Opposites

OPPOSITES

The opposite of love
Is not hatred but fear
Hatred is simply
An armour for fear

Darkness is not
The opposite of light
It is simply
An absence of light

Thwarting The Gloom: Senryu

THWARTING THE GLOOM

Lights switched on midday
Not shameless exorbitance
… Poetic licence

Passed Over: Tanka

PASSED OVER

Dearest Margaret
Lives in a higher place now
Showers me with light
I am humbled by her gift
And, she says, not before time

Light And Dark: Shadorma

LIGHT AND DARK

In darkness
A light seeks us out
Throws a line
Lest we drown
Whilst most marvellous of all
‘Tis we who threw it

‘Neath Doom’s Trump

‘NEATH DOOM’S TRUMP

Through deepest midnight
Hid light persists in shadow
Embroiders darkness

Encouragement

ENCOURAGEMENT

Veiled by cloud the sun
Still supplies sufficient light
To kindle the search

Resolve

RESOLVE

May we enjoy
And openly share

Shed light
Add warmth

All around, always
While we still may

Runes

RUNES

This wintry scenescape
Darkness and lightness abound
As for tommorow
Spring, summer, autumn for sure
As for their contents who knows?

In The Last Moments Of My Christmas Candle (Republished)

IN THE LAST MOMENTS OF MY CHRISTMAS CANDLE

In the nest of a speckled thrush
Which contained some good ideas
I swear
I swear I saw a lamb
Who are you, heart of the flame
Who stand in grace above a dying light?
Sad endings across the hollow lake
Ducks at evening
A glacier of wax
The glass mountain of Nativity
Urbane as a bustling sufferer
The whole world in a flame
If it grew as a sheet of steel
For the hammer of hard fortune

Embrace
Embrace the light
Do not flee before fears of your own face
Or a tree
Hopelessly strong
Though dressed like an artist
I have nowhere to go
There is no flame
No flower without bud
No budding without death
Ah love, to know is to be true
Unsure as a bursting sunflower
On a slender stalk
Living to find the sun
I fear the sharp eyes of the wind

Child
Of a spring and a summer gone by
All my life in a locket round my neck
Containing a few friends
Many books
Many songs
And myself
In flower

Goddess
I see you pretend to die proudly
Neck as a swan’s
But you will bend your back
Cough like an old man
Spitting in the street his lungs
I am the heart of the flame
The tree
The lord of life
Love is all, love is me
I do not need to tell you
Quite uselessly beautiful
You are the cloudless stars
You are the speckled sky

String Of Lights (30c)

STRING OF LIGHTS

Uniting
Poets illumine
Your dark night
Of the soul
Passing the torch down the years
Lightening the load

~~~~~~~~~~~

Shadorma November