In The Peaceful Moments Prior To Sleep

 

In The Peaceful Moments Prior To Sleep

 

In the peaceful moments prior to sleep

I hold you close as consciousness withdraws

And as embracing we each other keep

I long to join my loving soul with yours

And travel birdlike far across the sea

To paradise where suffering’s no more

As one both man and woman we would be

Androgynous like once we were before

And in that paradise the truth we’d know

And understand its mystery complete

Reluctantly away from there we’d go

And separate our souls that once did meet

To waken in forgetfulness of bliss

Yet still embracing you and I would kiss

Festive Memory

 

Festive memory

 

Christmas 2000, something or other;

The in-laws came over; stayed the whole day;

We exchanged presents with one another,

As the festive tunes droned, on repeat play,

I drank too much, three hours before eating

A mound of turkey, sprouts and sausage meat,

After which, due to a lack of seating,

I slept on the floor, all through Corrie Street,

EastEnders, Shrek, or some other like guff,

Woke up, played games, felt jaded and dead beat,

The in-laws agreed we’d all had enough,

In anticipation of a retreat,

And when they went home, the day being through,

I stayed up and watched The Godfather 2.

William The 2nd

 

William The 2^nd

 

Mr Shakespeare

From Warwickshire

Put down his quill

And quivered with cheer

 

Am I the first?

He asked of the nurse

She said no Will

This isn’t your verse

 

In spite of the fame

Attached to your name

The number one spot

Is not yours to claim

 

For no real reason

Margaret Keenan

Received the first shot

From Pfizer this season

 

William resigned

To second place lined

Ventured a glance    

At Dickie behind

 

And Dickie I heard

Once given the word 

Jumped at the chance  

To be Richard the 3^rd

Lake Of Blood

 

Lake Of Blood

 

Thoughts of animals, heading to slaughter,

Locked up in trucks in perpetual fear,

Enter my mind, like unbidden water;

Cows, sheep and pigs; all randomly appear;

I see them led to their deaths, every one;

Mere units on a meat production line,

And, upon reaching the slaughterer’s gun,

I hear every scream and terrified whine;

I feel their despair, each sentient being;

Their blood is a lake of tears in my mind,

Yet my eyes stay dry, in spite of seeing

This barbarism on animal-kind,

For if of that lake I released one drop,

I fear I wouldn’t be able to stop.

Atys

 

Atys

 

A philosophy school in Phrygia,

Once had a religious idea:

A god known as Atys,

(Some called him Adonis),

With origins not at all clear,

 

Was born, so the mysteries say,

In December, the 24^th day,

And he was pulled free,

From his mother, a tree;

For the gods, it’s said, turned her that way.

 

I’ve hardly perused, I confess;

Of his life I know little, or less,

If you wish to explore,  

Let a book tell you more,

It’s his death that I here now address.

 

Of accounts of his death there’re two;

The first says a boar gored him through,

In the other, he’s dead;

Self-emasculated,

(Yes indeed, what a strange thing to do).

 

The pine, beneath which he was found,

By Cybele, was pulled from the ground,

Tree and god, she then gave,

To the care of a cave,

But Atys to death wasn’t bound.  

 

For three months, his body lay well,

Decaying not, as when he fell,

Then upwards he rose,

Now Heaven he knows,

Where angels and righteous souls dwell.

 

On leaving, he gave to the tree,

His spirit’s immortality,

The tree, in his name,

Symbolic became,

And passed into our history.

 

And though this short tale may appear,

In clarity, wanting, I fear,

I hope you’ll agree,

Or at least partly see,

There's a Christmas tree link with Phrygia.