A poetry continues
The call We all dream of conquering time
So the knees may not grow
sore
With earth pleading, so death may
Be put to shame and into the shade.
But time and death are what dreams
Are made of, banging at
The very doors of the day-night eye.
Dust or clay I have played
Prodigal enough with such great epics
To feed the limbs and voices
Of inspiration making my human limits.
But not with you, distant call
Whose faith is sun to my spirit
Moon to my spear; while life
And love like one great staircase
Grow with each climb which will end
At the top floor of the last day…
I remember the lures of that ancient call
When my cock-wings flapped and fluttered
In pursuit of your tail and I had to
Pet you with wild-olive
Promising with all the somersault
To wait on this great green side
Till the dark clouds have cleared.
Commentary
This love poem falls into two clear but closely related parts;
the first part defining the basis and providing the metaphor
for the second part. My love for the woman endures for ever
and is not bound b time or space.
Notes
Line 1 death sets the seal to man’s lifespan on earth. It is
the one inevitable en which man knows he cannot
avoid and yet which he does everything to avoid.
Line 5-7 refers to the function of the eye in determining day
and night.
Line 9 the image is from the story of the prodigal son in the
Bible. "To play prodigal" is to be reckless and
wasteful, although repentant in the end.
Line 10-11 limbs and voices and even inspiration are attributes of human beings, who by their very natures are subject to time.
Line 12 distant call
This
means love both as passion and the person
loved.
Line 18 ancient call
This refers also to love. Love and its expression are
as "old as the hills".
Line 21 an olive leaf of branch is a symbol of peace. But
wild-olive goes beyond that and has a biblical
background.
Night
Your hand is heavy, Night, upon my brow
I bear no heart mercury like the clouds to dare
Exacerbation from your subtle plough.
Woman as a clam, on the sea’s crescent
I saw your jealous eye quench the sea’s
Fluorescence, dance on the pulse incessant
Of the waves. And I stood, drained
Submitting like the sands, blood and brine
Coursing to the roots. Night, you rained
Serrated shadows through dank leaves
Till, bathed in warm suffusion of your dappled cells
Sensations pained me, faceless, silent as night thieves.
Hide me now, when night children haunt the earth
I must hear none! These misted calls will yet
Undo me; naked me, unbidden, at Night’s muted birth.
Commentary
In this subtle and exquisite poem I describe nightfall and its
effect on me.
Note
Line 2 mercury here means lively
Line 3 exacerbation is used in the sense of irritation or
annoyance.
Line 4 a claim is a species of bivalve shellfish (i.e. having
two separate pieces hinged at a point; both close and
open automatically).
Line 6 fluorescence refers to the shinning surface of the sea.
Dance gives the image of the movement caused by
the waves.
Line 8 brine
Salt water; the sea.
Line 11 dappled means made up of patches of colour or
shade.
Line 15 naked
Defenceless, unprotected and undiquished.
Unbidden means not invited.
Muted birth means silent approach.