AT THE FIRST WHIFF OF LILAC
Companion to Delius' 'First Cuckoo'
Your clustered Lenten purple
Throbbing with unseemly primal passion
seduces all who bustle by.
Twist their well-honed purpose
until blunted
by your heady, drunken, gasped-in drug
Urging them to seek out mates,
And lying, intoxicated by you
learn again the slumbering green.
'POV FAVORING ...'
When I talk of Levi Strauss
You only think of jeans.
And Freud for you, is the way chips are cooked.
Shelley is the back beach at Rye.
Brecht clears the morning cattarh, that sensuous desert land.
But somehow, we get along.
For I have the books of a philosopher.
You have the soul.
A MELODRAMA WITH THREE VILLAINS
'Madam, I'm Adam,' he said to Eve, 'Gardening is m'line.'
Thus he gave her a Cook's tour around Paradise
Expounding the Law Divine.
'You were made from m'rib by the Mighty Lord.
With me, you can help rule the roost.
Bog in, help yourself to Nature's Reward,
Kindly leaving Forbidden Fruits.'
Surrounded by angels and nurtured by God, they thrived in ignorant bliss
Till Eve, in vulnerable solitude,
Was beguiled by a flattering hiss.
The Talking Snake set her on new trains of thought
Touching on how she'd improve
If she nibbled the fruit without being caught
'Come on, girl, you're stuck in a groove!'
With gusto, Eve slurped on the apple she pinched
Hoping its powers would act soon.
When Adam caught her at it she scarcely flinched,
Just sang him the serpent's tune.
The promise of knowledge, too great to resist,
Led Adam to hold out HIS hand.
Raphael's trumpet called, 'Obey! Oh desist!'
Fading fast from that distant land.
When God found them huddling, clad all in leaves
He gave them their marching orders.
Death, pain and sin, disobedience achieves!
Erring parents! That's all you ensured us!
THE WEIGHT OF BEING LOVED
The weight of love
crushes the helium lightness of loving or just being.
Feel the grinding of another's hurt.
Your face moistened by another's tears.
Love punctures bubbles of frothy joy
Leaving a residue of damp, cold, a grey puddle.
Statistics? There is none. But this is an observation.
