Extracts from Issue IX



Spark!           Jester Awake      Crow Wood

 

Spark!

Seeking love, I scour the air,
Down below, a burning pyre,
Alas, my raven isn’t there,
She’s silent, hidden, encased in fire.

A crack of lightning strikes my side,
I plummet, wracked with searing pain,
Alone, without respite, I cried,
Crashed to earth in soothing flame.

The fiery bird, my wings caressing,
Healing flames enfold my heart,
Burning, healing, a mixed blessing,
A bridge of distance we’re apart.

Alas, my Phoenix cannot touch me,
More than fiery heat projected;
The heat I feel strongly clutch me,
My every feather glows, affected.

As the embers ‘round me darken,
A spark creeps slowly ‘fore my eyes,
To an obvious thought I hearken,
My Phoenix a raven, in flame disguise.

Now I long to join her, burning,
Drink her poison, feel her passion,
Never sleeping, turning, yearning,
To rise again, our winged forms ashen.

Brendan Casey


Jester Awake

Awake Jester, awake!
Your cockerel’s crow is mocked by Banal’s slaves –
They treat you as a fool!
How sad:
There is more wisdom in your pinkie,
Than all the learned have.

The open world awaits;
Majestic Alps, Pacific seas.
Stand on the heads of those who crawl on knees.
Be done with time and with weak Moral’s gait:
It does not suit you,
Common human fate.

Drink with the gods
At the Queen’s side,
Before the mob; and laugh
When they all frown.
Life is a dance:
A whirlpool waltz before we drown.

And in the end what have you done?
Your work is sound –
Swirl in the sun!
And relive all your earthy fun …
Jester awake!
The world is won.

Jim Sinclair

Crow Wood

Sometimes we need to be alone
To see through the days of old
The noon of stars flowing back
Blessed the sweet of Lady Moon
And all her crowning halos
Land of heaven held in balance
The glowing flame burning light
Same faces, different masks
Reflect …
In the lake of placid dreams
In the eye of sleeping rooks
We awaken like white ravens.

Martin Buckley