I Defy Despair

I defy despair

till the moment after my last breath

takes me elsewhere.

I defy despair

in the midst of turmoils

economic, environmental and emotional

I defy it

when all I own is dust

when all I know is gone

when all I love has passed

away

I defy despair

I defy it when

those in charge act like children

when suffering spreads like a wound

when the rational seems defeated by madness

when the voices of children

starved and helpless

go unanswered

I defy despair

And I do not defy it with anger

I do not fling impotent rage into the wind

I do not shout at the sky

Or rail against the stars

I defy it quietly and simply

serenely and constantly

persistently and resolutely

with that powerful

four letter word...

Hope.

Just try to defy that.

She Walked Between

Who walked between my winters
And left a warm impression there
Who walked between these islands
Reminding me of bridges fair

Who scaled the walls so frozen
Who added life to all the bare
And plain facades I'd chosen
To mask me from a luring stare
Of eyes that keep their secrets
While calling one to care

Who left before the winter
Could freeze her anywhere.

Odysseus' Folly

Bind me to the mast I said

Bind me good and tight

Plug your ears with wax I said

And don’t give into fright

Release me not till we’re long past

If I order or give plea

Loose me not until we’ve gone

Leave me bound here to this tree

We passed that fateful isle then

They were close enough to hear

The singing pulled at my frail soul

Its beauty brought forth a tear

I fought, I strove and tore my flesh

The ropes they bit and burned

I screamed, I wailed, I begged to leave

My efforts my crew just spurned

And when we passed away from there

I felt the loosing my mind

But the soul in me was rent in two

There’s no rest that I can find

I should have passed another way

I should have closed my ears

I should have stopped my wondering

That’s caused these restless years

And now I’m home; my journey’s done

I’m with family and my friends

I've battled monsters, men and seas

Yet the haunting song still rends

I hear it in the ocean’s waves

It’s hinted in the tide

The wind suggests its melody

From their voices I can’t hide

I’m called to cross the barren seas

I’m drawn to the rocky shore

I stand upon the brink of doom

And question what it was for

Why did I need to hear their song?

And pass so near that isle?

The sirens they are calling still

Across the watery miles

If I had stayed in ignorance

I may have saved my bliss

But now at home I’m wandering

Looking for what I miss

Some songs are much too wonderful

For these human ears to hear

And some are much too terrible

To add knowledge to innocent fear

I went through veiled and evil lands

I traversed the dim shadowed shore

I heard a dire forbidden song

’Fore Lethe I’ll rest nevermore

(This is an old one I never published on this blog for some reason. It seemed appropriate to post it now with the mythology theme over at the garden.)

What Creeps By My Bedside

Self-pity crept in by the bedside

Laid a languorous hand on my back

And pressed me into smothering covers

I fought back not a bit and sunk

Into the soft, motionless depths

Of a savoured sorrow

That tasted dry and overwrought

Bringing me back to restless immobility

What tossing and turning did this ship—

Myself—endure upon the sea of sleeplessness

I fought with rage and pride against a foe

That dared to offer out a hand to save me

“Grab hold and live!”

He cried from the deck

And still I screamed futile rage and sorrow

Gurgling against the waves

“Give me this!”

I shouted

“Give me one wrong to remember;

One grudge to nurture.”

But he stole the dead weight from my hands

And carried me to shore

Back to my bedside

Where self-pity lay defeated

Then instead of weeping

I gave in to sleeping.