]
Earendel is Here… éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended – Cynewulf Earendel is here, But not where you might find him In Tolkien’s Silmarillion Nor in a barque or nao A jewel in the prow But in another sphere Earendel is here In orbit overhead Like meteors that streak their trails And [...]
The Master Immortality achieved Age indefinitely deferred The new immortal sits Scrutinizing games On the full moon as a screen Synchronous in orbit Until as ages pass He slumps and snores alone While robot servants dust Whispering in limpid tones So as not to wake the master With their sub-atomic chatter Pavel July 25, 2011
An Ocean without Sails Say the nomads, who should know Make no plans today, sometimes No one knows the way to go And in the guts there are no signs A long and distant line of sight No more than steppe as flat as pain, Cloud by day or flame by night Will not appear, [...]
Sleep Well Yes, he shot himself in the chest At the age of 37 Success, to peer inside the world Above which hangs the yellow sun by day The other, smaller stars at night Great flowers plant their shadows She saw him at her father’s shop Thought him rude and ugly That red-haired Dutchman, that [...]
In Company with Angels Hope in a small bee The immortal leaves of the holly The abdomen, gold and black Tapered and oval Shine in the April sun And the deep green unchanging leaves Stiffened, smooth Unfold and spread to the stream of light Everywhere around and in Death and immortality Dread in us and [...]
April Weather The dogwood spreads an April skirt White as would be dyed by fullers, Transfiguration was the word Attended then by Simon Peter But Good Friday was not lucky Heaven’s voice that day was stilled, The belly of Gethsemane The dark of night the Father willed In brightness death, in death a brightness Difficult [...]
Another Still On the hillside, tall and green, From a heart no longer clean I rotted softly toward the stream Softly rotted as I bent, Measuring my slow descent, Many seasons came and went Sheltered from the north and west Hungry beetles were my guests Who ate the heartwood from my chest Till my fibers [...]
When Christ came in the Hidden Room… When Christ came in the hidden room He still had wounds to show, This world’s wounds are slow to heal As we the living know Even Christ who conquered death But had not yet ascended Showed the wounds in limbs and side, On Earth they had not mended [...]
Dawn in Gentle Breathing How lovely are the rooftops of the city While turning sleepers rest beneath the sky, Dreams that rise to scattered night clouds journey, Fragments of the grasped eternal fly Endless trains and ships of sail and motor, Pilots of the wings of morning steer, Those on foot contend with heavy weather, [...]
In Which the Dead are Met I saw the man last night Perspective new, resentment gone We decided to be friends He died ten years ago But quarrels end As Christ walked through a door Though it was closed So all go out again Through rooms we have not seen before We do not end [...]
