Go west.
Go to the edge of the world.
Look out over the sprawling vista of the gun-grey Atlantic,
Heaving in anticipation of the next storm.
The icy wind, travelling in from infinite wilds beyond
Carry the chill of a coming winter.
But there is nothing to fear.
For the heart is warmed by the thought of a hearth
Brimming with sunset red coals
Added to by the warm embrace of family and friends.
How much do I want you?
That is hard to tell.
For whatever else I try to do
I am under your spell.
You rule the deepest part of me
You subjugate my heart
You’ve changed it for the world to see
It all, not just a part.
I find that it I cannot fight
That when push comes to shove
For all my days and every night
It’s clear that I’m in love.
Luck is on my side,
The unfathomable vagaries of fortune have smiled upon me.
Chance has thrown me a good turn
and I have been quick enough to seize the opportunity.
For it is the wisdom to take on luck,
To tackle head on the universe when the augers are good,
To follow the signs of fate and take what the gods have provided.
That is the key,
The route for true success.
Fortune favours the bold,
For only the bold act when fortune provides her favour.
Look up into the star flecked night,
As if a thousand fireflies were stuck in the blanket of darkness above.
Their light an echo of times past,
Ghosts of a past saved by lights slow journey through the universe.
Their random positions, decreed by the vagaries of position and timing
Give the observer, pause to see in the twinkling lights,
Shapes, animals, people.
The ancient lights of stars converted to the gods and heroes of man.
The magic of the cosmos turned into the magic of the human imagination.
Decisions that need to be made,
Places of the mind that need to be explored.
The futures unending possibility to seek,
Life’s opportunity to unravel.
To find one’s purpose, to know promise
Can set you free from fear, but can also imprison.
To be free of uncertainty,
Is also to be free of choice, free of freedom.
It is the unknown, the unknowable, that makes us human.
Defines our mortality and gives life adventure.
Cast your art, magician.
Give us all a show.
Throw a shape with fleet-lived tools,
Practice all you know.
All you make will give such joy,
To people young and old.
When you start producing, wow,
Everyone is sold.
You have a skill, a trade, a gift,
Which few around can do.
For that we all should give our own gift,
In my case, this thank you.
For you I am here.
For you I do all that I can.
For you I struggle against the counsel of my fear.
For you I take the finest that I am and show it for the world to see.
For you, I work, make myself better, make my mark on the world.
For you I make my stand.
For you I write and I speak.
For you my love, I do anything.
I find that I must force my way,
From the falling to the night,
To resurrect the dying day,
It’s clear I have to fight.
The look of suns glowing ember,
Removes from my soul,
The will to take part as a member,
In the fight to fill the hole.
But I know the time will come,
In future long ahead,
That more will brave the setting sun,
If we give up for dead.
To fight against the dark,
To struggle against the night,
To keep alive the spark,
To help keep hope alight.
To fight, to strive when all seems gone,
When day has turned to night,
When all was lost, you fought on,
You held on to the light.
Many men who see your plight,
Consider you a fool,
To fight on when your death’s in sight,
Against their golden rule.
These naysayers have no heart,
They have to taste for glory,
The tales of heroes has your part,
And all will know your story.
I throw it in the heat of the play
Not caring where it lands
It sails through the air, on an unknown course
Its movement, in gods hands.
There is a thud and down it sinks
It settles where it lies.
But when we go to reclaim it
It’s gone, our joy, it dies.
We search, we seek, to no avail
We shuffle back to home,
We imagine that it waits for us
Sitting, cold, alone.
For that day, to our dismay
There’s days the gods will punish those
Who’re careless when they play.
joe2poetry 