Dark Night of the Soul Returns The cherished things, all the high ideals Are for the moment lost or cast aside As day when night upon the landscape steals, So many expectations with her died. The compass of my soul is now awry Spinning pointlessly in empty space, And darker spirits tempt the outward eye. I live in emptiness bereft of grace And yield to ancient nemeses my will. Through haze and stupor stumblingly I move, Nothing remains of calm or peace to fill The void that I became when lost was love. I have seen a few who tread the sun-bright path Undefiled by ego or desire, But I have known too well the Fury's w

LookForward Angel Look forwardangel, never looking back, The past islittered with the dreams of men And battlesfought many lives ago. There aresome who having tasted bliss Now bear thewounds of sorrow and defeat. Look upwardangel, never glancing back For darknessfollows us as day the night. Though fewhave risen above the lowly self Upon thejourney's steep and winding track The futurebeckons still, the past recedes, For what islife but a continuum, Experienceupon experience Leading to agoal we cannot see Or imaginewith the faculty of mind. Yet sheddingEgo's hard and brilliant mask, We shallarrive, fulfil the Spirit's quest Accomplishing

Autumn Colours Autumn's cool is on the skin And in the nostrils quivering. The figs turn purple and burst red And the honeyed tongue is pink. We spread black netting over the leaves Hoping to deter the bats. The yellow hornets feast these days In the time of orange persimmons. Through the low crotch of a lilac shrub I saw a young cardinal hanging Upside down in the plastic mesh Dead, more tangerine than red. On the path I met a snake, Nearly stepped on his shiny back But the Genius warned me just in time And I retreated carefully. He raised his head reluctantly And slowly lowered it again When I told him that I m

To Which Our Lives Aspire Scatterer of stars on the black cloth of night, I hear thy voice in the lightning's crack, the thunder's crash. Besetter of all hopes to spur our human flight In thee the warring factions meet, the nations clash On blood-filled killing fields grievously die. The cataclysm and the holocaust are thine And thine the vision seen in dream and darkling sky Sower of the seed that shall make earth divine, Destroyer and creator, anarchist and king, Crucible of love in whose eternal fire All is cleansed: though to our animal past we cling Thou art the ultimate to which our lives aspire.

The Nearness of the Goal To listen with the trance-like inner ear And catch the subtle rhythms as they fall, Alert to sounds beyond this human sphere And footsteps down the corridors of time, To see beyond this narrow vision's arc The splendour still denied to outward sight And watch the trailing raiment of the Gods As they pass through burning day and star-cast night, To harvest the honeyed fruit of Paradise And taste delight in simple, common things, To sip a nectar few have drunk before And know the joy that consecration brings. To breathe the fragrance of the asphodel And the blossoms of the stephanotis vine A sweetness n

Haiku of Sorrow Now the soul Alone remains In the wreckage we call life. On the surface All is calm Within, a waterfall of tears. On the road A shadow looms, Ghost of dreams and past desires

Dream-Vision I saw you bride eternal on the stairs Connecting living forms to seeming death Descend in a translucency of blue. Almost a dress of powdered light I thought, Angelic yet the living form of you. So sweetly did you smile that I mistook The symbol self for the goddess that I knew And yet within and perhaps moving through I recognized a headdress and a look That fills the heavens of our solitude With radiance eternal, ever new. Why did you come to me my slumber cease, Or was it you or visionary dream, And why did I react with such unease And speak the pain-filled words my heart denies? It hurt my soul so deep the tears still

Weep, Weep, O World for Loss Now all the being seems to weep, Denying rest, disturbing sleep Weeps for loss of all the fair, Weeps for all that we must bear, Injustice, jealousy, deceit Apathy of the vain elite, Revolution, war and death Inhaled with every painful breath. Loss of joy and loss of peace, A world of noise that will not cease, Angry rap, incessant beat Tread of the demon's stealthy feet. Love abandoned, friendship dead Deprived of our daily bread, Violence of the mind-numbed mass, Hatred spilled from every class, Greed and power hand in hand, A crippled mind that cannot

Among the Lilies Singing And suddenly all seems a darkness, The flickering light of mind gone out, Rushing of angry voices, a stream Of negatives confront the being. Who is this I ask who speaks From my mouth, with my tongue, Lashing out, frustrate, spent, Blind in a blinded world. Peace and the heart's delight have fled Across the borders of the soul, No sanctuary remains for one Besieged by grief and torn by death. The old oak stands shorn of limbs And I companionless stand by, Its blackened trunk where borers feast Once stood so strong and resolute No gale could tear away a branch, No force gain entry t

Recognize Eternity Again The petals of the heart are stained with grief As autumn's chill the bright and tainted leaf Once vibrant now falls listlessly to earth. Is there but one account of human worth Or does the soul return upon the spring, Its instrument the body made to sing And dance the long dance upon the grave Of doubt, desire and all that would enslave, To repeat no more the trite and