In the beginning
Mere sustenance was an afterthought
Beside that river and under that sky
Each day we conquered all
The tides responded to his words
The clouds to the whims of his breath
The pace of his outstretched arm measured
The ascent of the sun and the moon
I – affecting nothing and no one
A reluctant bearer of truth
Just sat and heard him speak
Fearful of his touch
How well he could see the stars
But didn’t account for their delayed sparkle
Rose
Fragrant and with a deep blush
Fairest among your kin
Only your muddy waters know you
Only they hearken to your song
Later – when shriveled and gray and lost
Your worth in your remains will be discovered
And all will hearken then
Blind to this other
Rose
We spent the entire evening
Speaking between silences
About art and sports
Literature and cinema
Our minds like the proverbial peas
Savouring the similarities
That overcame the awkwardness
And offered refuge from the mundane
But I fret over the day
When interests and facts fail
And the mundane is all
That can break the silence
How shall we speak then?
Our hesitancy might undo
The best of our efforts
Leaving nothing and no one
So accepting the failure’s familiarity
We’ll dream about the triumph
That might have been the beginning
Of something unfamiliar but eternal
Two birds I know
Much dear to me
Are afraid to fly together
Often do though
Yet later separate to their nests
With reluctance but for fear
Of hurting and being hurt
Yet in flight
Glory is theirs and unmatched
And though blessed are all voyeurs
I
Long to fly beside
And let my eyes
Reflect what they are blind to
I stand erect and dare the walls
Around and within
To endure the might of my curses
And be subject to the most depraved thoughts
That I harbour
These walls of noble birth
Must and need to crumble soon
I am scraping at the bottom
Of my well of wrath
Blood is not mortar
Bones are not bricks
My biggest fear:
I’ll be entombed within
My success
And yours
A True Sentence 