Deep Water

A HERO

Imagine your child is chosen to be a hero
how proud you would feel, how special;
how the thought would steal, overwhelm
all of yours, become every moment, a pulse,
a rhythm, a repeat, a roll of drums, a clarion
of wild horses drumming; imagine the glories,
the triumphs coming to your child, the parades,
the feasts, the love and reward of love returned.

Until your thoughts turn to the unavoidable cost of being a hero;
limbs lost, loves lost, friends lost, treasures lost, the rest lost,
and your heart turns to dust, the taste of heroics suddenly sour;
now, you don’t want your child to be a hero, he’s too young,
he’s too small, he’s been sick lately; he’s afraid; I’m afraid.

There is no answer, no explanation—he’s a hero.
You have to accept it, be defined and explained by it.
You are in a new world now, there is a map in a cave
guarded by a magic dragon whose skin is gold and breath is flame;
assemble the bravest men you know, sail for many perilous nights—

be a hero, lead heroes, raise mead in the hall of heroes;
garland your head with laurel, sing the song of your name
as you burn like a torch through the night; sing, heroes have
no choice, they are destined and must set themselves on
the road to battle, so there will be songs of victory, and tragedy.

To have your child chosen as a hero is an honour;
the price of tears becomes real the moment they are shed.

MOMENTS

we are buying these moments
with the promise of moments to come
we are taking these moments in furtive bites
awaiting the feast to come
these moments of flame and misery
flood and thirst
we will heal
we will pay the price
we will know why we did it
later

I AM BRIGHT IN THE SPIRIT WORLD

To see me, I am small and bound
by plastic cords to a machine
I need to survive.

To see me I am caught and bound
by a terrible and inexorable fate.
I am a victim.

Yet to see me in the spirit world
I am too bright and wondrous
to linger upon.

I burn in the dark to light your path,
to be a beacon in your night when
you are alone.

Let me soothe you and comfort you,
make you marvel such beauty is made
from heartache and sorrow.

THE RIVER

surrounded by water
I float on the river
whose shores I cannot reach

I float on the river
a paper boat that cradles a candle
I flicker upon the surface

only a ripple. I pass
across the face of the water
a golden tremble, bright, shadow

ripples appear, repeat, fade
never the same, soon erased
the glare of candle light drifts a script

upon the water, letters
for me to read, I harken
to the river & its deep water

RIVER ALT

I am in a dream
and the dream is life
I am surrounded by water

I am in a dream
floating on a river
whose sides I cannot touch

floating on the river
paper boats with candles
flicker as they travel

I am but a candle
surrounded by paper
floating on the water

I am but a ripple
floating on the water
golden flicker, now shadow

I flow with the water
brush all as I pass, gone
as if I never had been there

another ripple, not the same
now appears, on the water
where once I wrote, when

I was called the river

THE LOVE THAT DOES NOT PERISH

there is a love that does not perish
there is a love that cannot fail
it is the sound of our singing
the sound of the clouds in the sky
it is a love that cannot be forgotten
it is the spring that never runs dry

the stars cast their spears down before it
the lords of heaven tremble before it
the damned in hell thirst for it
it is the love that cannot fail

there is a love that does not perish
a love that survives each loving part
a love that cannot be divided
the love within each beating heart

there is a love that is the source of strength
a love that always is re-made
at the root of each flower
each stone rolled ‘neath the water
at the base of each mountain
the spring of each ocean
the love that surrenders
that nourishes and sustains me
that speaks words of truth
heard in deepest dreams

It is here with you now
Place your hand on your breast
Feel the beat that promises
The love that cannot surrender
The love that is always with you
it is the love that cannot die

There is a love that does not perish
that waits eternally without breath or pain
without forgetting, without wanting
without comfort, without shame
waiting for you to find it
in the dance of light upon the water
take you in its hand
and remind you
what it is to love again

it is the love that cannot perish
the love that cannot be divided
the love that cannot be taken
the love that will always remain