Words

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Words.

They flow so easily from your lips.

Momentary sounds of normalcy

That hold no meaning.

They change nothing,

They hide the sepsis

That slowly builds,

Pressing ever harder

Into our every morning.

I’m no better.

Eyes wrinkle in amusement,

Thoughts emerge, wrapped in softness,

Trying to hide the harshness

That lies beneath, barely hidden.

Cold feelings disguised in warm notes.

And all I can think

As I stare across the table;

The only true feeling inside

Is a solitary echo:

I can’t do this anymore.

(Image is property of owner and is used here without permission.)

Second Sight

snow leather

A flake of snow falls from the sky,

A crystal of water from heaven’s gate,

And the angelic white contrasts sharply

With the black of leather

As the flake lands upon my glove.

The simple elegance of lines and angles,

Vertices and sides, stand out in my mind

As a moment of magic.

But, by its very nature

A moment is only transitory.

 

Soon, the star of ice

That I hold in my glove,

Succumbs to the heat of me,

Escaping slowly through leather.

Slowly at first, but quickening every second,

The incubus begins to transform.

Tendrils are lost and tiny arms

Begin to puddle on my glove

Until all is lost, a spot of water.

As quickly as it arrived,

The magic is lost;

A moment never to return.

Within seconds though,

Another flake arrives

And the cycle begins anew.

 

This is the very nature of magic.

Transitory but unlimited

And the moments of mystery

Are guided by ourselves.

Their duration a test of our desire

As we get older, our worlds more severe,

It gets harder to find

The magic in our lives,

But it is not because

Magic does not exist.

It surrounds us at every turn,

Simply awaiting our attention.

Call it God, faith, life or dreams,

Magic exists but for the seeing.

 

Sometimes you just have to use

The eyes of the soul and spirit

Or a friend to point the way.

(Image is property of owner and is used here without permission but a little magic.)

Crème de Glace

So beautiful

So beautiful

Leaving the house to go to work,

I open my door to find

My world transformed.

Branches of the trees

Hang a little lower

In the cold morning air,

Suffering the burden

Of a coat transparent.

The rains of late evening

Have been transformed

As o’ernight mercury fell,

And the harsh rough bark

Gained a smooth icy coat,

Glimmers in the early light of day.

 

Droplets that formed

On branch tips and boughs

Are caught in tableaux,

Diamonds reaching out

To cut glace.

In the modest light of morn,

An explosion of stars

As branches dance

On the breeze,

And the horizon is littered

With silvers and golds

Of ice and leaves yet true.

 

An image in transition.

The day is a busy one.

As the run rises higher

And the ebon bark

Absorbs Helios’ glow,

The ice will melt;

Diamonds lost forever,

Stars fallen to earth.

And we’ll await

Another day,

Other magical illusions.

(Written 17 years ago, this seems appropriate today.)

Attraction

Reading

I know it was static

That caused her hair

To reach for my arm;

Its gentle fibers

Mingling with mine.

A connection tenuous

Yet signalling more.

No attempt at retreat,

No urge to disconnect,

Only stationary comfort

Between two souls.

My arm immobile,

Exchanging warmth,

Seeking meaning,

Awaiting more;

The glimpse of an eye,

The curl of a smile,

The eddies of a sigh

Could not convey more

Than the subtlest attractions

Of the smallest ions.

 

(Image is property of owner and is used here without permission, so don’t give me any static.)

Ammonite

From the gemological collection of the American Museum of Natural History (New York).

From the gemological collection of the American Museum of Natural History (New York).

Iridescent jewel,

Multicoloured wheel,

What wonders did you see

In your aquatic home

A half billion years ago?

Vast schools of shelled minds,

Thousands of eyes

Scanning the waters for prey,

Thousands of arms

Reaching into the darkness

Seeking sustenance or mate.

Named for a sun god,

Did you play in the shoals

Or patrol the inky depths

Of the world yet young?

We remember you,

Museums commemorate you,

And yet you are

And ever shall be

A stranger to us.

Weep not

Blue moon

Weep not, my love.

Release the sadness

That encumbers your heart,

Holding you earthbound

When you should soar.

Deny the anger

That blots your visage,

Shading your eyes

Where once smiles did dance.

You are beautiful

Of body and of spirit.

The world sings

Of your graces and charms.

Hear the song.

Feel the dance.

Rejoice in warmth

And weep no more,

For you are love.

Sentience

 

A majestic shot taken at the nearby beach.

A majestic shot taken at the nearby beach. Click on it for full effect of image.

Birds don’t think how to fly.

Fish don’t consider buoyancy.

Spiders don’t judge perspective.

Hyenas don’t debate food.

Awareness, knowledge, understanding

Are all well and good until

They become proxies for fear.

Do. Experience. Live.

Stealtown

On Toronto's Bay Street, the streets are paved with souls

On Toronto’s Bay Street, the streets are paved with souls

A thousand spires of concrete and glass

Etch their signatures into the clouds,

Holiest of shrines to commerce and wealth.

A soulless furnace of misspent energy

Or engines of tomorrow’s successes?

Streets bathed in shadow that hides

The scurrying shells of men and women,

Wan caricatures of the human spirit,

Decorated and dedicated to jobs

That pay their bills but rob their souls.

Where are the sounds of Life

In this chthonic chamber of horrors?

Who sings the songs of individuality?

Originality and free thought flit

From corner to corner, shadow to shadow,

Fearful of the crushing boots of conformity;

Chirruping into the noisy silence in hope

They are not alone.

Militaria

I used to be naive;

Without understanding

Of how things worked;

That men and women

Must, on occasion,

Stand up and say no

To sins of Society

To evils of Man

To pain from Nature.

Uniforms were anathema,

Symbols of unthinking,

Mindless drones of hate,

Warriors of destruction.

But now I am older,

More aware of my world,

And I bow my head

In reverence of lives

Sacrificed, dedicated

To helping the infirm,

Defending the weak,

Lifting the downtrodden.

Apologies for past slights

And eternal gratitude.

Photos from the Canadian Armed Forces display at Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) last month.