31 December 2010

The Tea She Makes

There's something in the tea she makes,
The way she stirs, she makes it taste,
It breaks my heart and devastates

I anticipate the coming swoon
And watch her hold her magic spoon;
Her wrists, she twists;
As she prepares her magic brew

The moment builds; she offers up
Her sweetly scented earthen cup,
My sleepy hands around the waist,
It wakes my blood with warming touch

And as I sip, her fingertips
Idly tickle the cauldron lip
And, smiling, smoldering, trace
The places moistened by my lips

For a lovely while I lose my mind;
Enchanted by her spell, I find
This dangerous, innocent, loving charm
Is all there is, all else behind

And to this day, within me waits,
Something in me aches to taste
The way she stirs the tea she makes

10 July 2009

Lovers On Lovers (pegasus)

she was hiding on the hill
and I indulgent in my hell
a pair of broken lovers
at last enticed into the open
by the ancient rains approaching

we danced into the monsoon
writhing against the musk
ignited by the thunderclaps
and whispers to the moon
our betrothal sealed in honeyed moans

our incantations made toys of time
and in a lone enchanted night
our nest and line of kings and queens
were redeemed and baptized
in the tempest's pregnant eye

at the blinding advance of joy
I gave into my trembling
and struck a bargain with my shadow
and like a frothing animal
turned mad against my own

like a heroic Joan
she stood, in love, upon the pyre
as I tore apart her wedding dress
and dashed fruit from the orchard
she swore she'd never raid again

when I think back on her figure
naked, cast into the splinters
I'm haunted by my heirs of flame and ghost
and the compassion in her tender eyes
and know I lost the war

09 July 2009

Lovers On Lovers (phoenix)

Throughout the burnt pages of history
Rests an ancient tale of love and treason
The props a green apple and a wooden horse;
The smouldering ashes of an unlearned lesson

From behind a gravely barricaded city wall
A displaced soldier, he watched it all unfold:
How she undressed her honey-wrapped lies,
Seduced a guard, stormed in; the story told

Scorched, she kissed her lawful p.o.w.
Fondling the wound that hurt him most:
To trade in a life of sin for a dressing
Soaked in the scent of this new host

As he descended into shadowy worlds
She ached to hear his unheeded call -
Forced him to rise and speak: my love,
It was but our fall that said it all

08 October 2008

pegasus and the phoenix (phoenix)

the road
to nowhere
led us
everywhere
got us lost
and found us
on our way
back home

a microcosm
of existence
a staple
of life
on planet earth
bound us
in words
in symbols
and in vows
to travel on
on to the end
all the way
through the desert
and beyond
and back again
to return home
safe
warm
wrapped
in the knowing
it was only there
to share
the experience
with one
another
with the other
as one

welcome home
my sweet
home, sweet home
as I am in you
as you are in me

we’re free

and love is
all that’s left
all there ever
was or will be
between us
between you
and me

thank you

and I love you

for all eternity

07 October 2008

pegasus and the phoenix (pegasus)

what is there to do
when two souls
so clearly made
to love each other
meet in the wrong lifetime

the gods and muses
applaud
the heartbreaking poem
but what of the mortals
playing host
to these ancient spirits
caught so near to joy
and dashed against
its unfolding

to draw too near
invites temptation
to grasp at the reverberation
spurning truth
for a cruel illusion

i can no longer bear
to shake you like a fist
in defiance of the makers
and so i lay down my gritted teeth
and set you free

i must walk another road
with my feet on the same earth
and love you as i can
all else
is
babble

30 September 2008

the phoenix (pegasus)

the phoenix
born
burned
reborn old

nature cries
for restoration
of balance

the phoenix
born
innocent
majestic
to bring the flame of youth
to this alien landscape
the stones are cold
the trees have a hardened skin
the simple wretches here
hunger for your fire

lick the air
with your crimson tongue
and split the sky
with a wondrous thunderclap
let there be lightning
let the taste of sulphur
fill their starving lungs
so that the stones might glow
the trees crack with remembered fertility
and bear their strange and beautiful fruit
the wretches rejoice and dance
and nature weep with relief

the phoenix
burned
reborn old

camped on the hill
wise too soon
a melancholy bonfire
a smouldering lighthouse

visitors
curious moths
broken animals
thieves hoping to light their lamps
are drawn
by instinct
or hunger
but before the night has ended
wander home
as always expected
and in a way requested

the phoenix
left alone
stays alone
to blow on the coals and embers
to keep warm
waiting
to turn to ash
and be reborn
old again
and waiting
to turn to ash

nature pleads
you have always been innocent
please remember
your nature
the time has come
to break this spell

cease to be
the phoenix
born already dying
claim your birthright
claim your destiny
rise
ignite
be
the phoenix
who flies
and burns the sky

the phoenix (phoenix)

The eggshell cracks
There’s movement
Anticipation
Expectation?
Or just a pause
Between the source
And its first breath
Out in the open

The eggshell breaks
Firebird hatching
One fluffy head
All velvet feathers
Appears to be
Called into life
As it opens its eyes
And sees

For the first time
For the only time
It sees the world
It sees life
In awe
In wonder
Not purely pure
Not entirely innocent
But embracing,
Embodying all that is

Phoenix, rise!
From the ashes
Of annihilation
From being burnt
At the stake
Of sacrifice
Life cannot cease,
With grace and ease
Stretch thy wings
Singing, I am awake

Claws clasped around
The solid knowing
That such ground
Cannot disappear
It takes that breath
With joy, free-flowing
And ascends
Beyond all fear

Up, up and away
From here
Aimed with majesty
For its true destiny

Circling,
Swirling,
Spiralling,
Flying,
Higher and higher
Until it lands right
Inside the heart
Of the sun
To burn the sky
As one
With the radiance
Of love
With the brilliance
Of light
For all eternity
Long

Oh so beautiful

And oh so bright

29 September 2008

pegasus (pegasus)

i want nothing more
than to see you fly
i offer my back
if that is what it takes

to see your eyes tremble
and the walls behind them
fall away
something tumbles
and the portals open
and the well of passion
spills over
spices and honey
until you are covered
shimmering
aching to combust
and give birth
to a tempest of beauty
that shakes the earth

i provoke and incense
most of all for you
for i long to see you unchained
and i soar to see you free
but i have also come to see
my insatiable taste
for the fragrant rosewater
that splashes onto my lips
when the swollen cloud bursts

and now like a vampire
stricken with remorse
desperate to distinguish
between appetites and prayers
i search for my face
in my calling

for i have been narcissus
content to gaze at my reflection
in the exquisite nectars
i have collected
in my jar
a stumbling foreigner
to the meaning in my heartbeat

i must be mindful
of my gluttony
for my dulcet vocabulary
and its effects

and so i tear out my tongue
so that i might hear you
hold my breath
refrain from my characteristic bluster
and let stillness come
to my innermost pool