Here we shall wait, you and I,
And settle our heads against a pillow as we lie
Waiting, waiting for love...
...
Am I too young to contemplate death?
With youthful hue and long of breath?
Death is something that is foreign to a child;
He lives his life reckless and wild.
...
Today I set aside my rhyme,
I trade in my sabre for a club,
To iterate the wrods in my heart;
I feel dissonant today.
...
When I heard the news, I imagined you lying in bed
Troubled by the uncertainty of what lies ahead.
I imagined you looking at your legs, cursing
Their fickle use, while a stranger stands over you nursing.
...
In spite of my protest, a new day is born,
Sun chases moon; I am forlorn.
If the Sun were considerate, He would give me leave
So that I may have ample time to grieve.
...
Ay me! Why does Poesy wish me to draft;
To wilfully engage in this sullen craft?
Ill-begotten I am, dull is my pen
For it has no power to wound the hearts of men.
...
The Great Dictator made the Fatherland great
With a strong regimen of violence and hate.
Speer builds, Goebbels lies
And all around, the Jew dies.
...
She keeps her heart locked up tight
Too many thieves in the night;
Many times the key was given, but each day
The thief opens the lock, takes the heart, and slithers away.
...
Proudly, vainly, prophetically, I imagined to see
A horrible rend between us that time could not mend.
The indignation of the Ages has settled upon me
That very day I was no longer your friend.
...
O, gentle night, rock me asleep,
Dry my eyes so I cannot weep.
I embrace thee, cold gentle night,
While I scribble poetry by candlelight.
...
Open your eyes to the ravings of a disordered mind,
Observe lunacy in its finest hour.
'I am but mad north-northwest.'
Random images flash across the canvas;
...
I see your eyes flicker in the candlelight;
I become intoxicated with their charms.
I feel myself melting away within your arms,
As we lie together in the restless night.
...
She walks alone on the moonlit beach
Her feet slide in the ever-yielding sand
(It is the only thing in her life that gives) .
The waves wait anxiously, calling her,
...
The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock's Mistress
Here we shall wait, you and I,
And settle our heads against a pillow as we lie
Waiting, waiting for love...
J. Alfred! Why doth thou hesitate!
I need thee now, I cannot wait!
I am aroused when I see him ascend the stair
(And see that glistening bald spot in the middle of his hair)
And yet you tarry; come love make speed
For it is you I desperately need!
At night, with the cat by my side
I ask, 'If he loves me, why does he hide? '
It is true he is not apt with speech
But those ready-made words are within his reach.
He may not be Hamlet, but who needs to be
When all he has to say is that he loves me!
I pray for the day he will take my hand
And upon my finger fit a wedding band.
Had we had world enough, and Time,
This coyness, J. Alfred, would be no crime.
And while my beauty today would glimmer
(That's what you'd say) , Tomorrow, it shall be dimmer.
I want everyone upon this spinning rock
To see me as Mrs. J. Alfred Prufrock!
But J. Alfred, could it be
That I am not worthy for thee.
Do you look upon me
And not like what you see?
During my daily stairway vigil
I wonder whether dwelling upon you is criminal.
If it is, I accept the fetter
For there is no thought that could be better...
But J. Alfred, could it be
That you lookupon me and not like what you see?
I look into a mirror
And see I made a grave error.
The beauty I think I see
Are just the words you've said to me.
'Your hair is beatiful and fine...'
(It looks like seaborne brine) .
'Your body is soft and fair...'
(It is oddly shaped like a pear) .
I truly want to be
The image in the mirror you wished to see.
No! I am not Helen of Troy!
My grotesque self is why you are coy.
It is in bed, Meneleus would stay
If, by Paris, I were whisked away.
These blistered and chapped lips
Could never set sail a thousand ships.
I grow dull; I am past my prime;
I'll use coffee spoons to measure out time.
I'll bid men nearly grown
To gaze upon me and turn to stone.
And I hoped, hoped for the ring
And for minstrels to dance and sing,
But hopes (it is their nature) are surely dashed
Like a mighty Barque upon the rocky shore; crashed.
(7 July 1994)