The Giant Engines of the Earth

* the Giant Engines of the Earth *
I hear the giant engines of the Earth
Outside my window grinding
Ever rolling on and on
Battering at the coast
These engines which turn our world
Spin upon axis the planet
Day or night pounding forward
Inexorable and un-tamed
Dwarf all powers we hold
Constant and unrestrained
I hear those giant engines of the Earth.

Finish

* finish *
Quietly bring forth the finish
The End of Time and beast and Life
All opportunities and distance cease
In heartbeat vulcanize existence
Form diamonds from our cells
Immortalised an flawless wait
To be jewellery for angels.

Hope for love in Kings

** hope for love in Kings *
When Princes crowned Kings become
And princesses formed unions sacred
And queens are upon the land shown
Such Spring joy for people so governed
For in ruling with smiles
Infectious liberty is a joy
Confident in self and life
Finding unquestioning loyalty
Occupied by joys domestic
Has no time for fear
Fear which breeds heavy-handedness
Fear which makes laws arbitrary
Fear which seeks to bribe
A surrounding of favourites to protect
Life crown throne and family
So the rulership is dour
Out of rhythm with population
By setting fear as guidance
Entire realm by fear infected
Rule becomes shortsighted and inglorious
So hope your rulers love
And this love does spill over
To provide an atmosphere of respect
Mutual and enduring
Across all the land made rich
By rule benevolent and loving.

S and G as footnotes

* S and G as footnotes *
Simon and Garfunkel always seemed
To get the clarity dreamed
Of modern life as it were portrayed
A mixture of pop references
And pseudo intellectual babble
Hinting at books read or stolen
To hold up naïve rights golden
Snap frozen idealism of youth
Their songs laden with proof
The young see most clearly
Feel for the world more dearly
While we in living intend to
Just live and survive and get through
Our idealism all rubbed off
In getting this far paid the cost
Each corner cut and pragmatic decision
Leave us exposed to younger self's derision
So we ignore and cocoon ourselves
Leave ideals and rights on the shelves
Listen to the songs of Garfunkel and Simon
To remind us of a more honest time.

On the evening flight

** on the evening flight **
Somewhere high I am looking down
Seeing lights of night shining up
Fairy hills sparkling
Those homes and hearths of men
I wonder what they might think
If they were to lookup
And see our flying steed of steel
Lights flashing metronomically
Crossing from horizon to horizon
Are we heading home or away
Our days starting or ending
A flight or joy and toil
So the person might ponder upon the soil
Looking up as we disappear into night sky
An extra star flickering past
And as I look down the world changes
Clouds crowding sight
Bringing gazing up short
To only those things glimpsed
Beyond the length of light tipped wing
Are walls of solid white
Through which we carve
A sharp plane on the evening city flight.

Waiting over coffee

** waiting over coffee **
You are waiting over coffee
Smudge of foam on upper lip
For conversation to continue
A conversation of which you are very sick
This wasn't how it was meant to be
Being told I hope you understand
I care for you but don't love
Feel I need a different course
As all the things you plotted
Begin to come apart
Most terribly in the growing pauses
Between each word or statement
You hear the silence of the future
A lonely space of nothingness
Till someone or some other great affectation
Can fill your life so holed
Below the waterline of consciousness struck
A harpoon through your spirit
Dealt by one you thought
Would turn aside all harpoons
Be your support and lifesaver
As you expected to be theirs
Instead a coffee based conversation
Somewhere public where you cannot collapse
Where you must perform charade of caring
As you nod numbly dumbly
Agreeing to the unagreeable unforeseen
When all you want to do is scream
Over coffee waiting for the torture to end.

The art of performing

The art of performing
The stance and voice
How you cast your arms about
The posture enunciation and action
Talking of them does not touch
The feeling of spirit flowing
Burst supernatural of confidence
Ay walking the tightrope
Of cariature and reality
To be yourself and extend
Encompass the universe of audience
Wash into niche of each consciousness
The reality and statement of who you are
Greater ever than once were
Colossus striding ever onward
As at same time you are grounded
In reality recognisable and relatable
The very air caught by you
And floating omnipotently above all
You are art and action and presence
A rendering of entertainment
Caught and managing the very spirit
Of the art of performance.

To rise

* to rise *
Between the troughs of waves
Such sweet relief found atop
Tip and cape of white crest
Able too see clearly toward future horizon
Find in those stolen mighty glances
Energy to move forward and on
A reservoir of determination stored
Stored for use when down in trough
Caught in plunging darkness
Between this wave and next
Not knowing if descent will arrest
If ever shall rise again
This life set in such unfamiliar rhythm
Consistency is not life's trait
To ride the waves and rise
To glimpse horizon clearly
The best a mortal soul of one can do
In chaos of this choppy sea.

To drown

* to drown *
Sitting in a railroad station
Waiting on a yacht
Caught between sun and rain
Undressed for either as they fall
Own smile radiant
Press of warm skin
Who were we and what could we
Believe in from noon to dark
As cold rain turned warm
In kisses passion blast
Storm forgotten and wind replaced
With our own natural energies
Beneath the shading protecting trees
In a forest wide and soft
No danger here but what we have brought
To drown in each others gaze
Be lost in kisses plentiful
Beyond the sight or fears of others
Finding love first time remembered time
In your arms so warm and true.

Crash

** crash **
Washed winter blues
Hues of bruises and dead fish
Sound of sirens caught
On the icy road
Your smile paused
As brain exacted to high a price
To change expression
As with life diced
The sliding grinding grating crash
Finality of halting
All the air expelled
A human scream of fear
Drowned out the car horn
Perpetually permanently hooting
So memory recalls
Tiny details seem more now
Smell of petrol leaking
Frosted sparkle of broken glass
A fine powder everywhere
And the creaking of suspension
Spinning tyre in the air
This world of fractured plastics and steel
Crushed and broken shell
And still the screaming slices
Through the cold night air
Even when no one could be screaming
For a stillness from passenger chair
They said death almost instantaneous
Probably never felt a thing
Instead you must feel forever
The guilt of her death's sting.