Old Cold Gods
“Wekk up lad, cum’n see, its ‘er time!”
The old man shook me awake, stooping under the low ceiling of the old farmhouse.
I was thrilled and honoured; the old man, my Grandfather, had chosen me to share this moment, which he had awaited, sleeplessly, for over a week.
I quickly got dressed, it was Easter, but Easter came early and my breath fogged before me in the bedroom. The only warm room on the farm was the kitchen, the realm of my Grandmother.
I pulled on my boots and we tramped across the cobbled yard to the stable.
Inside, the young Clydesdale Mare, the pride and joy of my Grandfather, was about to drop her first foal.
I expected a long wait, but it all happened so fast, within minutes the foal was there, dark chestnut with a white star and four white socks, a dream of a young mare. But that wasn’t all, after he’d cleaned the nostrils and rubbed the foal with straw, the old man sat down to wait. I watched enthralled, as the puzzled young mare cleaned her foal, then the first unsteady attempts to stand.
“That’s it lad, it’s important, we’re dunn ‘ere,” my Grandfather picked up the afterbirth, with some reverence, and strode out of the stall.
Outside he set off, not to the farm, or the midden as I expected. With the dripping placenta in his arms, he strode up the hill above the farm. Dawn was breaking on the pennine uplands and the valley below was filled with a sea of fog. It was a magical experience for a four year old boy.
Half a mile above the farm there is a spring, where water bubbles, glass clear, out of the hillside into an old stone trough. Hanging over the spring is a thorn bush, a blackthorn, rare at this height near the tree-line.
With care and reverence, the old man hung the placenta in the bush.
I watched the ceremony, somewhat bemused, but I knew it was a ceremony.
Pets Abound
In Yancy Parfoot's furbound town there's fur and teeth and claws
It's a place where many pets abound. There's prints of many paws
The dogs and cats are treated well; are curried, combed and fed
They're given everything they want before they go to bed
The elephants are given corn and pedicured each day
Hyenas laugh at tall giraffes. The cows have too much hay
The water troughs are always full. The bins are full of grain
The hippos have a river bed. The ducks have lots of rain
The eagle flies in clear blue skies. The updrafts never end
The beaver has a king-sized dam and the otter for a friend
The kangaroo can jump and play with dingos hangin' 'round
'Cause all the animals are good friends in Yancy Parfoot's town
The monkeys high up in the tree swing and eat their fruit
While down below the camel chews and the pack rat checks his loot
The mole is digging through the dirt, while the mouse runs through the ruts
The robin's tugging on a worm and the squirrel is eating nuts
The owl flies when darkness comes and the stars are shining bright
The coyotes howl and great wolves prowl in the cover of the night
The lions lay in tall plain's grass. They play and lick their feet
And Yancy Parfoot comes each day from the market with their meat
It's truly a heaven for animals in Yancy Parfoot's town
He moved there twenty years ago 'cause people let him down
I race the sun light through streams of trees
I run so fast, too fast to breath
Jump and dodge joins in my beat
I sprint to tree, from tree to creek
My world spins while the sky falls down
I stop by a cliff as did all sound
Laughter fades when I look at my town
Below the cliff there is nothing but ground
I run with hesitation to my once called home
Then fall and stare at the ashes being blown
I race against my mind to cease
Reason for the chaos among the peace
People emerge from the forest with fear
Children cry, women moan, men’s eyes spilling tears
War’s chaos could only had brought forth it’s birth
Yet those with strong eyes say it was all work of earth
We sit round a circle and plan for tomorrow
Women stand and dance to ease our sorrow
Songs grow loud and the lyrics speak of the day loss
While we, the Nacirema hope for peace among the chaos.
The China DOll (poetic version)
The China Doll,
the fateful small
little "person"
to have come and
gone, n' so short
a while.....
a special present
with a tell-tale
smile....
this is a story of
a little girl,
and how her life,
began to whirl...
her father brought
home a special
gift, it was a doll,
that went "adrift"!
Nobody knew
the things that
brewed , inside
of this dolls mind...
the doll had been
a "baby" before,
t'wasn't the last
time, she'd hit
the floors!
The little girl, loved
her so, and brought
her everywheres..
but, the doll had other
thoughts, and plans, n'
would constantly
disappear!
One morning it
vanished, after a good
nights rest,
the child she searched
for it, and there it
lay on her
mother's
breast.
Her mother , who did
not breathe , was rushed
to the hospital, that very eve'
but, if you looked , a
bit nearer,
there was a smile
on the doll, t'was
more severer'!
The next night,
she was snuggled up
tight, while in the bed,
with her mama,
but, never fear,
look here, look there,
that doll, was out for
drama!
Quickly, quietly,
oh most, decidedly,
this doll just wouldn't
stay still,
the very next morning
when the girl woke up
she found her doll ,
by her dad's window
sill!
Her dad's health
had taken a turn,
he rushed to the hospital
as well, ...
but, as the little girl sat,
waited where she was at,
she wondered,
why she suddenly felt
such a "chill".
As she sat, and waited to
see her parents, a certain
gleam came to the eyes
of a little silent doll,
that sat in the hall,
looking scarier than she
should seem!
A Nurse, passing by,
The web of life hangs over the bed,
catching the dreams and visions of life.
Some are good and should be saved,
others are bad and must be discarded.
The good are caught in this spiritual web,
as the bad flow freely through the hole.
The Dream Catcher from Lakota lore
passed down from Iktomi the teacher
to hold the destiny of our future.
Forged in the raging flames of hell,
the lady death awaits her bell.
To awaken her from endless slumber,
into the night from eternal somber.
Release the hell forced hounds,
as her piercing eyes bear down,
upon the disgusting display of the human race.
Looking into shattered mirrors at ones deadly face.
Strike now with her blade,
shrieking to pierce raw open flesh.
Lucifer is no match for Lady Death.
standing in line, single filed.
on a solitary platform stands the majority
until they decide
to move them up or to cast them below
the common criminals assume the role.
they're moving them all down these days
underneath the skin of life, I.
while they all stand above it all
dwell on who i was, not who i am right now
it's everything about this world i'll never stand for
sometimes keeping it to myself, other times letting them feed off of me
but i'm too afraid to stand above this, not here and now
sometimes i feel above it, other times buried by it, unable to escape
but one day is the day i destroy it, the day i cast all of this down
sometimes i crawl, other times i've fallen, but today i shall stand above you
i never promised you anything
just like you've never given me anything, except for what i've never needed
right now i don't need you, you're just like everyone else, aren't you?
death is just something worth living for
life is just something worth dying for
but why live when you're already dead?
and why die if you don't want to live again?
death kills all concept of life, and life is nearing closer to death.
i'll never forgive you, even after all of this.
There’s got to be someone left now I’m gone
you'll have to find somebody else now.
and the cycle goes on and on, nobody forgets.
never reaching an end, until the earth fades.
clouded darkness
drawing near
eating the poison
ancient tear
fighting the harness
of eternal suffice
failing to hear
echoing delight
calling on the Puritan’s spell
ending life of those from hell
pass on into the light
enter the life - loss hope of night ignite.
Many a tale you were told when young.
Most likely, you’ve heard them in books, in movies, on stage or sung.
But in verse are the undertones of these tales best expressed.
So listen as their themes to you are addressed.
Cinderella had faith in her fairy god-mother’s magic.
She met Prince Charming at the ball,
Which, for her envious step-sisters, was tragic.
Cinderella possessed invincible charm.
On feet clad in glass slippers
She strolls with the prince, Linked arm in arm.
At midnight the spell was broken.
One slipper was left behind;
The reason for her departure unspoken.
But by that slipper was she found.
Then was the cue for the wedding bells to sound.
Snow White was practical.
She knew how to keep house.
She befriended some dwarves
Her house-keeping skills to them she would espouse.
In return for her help,
Snow White was kept safe from a vain queen behind their doors.
After having bitten a poison apple from the queen,
Snow White was rescued by a steadfast prince
After a long slumber serene.
Aurora was a dreamer,
Hidden from her royal life.
Her family feared the curse of a malevolent fairy.
Yet she fell in love with a prince
Who, through much toil and strife,
He awakened her from her enchanted sleep with a kiss.
Belle was not your typical girl-next-door.
She loved to read of far off places;
She thought her town a bore.
She boldly dealt with a narcissistic gent,
Only to later take her father’s place in the castle
Of a beast with no relent.
Belle and the beast soon grew fond of each other,
But Belle’s arrogant admirer attempted to kill the beast.
The beast fought Gaston bravely
With Belle’s love to pull him through, to say the least.
Then the spell was history,
And the beast’s human identity was no longer a mystery.
Ariel wanted adventure-