Three Poems

A Demon Blackness

It did not have a spine.
It was all spine.
It was like a cross
between a panther and a spider,
with long black furry arms
and a small head.
It was all black,
even its eyes.
It crawled from the top
of my ceiling
down
to where I lay on my bed
and stared into my eyes.
Was it dangerous, wise?
I did not want to see it.
It wanted to see me, my torment.
I did not try to exorcise it
with the recitation of prayers.
I looked into its darkness
and spoke of light—
neither sun, moon, nor lamp
but song, flowers, …pleasures,
loved things,
then I cursed it
and shoved at it
with a plank
kept in my bedroom
for ordinary intruders.
Neither still nor welcoming
I was no longer the object
of contemplation—
or it may have seen enough—
and it left. It left.


Foolishness

You can lead a horse to water,
but you cannot make him drink.
You can lead an idiot to truth,
but you cannot make him think.



Love and Death

In the beginning was dust
and now is dust, dust

leaves bloom, brown, dry, fall
and by and by become dust

bird or rodent smashed
beneath the tires of modern time
rots, smells, dries into bits
of bone, feather or fur
into dust, dust

and you read these pages
pages becoming dust
you are hungry
grateful for fruit grown here
and my friend you gleam,
white, joyous, loving
calling me a new and secret name

Lover!

I am like a child named before birth
before birth
dust, dust
a child must grow into his name
I am growing toward you
trembling, burning, licking my lips
dust, dust
you call me and I crawl to you

and ancient, dark mothers sorrow
and call my first name

call my first name
call my first name

calling me away from you
calling me back home
whose pillars turn into roots
like teeth biting into earth’s flesh
dust, dust
they weep and rage: you are no child

and you say we are two children
we are reborn in love
I am torn between times
Son? Lover?
brothers of the sensual sword
sensual wound
our hands are joined
in an unusual wedding
ringed by desire
ringed by love
ringed by knowledge
our eyes open and open
and these are decisions
of mind, heart, will
as well as requirements
of the live body
before dust
dust, dust.


© DG (written at different times)