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More Poems of Beauty
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| THE POETRY OF JOHN PURCELL |
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| Poems of love and inspiration and of despair and joy! |
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| SPIRITUALISM Every now and then the angelic hand of light Through the lurid center of a fortress of mist Gleams for an instance from a ghostly gloss and gloom In the gold twilight of spiritual alignment! And in that instance, between evil and goodness, Between the truth you vowed and the truth you denied, You are two souls locked in the grips of bravery and fear: The Devil upon your shoulder who whispers in your ear! Or the God inside your heart whom you are dying to hear. Every now and then the demonic hand of might Through the lurid center of a fortress of mist Seems for an instance a phantom of languished doom In the cold twilight of spiritless confinement! Then in that instance, and between evil and goodness, Between the truth you had sworn and the truth that died, You are two souls trembling between resolve and retreat: A sovereign of life whom fate is heroless to defeat! Or a servant of death whom time is powerless to cheat. DUAL ROLES Prophesy hope or despair, but stand behind me!... (The dog is on the prowl, the demon is on the hunt!) For I do not dread the terrors that would blind me Nor the friend of death and darkness who waits in front! For each of us would play or live the sage and fool Then master the whims of eternal, cosmic youth! Playing at vice or virtue singularly...but dual Between the roles of stark dishonor and naked truth! But the crimes we crave and the mercy we demand And in every wicked thought and treacherous word, There is the saint inside me few will understand! And the angel in you no one has ever heard. Still, in each of us is the god who plays at two: Between our strength and decay, or belief and doubt, There is the devil fighting to get inside you! And the evil in me struggling to get out. A STRANGER'S GLOVE You know how it is to feel this way (On bright days and wintry nights!) When the sky is pure and you cannot convey How lovely are all its visionary sights! Though there may be others cold and gray. (And despite how grim might be each day, When the sky is pure and so invites, You know how it is to feel this way.) So when your heart is thirsting for love (When it feels more cold and gray) And time will not avail ere one wailful dove Nor see a sky wash its somber tears away, Wrap your pain inside a stranger's glove! (He has dreamt every dream you dream of And knows how it is to feel this way When any heart is thirsting for love!) FACELESS WIND There are strangers wandering in molten shallows Above the earth, and now about to enter in The dark abyss of lost dreams and swollen shadows Populated by pale fragments of faceless wind. And you have always journeyed on as one of them: As fallen as all the fragile leaves of felled trees Whom time had struggled to engulf and overwhelm With some mundane scent of another haunted breeze! And it lingers inside your soul and in your heart As grim as the passions of either faith or truth Whom the dualities of fate have swept apart Within two worlds of timeless age and deathless youth! For this, you have learned to grasp tumultuous air, No matter the strength of either virtue or sin; And since love is a dream impossible to share, You are one of those pale fragments of faceless wind. IN MEMENTO MORI MODERN Know me well for what I was though I lived long ago: The hero of squandered truths and forgotten glories, and the follower of faded ideas and jaded philosophies. Know me well for what I am though I died long ago: A champion of hopeless hopes and lost causes, and a peddler of hated faiths and outdated beliefs. Know me well for what I became though you slew me long ago: A poet and a dreamer to all those poignant dreams you have made too good for your world FAILURE I had seen it years ago...as a child When I had set out upon my life's course, That someday I would be blessed and defiled By both the victims of hope and remorse! And I knew it long ago...as a whim Something to be scoffed at and discarded! When fate had left me feeling old and grim, Failure would know how I was regarded: Among the ruins of a hopeless dream, Beneath the lashes of a hangman's whip, Pulled slowly along by an errant stream, Soon to walk the deck of a drowning ship! For this, I now drink from an empty cup And do not fear to either live or die! Knowing how easy it is to give up, The challenge is in remembering why. PLEDGE No greater truth engender, endow. No sweeter fortune demand of fate. Believe no earnest, more sacred vow, Until you learn to learn to hate hate. No greater wisdom foreswear, allege. No brighter star visualize above. Conceive no honored, more solemn pledge, Until you learn to learn to love love. LOVELIER Life had often appeared so unappealing to me And seemingly less than it was wont to seem. But because you were destined to always be Lovelier than the loveliest dream, I became a dreamer. For I had hoped to lose myself upon the sea And in every wave that rose and tossed. But because you lived to sail with me And to find yourself as infinitely lost, I became a sailor. Yet there were skies who had struggled to be As sweet as any freedom I was foolish to ignore. But because your heart was wild and free And worth a life's living or dying for, I became a soldier. But more than these I had come to see, Especially during my most desperate hour! Because you lived and came to love me Lovelier than the loveliest flower, I became a gardener. INVINCIBLE Failure is an image, a vacuum we give power from within a vanquished heart. And defeat is an notion, a ghost we give life from within the surrendered spirit. They are the tyrants of our lives and the destroyers of our dreams. But they are only ideas. And an idea is only as invincible as the idealist. Success is a vision, a concept we give existence from inside a dreamer's courage. And triumph is a conviction, a fortress we give strength from inside an indomitable soul. They are the heroes of our lives and the angels of our dreams. And they too are only ideas. Still, an idea is only as invincible as the idealist. Though how invincible the idealist depends upon the choice of ideas. THE STRONG ONE I was the strong one, the bold one--the hawk, The first one who learned to soar and to walk. You were the weak one, the meak one--the dove, The one who always needed strength and love. For I was the strong one who would always save you Whenever your heart languished and you felt beseeched. And though your soul gave as much love as I gave you, My spirit never needed to be loved or reached. But one time I was swept along the length Of dark forces far stronger than my strength; By a sea whose darkness no light could breach, To depths that no power on earth could reach! And, as my dauntless strength was turning black, Suddenly...you were there! To pull me back! Yes, as I was breathing my last, desperate breath, Suddenly...you were there, to rescue me from death! Time continues to teach us--even as I speak, Nature shall reveal its truer truths before long: Ah, though the hawk is strong--it is oftentimes weak. And though the dove is weak--it is oftentimes strong! A SINGLE WORD I know the Power of powers and the King of kings materialize to me through solidity or stroll the confines of my existence upon the surfaces of waters and through skies suspended and holy. And though I curse with disbelief or scorn with anger and pride (though I be a villain and a thief and find that my spirit has died), I know the Power of powers and the King of kings! And I can feel the infinite peace of His smile soften my rage into serenity and dissolve rancor from my heart with a single word. I can feel the deathless sunrise in His eyes transform my darkness into light and extinguish madness from my mind! I can feel the eternity of His touch take the sword out of my hand and exile bitterness from my spirit! Ah, I can feel my life restored with a mere thought and my soul saved with a single word! Love. FREEDOM You have not lived (though bravely and during one lifetime) if you were not willing to have died for a dream or a cause dearer than your life. And you have not loved (though passionately and beyond one lifetime) if you were not willing to surrender your love to strike but a single blow against tyranny and oppression. Ah, you have not loved (though truly and beyond your lifetime) if you were not willing to sacrifice your love for an idea or a belief truer than your truth. No, you have not lived (though devoutly and during one lifetime) if you were not willing to have stood alone before certain doom and decisive defeat for a dream or a cause dearer than your life: Freedom. SHIP OF LIFE Make this the passion of a lifetime as if today is the beginning and there is no tomorrow: Set out upon the ship of life disciplined in mind and spirit, fearless of peril and danger, dauntless with faith and conviction, certain of justice and in judgment, relentless in duty and with honesty, prepared for enterprise and challenge, humble and merciful in victory, and glorious and dignified in defeat! Embrace each day with pride and gratitude and honor yourself with happiness and joy. Be different, be special, be a philosopher! Set a goal, take a chance, strive for freedom! And dare to try! For this is the passion of a lifetime as if tomorrow is today and there is no turning back: Set out upon the ship of life loyal to wisdom and to truth, true to love and to friendship, brave before suffering and despair, adamant against evil and corruuption, triumphant over anger and hate, stronger than motive and emotion, and meek and gentle with compassion! Embrace each with with reverence and wonder and reward yourself with laughter and beauty. Be unique, be visionary, be a dreamer! Set an example, strike a blow, strive for peace! And dare to live! [ALL POEMS COPYRIGHTED (C) AND MAY NOT BE USED OR REPRODUCED IN ANY MANNER WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S PRIOR PERMISSION] DRIFTWOOD While the open sea closes around me And winds chill the warm evening night, I dwell on sweet, solemn thoughts of thee... Now constant reminders of my loveless plight. The evening darkens and the ocean sings As the roaring waves crash upon some reef. There...my desperate soul still clings Waiting for evening tide to drown my grief! Time has a way of making old the new And this ocean shore I alk in torment, Is but another remembered vision of you When love was true and permanent. And even though I never understood Why death came to take you from me, The tide brings you back each night as driftwood With memories of us together by the sea To quiet and soften the sorrow in me. SPRINGTIME Among life's desperate whims and paltry schemes Or where passionate dreamers dream deathless dreams, There is only one springtime of hope and love And one chance at life to soar the stars above! And while there are many who struggle and try Never to see their chance at life pass them by, There are few who ever soar the stars above And live to find their springtime of hope and love. For only once do the stars gleam and birds sing. Only once is there ever a special spring! Stronger than desperate whims and paltry schemes Or passionate dreamers who dream deathless dreams! So life carries on, and time is on the wing; And though death must surely come to everything, There is only one springtime that passes by, And some dream of love dying to tell you why. OCEAN CLIFFS Yes, I had thought you were dead years ago Since I never heard you discount the claim. Yet my love was true though you could not know I would walk ocean cliffs and call your name. Perhaps you ceased loving me years ago. Perhaps you had thought that I was to blame. No matter, though I were dead...I would know If you walked ocean cliffs and called my name. TWICEFOLD LAMENTED The ocean is my malevolent host And it is haunting this foolish lover With visions of one lost, lamented ghost Who I loved and murdered for another! Now the other is dead and gone as well And I am twicefold haunted and hated! Both drowned in the ocean, but I can tell Who is more lamented and ill-fated! THE TRAIN I ran to reach you but watched the train roll away And felt as if it were my soul time stole away. Then I came to join you, but lost you in the rain And suddenly missed you as swiftly as the train. Days later I heard your name amidst rumors of death, But trusting in my faith, restrained a last, gasping breath! And rushing to find you after taking the next train, There, I found you! Standing above a grave...in the rain. BESIDE THE SHORE You were walking beside the ocean shore and I gazed there unto you seeing us together as two yesterday before. Before the ocean sea did not so wildly, fiercely agree with your endless longing to be forever free. And before the ocean sea did not hopelessly lie between you and I. How your tide-swept eyes were full of life and surprise! They rendered to me all the smiles and sighs your heart now keeps from me and now forever denies. And though I offered the freedom of the sea and the beauty of yesterday, I gaze upon the past and to you and me, and wonder why you walked away. FARAWAY AND LOST (PART 1) So let us put away courage and cower on the floor, In the ghastly instances when twilight is on the eve! For tragedy lurks, and the wolf is always at the door, And death is everywhere--no matter what you may believe! For we always assume that we will stay young forever And all the salient lives we cherish will never die, And all the ties that bind us--no truth will ever sever, Since there is nothing--good or evil--we cannot defy! Then suddenly...the years become an incoherent tide And we are caught wearing grief about us like a used glove, While struggling to keep our feelings as strangers outside Near all the kindred souls we need but need never think of! (And I? Who seldom ever felt grief when a stranger died? I, at last, now know how it feels to lose someone you love.) YOU CAN BELIEVE You can believe in God. You can believe in Christ. And in every faith and religion on earth. So long as you believe in something spiritual! You can believe in integrity. You can believe in honor. And in every strength and conviction of mankind. So long as you believe in something incorruptible! You can believe in love. You can believe in friendship. And in every act and deed of kindness. So long as you believe in something immutable! You can believe in passion. You can believe in happiness. And in every dream and desire for peace. So long as you believe in something indomitable! For you can believe in nature. You can believe in philosophy And in the reality of justice and truth. So long as you believe in something indestructible! And you can believe in beauty. You can believe in goodness. And in every noble aspect of humanity. So long as you believe in something impossible! For so long as you believe in something that is absolute and universal, so long as you believe in something that is moral and metaphysical, so long as you believe in something that is deathless and inimitable, and so long as you believe in something that has greater purpose and potential than only the heart and mind and soul, --you may yet find life insatiable and the courage for facing death infinitely unconquerable! FARAWAY AND LOST (PART 2) Ah, during wild and windy evenings, like this very one, In view of graying skies, and before a shattering rain, We knew the dreams we dreamt before an invincible sun Would link our hearts together in an unbreakable chain! But who now reveres the rain, and who remembers the wind? (No doubt, neither you nor the few, and certainly not I!) So we allow the years to erode and see time rescind The pledges the past had sworn and swore never to let die! [ALL POEMS COPYRIGHTED (C) AND MAY NOT BE USED OR REPRODUCED IN ANY MANNER WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S PRIOR PERMISSION] |
| Verseville | OREGON | 10203 |
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