One minute to midnight, deliverance and safe solutions are merely indelible myths,
Legend reminds us giants roamed the earth, searching for fresh blood and new gold,
Glorious birds warbling favoured mysteries, deciphering abstract ancient glyphs,
Remarkable creation alights, each atom and molecule living in a context powerfully bold.

Valleys of darkness, so much black hole fear in this earthly space,
Such plight and strife committed by uncaring evil, yet God is asking,
"What are religions doing to make this world a better more loving place?"
So much thoughtless wickedness, ruthless barbarians carelessly advancing.

Alchemists have conjured magic from deep beneath the toxic sea,
Crucibles bubble and boil, technology has magnified our barren souls,
God turns his back watching self, revolving and evolving magnificently free,
Humankind's quest is nearly lost, religion can't save us from our greedy goals.

Frigid and numbed by this cursed fall, sacred lies desecrated in a troublesome mire,
Over all the Holy Earth, throughout prophetic purgatory, vagrant desolation abounds,
Marking in the end each hopeful beginning, everything extant thus consumed by fire,
Resounding in each universe God's thunder molds voice, divine hands holding creation.

Now cannibals and headhunters are descending from the harried jungle,
Money has come to devour your young, feasting on their proud flesh,
Rampaging across the face of a hemorrhaging earth, lopping off heads in this wild bungle,
Grinding bones, slaying villages, guzzling steaming blood, victims indebted and sorrowfully enmeshed.

Winged firedrakes and serpents rush out from iniquity, breathing doom and fire,
Swallowing refinement, piercing every heart, stealing every ounce of valiant courage,
Before this trespass, ere the warring conflagration, before this shadowy gloom and mire,
Steely war lords gripped the world too, constricting throats with their bloody entourage.

Gather courage enlightened ones, for our feared enemies are marching ever near,
Jeopardous lions crouch, silently hidden by cooling sheaves of tall unbending grass,
Unwilling a quiet moon climbs high into a midnight sky, ne'er a peep of shameful fear,
Stalking mistress time prides of ferocious predators trundle, roaring with a critical mass.

Again and again I am drawn into Eden's sacred garden,
Searching for wisdom, consuming sublime earthly delights,
Planting seeds and trees midst clumps of tall cane without pardon,
Watching pristine flourish, magnificence that song and paradise invites.

Waking in an oasis we meet spirituality, God walking and speaking heart to heart,
Resting beneath the wand'ring sky, comfortably welcome under deciduous shade,
All those elephant mysteries divulged by shafts of perfect light, glorious riffs impart,
Simplicity engulfs domesticity, journeying into that fertile realm of Eden's blessed glade.

Arm in arm we play and run,
Prying through a laughing rain,
Plying a pouting desert arbor just for fun,
Heaven whispering such a sweet refrain.

Soar following radiant elephants as eagles tower above this sacred realm,
Joining hearts and binding devoted hands, tethers spliced with strands of love,
Cultivate peace with good men surely measured, steering from a blessed helm,
Irenic Saints and Angels sing, praising oracles, high heaven prophetically above. 

Storm clouds are grazing the careless range,
If by some vagrant chance I might see you again,
Kiss your pouting lips, this runaway love that is so strange ,
Might I ever be welcome to shelter you from the crying rain?

I'd buy you a gift, a box of watercolour paints,
Coupled we would prime our splendid dreams,
Fly high in concert, touch the brilliant azure sky,
Precious love anointing us, honey mixed with cream.

Lightning bolts might raze our careless hearts,
That blazing beauty, those deep eyes your grazing smile,
How do I hold on? How can I love all your perfect parts?
Succubi and Incubi wield truth and parable, a passing trial.

Renouncing all that plight which created a world that's gone mad,
There sits the Buddhist monk meditating upon self demolition,
Dreaming of that enlightened place, where life isn't so horribly sad,
Consecrated fuel spilled upon his shaven head, envisioning self immolation.

What is this finial madness finally gripping the ignorant tragic world?
Strangling men into submission, stealing away lives and sacred breath,
While kings and presidents luxuriate, we all clearly see, yet still we're told,
Sol rises and sets like religion, Old Man moon laments, consents to imminent death.

Waking, you are here, radiant and smiling beside me,
Lying next to me, sharing generous love between us,
I keep going back, a timely place, seems so gentle and free,
Hoping love's vision, some difference, quietly embraces us.

Envisage another me another you, our accepting arms and charitable smiles,
Every compassionate dream where rainbows dance, called by a blessing song,
Prophetic places where heaven sends peace, doves settling across divine miles,
Roosting and cooing while love raises us up to perfection where we all belong.

Wading along the sacred river, from placid shallows to the deepest pools,
Waiting for an obstructed world to open wide its blind intolerant eyes,
Reticent human beings opening bigoted hearts, to live not being fools,
Perhaps with hope and goodwill, mankind might alter a myriad of carnal lies.

I don't know where we all went wrong,
Perhaps when we stepped off the promised path,
All hoping that someday we'd exist in some exquisite song,
Love wanting to find us, continually consumed by exponential math.

Just another mad Max out on the twisting highway,
We wake realizing all our beloved visions were really terror,
Burning up prudent dreams along this crooked winding bi-way,
Regarding our cracked reflections in a shattered broken mirror.

Reminding ourselves we are human with a profusion of lethal flaws,
Leaving our flawed egos far behind us, buried deep with all our fatal fears,
Destiny blindly wandering down a midnight road confined by binding laws,
A glaring sun rising above the enshrined east, washed by all its blinding tears.

In my precious dreams, enveloped by my secret world, I saw us dance together,
Kissed by a beloved nature we stood weeping in that mysterious heady space,
Mem'ries crowded together, colouring rainbow's treasured ends, forever and forever,
Staring into your dark eyes my heart finds rapture, love encompassed in that adored place.

When the grieving moon falls from the crying sky, so many unhappy sighs,
Maybe then humankind shall open its weary eyes, finding that all along,
Whether we've been kneeling and praying, even picturing esoteric signs,
God hath certainly walked faithfully beside us, humming Heaven's song.

When I'm sixty-four,
Reveling I want to lie quenched,
Naked and glimmering in the thirsting desert,
Sweat pooling ere running in shredded rivers,
Shimmering on my rippled rectus abdominis,
Dreaming lyrically composing satyr poetry,
Penned with the tip of my blistered tongue,
Nude Artemisia reclining by my brutish side,
Grinning like a Baroque paragon,
Oil and paint liberally slathered,
Splattered across her swollen canvas,
Her moist vagina dripping creativity,
Full breasts heaving with such attentive nipples,
Painted Mars red with the tip of my rigid penis,
Spattered with exotic loops and Venus curves,
Hoops of erudite words and white cream,
Artemisia's paint box laid wide open,
Wet with a wash of excited expectation,
Heated sighs of lurid perfection,
Orally emitted with auditory profundity,
Our smiling audience gathered tightly around,
Applauding each bravo stroke and performance,
Shooting stars ricocheting into the glorious sun,
Heaven throwing open capacious golden gates,
Hell unlocking demonic fiery dungeons,
All the artists and poets and doubting Thomas' and Saints,
Milling to and fro atop high shifting dunes,
Uttering sweet nothings in that heady breeze,
Heads bowed in reverence at the spectral scene,
God Himself in happy attendance,
Clapping divinely with bright comedic eyes,
Thunder bolts introducing illustration to eternity,
Allowing light and shadow into a revolving cosmos,
Entering this abstract mood,
David's hand of God descending,
Fingering every limitless nuance,
Spraying spring water shooting fountains showering faith,
Jesus of Nazareth rolling back his tomb stone,
Wishing he'd been a poet instead of an oracle,
Nailing himself to his mortal cross,
Glad that in this final reincarnation,
Christ has happened upon this tempest,
All the sin and glory of the world unfolding,
Congregated in one sacred arid place,
Blood and wine finally mixing in his cup,
Apostles kneeling beside this tempera table,
Praying light will devour the tell-tale earth,
Sin collapsing into a Holy void,
Symphony reverberating as we all sink,
Beneath the everlasting sand,
Lost cities rising up in glory,
Shining and singing into the blinding day,
Generous Artemisia and I fearlessly celebrating hope and love,
Joy having kissed us and persevered together,
Unregretfully into timeless unforgettable and shameless art.

Thunder Before Lightning

I know, you won't belong to me,
Your uncertain heart has risen up and flown,
Another sunrise, there you'll surely wake and be,
Hope has it, that seed love planted has flourished and grown.

Here I daily monk, stowed away in my hermit rave,
Still I imagine all that distant music lasting sunsets parade,
Alone I walk through my garden, solitude just outside my cave,
Reminded of brilliant moments, in yesterday's Eden where we played.

Yet I'm surrounded, confined by towering circumventing walls,
Rising high these barriers hide, every unseen mystery which lies beyond,
Red flags flutter above each lofty corner, each streamer harkening a warning call,
My imagination shall never let me truly drink, refreshed by some cool placid pond.

If soothing music could comfort me all my abstract lonely nights,
Perhaps dreams I've dreamt would carry me to some alternate lofty height,
Shackled in my prison I lie down at its very centre, quiet and so clearly contrite,
Buttery blue flutterflies gather dancing around my being, clustered they freely alight.

Love has re-invaded my restless soul,
With all that crying pain, those love things,
I try singing it away, then perhaps I might remain whole,
Yet determined love, twists the knife that hurtful brings.

It's been said that joyous love outlives rancor, and certain death,
Souls mitigate and migrate, falling free from the perfect sky,
Spirit walks hand in hand with life, encouraged by each sacred breath,
Journey 'cross a blessed ground, ere divine love ever wither and die.

There we tread spell bound, mired in some terrible darkness once again,
Chained and desperately tired, saddled for life with so many disparaging fears,
Each lonely day wishing for fragrant freedom, liberation from all this horrid disdain,
Who would have imagined o'er ten thousand years, there could be so many trying tears?

Spurred on through the lonely night, errant time gallops away with us,
Myriads of ragged loneliness framed, contained by so many jagged jeers,
Time and time and time again, life conjures fiends abased by so much fuss,
Bags full of muss dragged o'er sleepless nights into dark days, so many dreadful years.

Manacled to our pierced and bleeding hearts,
Weeping with each searing ache, penance insists pain stays,
Requiring humble eminence, for all our daily sinful parts,
Such a torrid crucible, jumbled within these costly torpid days.

Lie deathly still, ponder presence beneath summer's sombre skies,
Day dreams come and go, prophesying verisimilitude that Tao imposed,
Forecasting each flagrant fling, every act and nuance of loathsome lies,
Naked under unbelieving stars, recklessly indifferent and so very exposed. 

Blistered molds reinstate unfolding worlds,  thoughts most remarkably suffice,
Blending life with withered grass, intricately woven with unending forgiveness,
Bits of shrunken solace in these hours, compassion rests its need for altruistic sacrifice,
Upon a terse loom each warped strand clenched by divinity's rigid righteousness.

Enticed by every integral breath we take,
Starved by each and every hungry mode,
Enlightened by ordinary  journeys we make,
Treading long dusty roads, so burdened by our heavy loads.

Kicking stones, lugging all that tiresome baggage we bring,
Passing blossoming fields, where we stop to gladly rest,
Abiding worn out souls, yet Larks and Sparrows harken even sing,
Divine glory behooves each remorseless day, lest fate and trouble attest.

Colour billowing in the wind, sacred gloriously recommends,
Shaded groves of stately trees, where righteous birds nest,
Pigmented layers upon a feathered crust, which ancient sends,
Rooted and roosting freely, chanting daily prayers such a brilliant crest.

You came to me in a dream again,
Just as you have so many times in our varied past,
I know this sentimental scene, all so seemingly wrong but then,
Hopes and dreams and forevermore shall never truly last.

There can be no virtuous place for us,
Where divine good or romance forever wins over,
In fairy tales and legends midst all that rustled muss,
Where magnificent love might truly take a passionate lover.

Perfect rays of flawless sun, shines on everyone,
Unlike this plastic artificial world, all void of glories,
Filled with greedy sin and hardship, keeping us undone,
Worshiping jewels sparkling in the sky, oh lost treasure stories.

Mired in some stinking bog, such a twisted cruel world,
Where hard rain floods the land and delicate tears constantly fall,
Compassionate love is merely a dream that remains hardened and curled,
A world where battles mark death, rallying down stark alleys with a brutal call.

No matter what we genuinely feel or wish or want,
No matter what our heart seems to dream in any good guise,
Fairy tales, myths and legends unfold spent and gaunt,
An ersatz world foretells a stormy future with so many shadowed lies.

Wading and waiting along all those soothing sacred rivers,
Waiting patiently for all the world to open wide closed eyes,
All sentient beings tearing open closed hearts, become reverent givers,
Perhaps hope and purity brings good  fortune, dispells all irreverent ties.

A spark, created by our own calloused hand,
Channeled down a hardwood board, even crucial pressure,
A dried wooden stick firmly gripped, under our command,
Making fire, thus man is born with sentient good and earthly measure.

Still I'm imprisoned within this walled surround of silent grief,
If only I might rise up, fly free from this castle of correction,
Memories of you keep me tethered and grounded in my belief,
Chaste love gives us wings, so we may escape self imposed detention.

Distilled inside this divine creation, a beating heart grumbles within my being,
All my broken dreams, nothing but illusions concocted behind each towering wall,
Yet dreamy clouds drift by, thunder breaks the silence with enlightened meaning,
Still I can't fly or see as lightning blinds me, forewarning me of all that red flag pall.

You arrived like a hot July afternoon,
after so many distant years, so far apart.
I had you again, a split second, just a fleeting day,
a sliver of gold offered by the argent moon.
Romancing this divine garden,
we picked peas, snapped photographs,
spoke about loved ones,
philosophies and poems,
danced together down arbor paths,
admiring bright flowers and tall stems,
all those pulsating shades, oh those floral greens!
Sharing tales about pungent issues and prickly herbs,
so much vibrant life in that microcosm, so it seems.
Distant thunder, signaling some sweet arc,
transfixing time, segmented and transcended,
orchestrating some fine balance,
statues and art admired in this blessed park.
We spoke about blue whales and hot air balloons,
caring words long into the tender night,
comforted by that expectant full moon,
brilliant heaven appeared, near at hand,
close enough to touch, in that storied land.
I watch you, quavering,
lithe and long legs, a level match with grand,
your pretty mouth and entrancing smile.
Those blissful quivering moments,
I drink you in, your contented style,
such satisfying sweetness.
I adore you, shimmering,
your presence delights me,
yet I am uncertain in my present state,
I know I'm not thinking straight,
but truth whispers, quietly in my ear,
wishing we might fall together,
deep into some love story that dreams invite,
discover magic sparks, which true love ignites.
Standing stark still, 
steeped in the music of this precious rill,
just a delicious breeze, fluttering the Kestrel's feather,
bathed by that extraordinary buttery light.
There, that beautiful mouth, in plain view,
I want to kiss you,
those trembling lips,
pull you close,
wrapped in my two arms,
let me feel your beating heart,
melting into a conscious dream,
melodies replayed from long ago,
bordered by walls of delicate blooms,
showered in that heady garden fragrance,
awash with happiness, all those water colour rooms.
Divinity's friend, a happy sparrow, flitted by chance,
graciously landing, balancing on a slender quaking branch,
singing and bringing, some captivating ancient chorus,
warbling a splendid wondrous tune.
Joy descended, thus the world seemed a perfect place.
Yellow moon amazed, with its curious face,
climbing the wandering sky,
reaching higher, pondering love's precious pace,
not quite sure, quietly wondering why,
witnessing debatable clouds scudding by,
pink and grey across a doubting sky,
remarkably smiling, still love remains quiet and shy.
Once again you are on your way,
pirouetting with your colourful flutter,
ascending that apex, your blessed goddess mountain,
pray your angels catch you, stumble with fate or fall,
tumble into their sure and gentle arms.
Thus the day is done, time has flown by,
still such a sweet goodbye,
and once again, away you fly,
like an anxious bird of paradise singing,
colourful and free and soaring,
uncaged, as you should be too.
But a lonely heart at times,
wishing my love could catch you,
embraced by strong arms and ardent rhymes.
I know there are tears,
glistening as you softly weep,
late at night you sometimes cry,
those sad eyes steeped at times,
alone in some gentle mist,
passion hugging your needy pillow,
holding on for dear life with one clenched fist.
If only I were enough,
such a lonely heart,
chiseled from the granite tough,
parched by all that desert rough,
yet such fine treasures and memories,
such delicate bliss,
one last precious kiss,
one last flirting rhyme,
just perhaps my love,
until next time.

Disappointed

We're all disappointed when life doesn't turn out the way we had hoped,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when time ticks away and we find we are late for everything,
We're all disappointed with that,
We're all disappointed by life with all its disappointments and heartbreaks,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when that ice cream cone we had wanted so badly plops scoop down onto a filthy street right before our disbelieving eyes,
We're all disappointed with that,
We're all disappointed when the three-ring circus ends and the fun loving clowns stop making us laugh,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when the picture show we had been so excited about seeing for the first time wasn't worth the expensive trip to the theatre,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when day turns to night and the party is finally over,
We're all disappointed when that happens,
We're all disappointed when the blessed spring and nurturing well runs dry,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when that rock solid warranty, marred by planned obsolescence, ends up a sham,
We're all disappointed by that,
We're all disappointed when years of hard work don't pay off and our secure pension we expected disappears and is sucked back into the greedy corporate world,
We're all disappointed when that happens,
We're all disappointed when things don't turn out the way we had hoped,
We're all disappointed with that,
We're all disappointed when we discover things we believed to be true turn out to be false,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when that gift we had so looked forward too doesn't show up under the artificial tree on Christmas morning,
We're all disappointed by that,
We're all disappointed when that shining diamond we thought so valuable turns out to be nothing but shattered glass,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when we find out that special someone we loved so dearly cheats on us,
We're all disappointed when that happens,
We're all disappointed when our friends become our enemies,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when our mothers don't love us like we so desperately wanted them to,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when we realize all that mistreatment we received from our abusive fathers ruined our lives,
We're all disappointed by that,
We're all disappointed when we arrive home to find our home has burned down,
We're all disappointed with that,
We're all disappointed when our beloved dog is run over by a careless speeding driver,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when the buffalo and wolves are gone,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when the last prairie Meadow Lark and that last Bird of Paradise falls silent in a dead jungle,
We're all disappointed when that happens,
We're all disappointed when we find our sacred forests decimated and shipped across the ocean to another country,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when the last African Lion, Bengal Tiger, White Rhino and wild Elephant are mercilessly shot and killed by trophy hunters and poachers,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when the polluted seas turn red and pods of whales wash up dead on desecrated beaches,
We're all disappointed by that,
We're all disappointed when the specialist tells us we have cancer and only a fifty fifty chance of survival,
We're all disappointed when that occurs,
We're all disappointed when the sun doesn't shine on the weekend,
We're all disappointed with that,
We're all disappointed when that person we voted in as leader of our country turns out to be a selfish idiot,
We're all disappointed when that happens,
We're all disappointed when that individual we had thought so highly of turns out to be nothing but a low life and a criminal,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when bullets start flying in our neighourhoods,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when tanks begin plowing down broken streets and avenues we once freely meandered, not so many weeks and months before,
We're all disappointed when those horrid events take place,
We're all disappointed when bombs start falling from the innocent night sky when all we wanted in the first place was to live peaceably and to see the stars,
We're all disappointed when that happens,
We're all disappointed when life turns out to be shit when we had dreamed such sweet dreams for ourselves and the world,
We're all disappointed by that,
We're all disappointed when ships overloaded with desperate migrants sink and so many innocent souls are lost at sea,
We're all disappointed when those situations take place,
We're all disappointed that nuclear disasters occur, poisoning the world for thousands of years to come,
We're all disappointed by that,
We're all disappointed when the sky turns black and we witness our loved ones choke and die,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when our messiah doesn't return in the flesh when he promised he would,
We're all disappointed,
We're all disappointed when all those promises our saviour so fervently promised us don't come true,
We're all disappointed with that,
We're all disappointed when myth and magic end up being fairy tales and slight of hand,
We're all just so disappointed by that.
We're all disappointed when the blood running through our veins turns cold,
We're all fatally disappointed,
We're all disappointed by all these many disappointments,
We're all disappointed.