Thorns

My early interest in poetry was in the Tragic Romantic poets of the Pre-Victorian era – Shelly, Keats, Byron etc and also in Australian poets of the 1920-1950s. I began experimenting with lyrical poetry in the late 80’s and early 90’s but lost interest in formalised lyrical poetry. I wrote this poem in 1995 and it represents the shift I made from lyrical poetry to free form poetry. It also represents my interest in exploring the nature of mind and God.

Thorns

The whipping minds rust over her thigh
For soon in the grave the maid must lie.
When death’s briar deforms her eye
All thorns crush underlying memory.
The coffin must bid her bridal bed
The winding sheet must crack her head.

And behold the farce of death – the juggernaut.
And behind the juggernaut – a great void.

Her naught eyes still stiff beside,
Rendering the final cry of pain.

Flowers beget flowers Eyes beget eyes,
We gazed – And for a moment – We saw your God : Alone with itself.
Elements of the body Designs of the soul – All that changes,
Like solitude : An autumn.

Still, this identity will not last forever,
And yet you can never escape.
the soul splashes the window of the sun
the sun splashes the window of the soul
Heart contains the mind Thought stretches space.
One cannot be – without the other.