Sonnettics

How long will longing rob me of my sleep
I know it knows the cost of what it steals
Compelled to be the company I keep
We sit and talk of how compulsion feels
And slowly as this fool consumes my mind
With foolish talk disguised as something wise
My tired eyes are burning to be blind
In silent sleep where wisdom truly lies
Where quietly my angel holds my hand
And quietly dismisses longing’s thief
And with a love I don’t quite understand
She brings my soul and body sweet relief
As everything dissolves to peace it seems
I hear my angel’s songs within my dreams

The love of knowledge is a lower road
And yet to travel there is no offense
At times a slipping slope or heavy load
May seem to be its worst impediments
A low road floods at times in heavy rain
At times its bridges simply wash away
And though you see the goal you can’t obtain
You can’t recoup the toll you had to pay
And yet this road may be a high road too
In safety you may reach its highest hill
If traveled with a friend whose heart is true
Two loves transcend what one heart never will
Go hand in hand to oldest age from youth
And all your roads will lead you to the truth

A simple hymn sung with a stronger voice
Is thunder rolling through a gentle rain
It shakes the clouds and dares them to rejoice
A flash of lightning sparks a brief refrain
The melody drifts close enough to sense
A scent of lavender upon a breeze
A whisper of a love that’s so intense
It brings the singer gently to his knees
And there the hymn becomes a prayer of faith
To raise him to his feet and to his wings
And upward to a higher holy place
Wherein his soul with wild rapture sings
A simple hymn, but with a voice so strong
It bears eternity within its song

Your mom’s asleep–let’s let her have her rest
When she’s awake she’ll play with you some more
For her and for the baby it’s the best
To have some peace. Shh. Slowly close the door
We’ll tip-toe down the stairs like little mice
We’ll talk in whispers–all you want to say
Oh yes, she’ll think it all is very nice
For us to be considerate this way
Now let me tell you something very true
A special thing about your mother’s heart
A piece of it beats here inside of you
And so you see, you’ll never be apart
You too were once inside your mother dear
And with her love she keeps you still so near

I picture potion dripping from her hands
My body tight and dry upon her bed
A priestess, she both summons and commands
Such life from me I once believed was dead
She chants my name, a steady, rhythmic beat
Attacks my flesh with vigor and delight
I reel between her knees, her legs, her feet
Entrancing flames illuminate the night
But where she learned this magic I can’t say
And if it’s legal I don’t want to know
I only know her powers have a way
Of taking me to where I want to go
To heaven, if I’m with her, else to hell
And nothing on this earth will break her spell

I closed my eyes and sighed to her content
The picnic basket still remained half full
A token that our day was just half spent
The tug of sleep became a steady pull
She let me nap, her head upon my chest
I felt the sun, her lips, both kiss my face
And when I woke from such a peaceful rest
I felt that I was truly in my place
A place of peace more precious than a pearl
Like love itself had been the oyster there
A thousand years and guarded by a girl
Who knew what lay inside and knew to care
And now content she kisses my closed eyes
And smiles a pearly smile to hear my sighs

The stars all laughed as I walked past alone
They pulled their drapes that darkness was my path
The moon fell at my feet, a bloody stone
The sun withdrew her glory in her wrath
The emptiness of walking seized my feet
The emptiness of nothing seized my mind
The fearlessness of silence was complete
As every word was slowly undefined
And then I saw a pillar of white light
And god himself was standing in its glow
And jesus too was standing at his right
They shook their heads then turned again to go
Forever and forever left behind
And all the gold on earth was unrefined

As patient as a graveyard, there he sits
And watches as his wife falls fast asleep
The room is cold–he presently forgets
The promises he promised he would keep
His mind is silent, calm and still as death
Epiphanies are duly held at bay
His only mantra is his shallow breath
Which falls and rises now as if to say:
To sleep, to sleep–the bed is getting warm
To sleep, to sleep–the dreams are fading fast
To sleep, to sleep–ignore the coming storm
To sleep, to sleep–the future is the past
He dies the moment that he hesitates
A man who lives is not a man who waits

I caught a glimpse of where she was to live
With someone else, a happy little life
A place where she would find enough to give
As mother and as someone else’s wife
A garden full of flowers, neatly fenced
A closet filled with someone else’s stuff
A mind if not a heart that is convinced
That life and love could ever be enough
Enough knows nothing of eternity
A word that has it’s fill then falls asleep
It’s dreams are just a fleeting memory
Of closets and of fences built to keep
A happy little life to love within
Eternity was never sliced so thin

If half a life is all your life will be
If happiness is only in the rain
If every time you think you’ve found a key
You find the locks have all been changed again

If Spring succumbs to Winter’s latest frost
If distance is your constant enemy
If counting time is counting time that’s lost
And losing time’s a constant memory

Then let your mind recall eternity
And feel how close the soul is to the heart
Replant the seeds of faith in you and me
Our strength of love will break all locks apart

Though tears may come and go, the Rain will stay
To wash the tears of half a life away