Dust to Dust

Dust to Dust

I tried to throw pieces of you away,
But the wind blew the pieces of you back,
They stuck to me like gello and remain,
Now I see you about in what we knew,
In doorways and arches you appear still,
Like the shock of a thunderclap in heat,
Everything breaks down and is rebuilt too

The awesome power that took you from me,
Comes alive again not in gentle hills,
Or quiet dells and green secluded lanes,
You were too much for quiet dignity,
Happy joyful speaking shouting singing,
Running walking leaping jumping dancing,
Can never be numbed by eternal sleep

When a stiff wind blows, it is you sprinting,
When a cool breeze flows, I can feel your heart,
When I hear storms, you are warring with God,
When the sun blazes, I can see your smile,
When it rains, that is your sad bitter tears,
When birds chirp and sing, I know you are near,
When my heart stops, I will touch you again

The Gorgoneion

The Gorgoneion

I saw you first under velvet baldaquin,
Brandishing that shield as an honoured marquis,
Might spent, in weaved brocade the new majesty,
Yet still you held the stare of the assassin,
While in masks of greasepaint the harlequin hides,
Clearly through fiery l’aura I see His awe,
Above Madonna in pietà, cast waugh,
Looking down on the putto scratched in tired eyes.

Yet descant howls awaken the dark lagoon,
Fashioned out of deep umber, tendrils flowing,
Bloody larvae ooze vipers, curled arabesque,
Cast in gesso, I see her under the moon,
She spits acid blood that cuts through ice glowing,
Look at her with eyes, for a harlequin’s jest.