illumination

the beautiful forest grove that leads to a pale sea

cockle shells and looping terns the ferns and the stones

afternoons of forgetfulness still vaguely remembered

the way a woman swayed before me afraid of some shadow i saw

the day i prayed to your poseidon beside pools they say

the god often comes to cool his heels in the hot aegean sun

lovely old blue haired king ocean his tunic undone

yes frolic in the shallows with them narrow waisted nymphs

yes shake the sodden earth to its fiery centre you have this power they say

these island studded waters full of monsters and easy landings

i steered starboard in my wreckless craft after your storm blew me off course

now the birds have returned for evenings weakest worm still squirming in the light

among the pines i dine on crystal waters from a flask

as night hath dropped i crawl into my tent hellbent on a dream

as i fall asleep some baying creature beseeching solace from a moon

then in my dream i realise i am at last awake beside a still lake

eerie mist is rising rendering me a little spiritless

on deck i am in lying in bed looking at the back of a persons neck

as the ripples spread over head in a river bed

and fish turn into whales downstream

weeping willows with tears of rainy sorrow bend down around the bend

on sandy days in youths distant haze my hands graze your skin

this is where the water and the land begin

this is where the fields of heavy poppy yield their first sin

this is where we tear down some pagan idol with its vile offering

this is where we first meet the harridan enslaved by a saracen

someone said good morning so far away and yet i could hear it

fearing a sudden downpour my dream went indoor

in the light of the weak sun my greek conquests seem no fun

in the sight of the quiet creaking trees and the pebbly brook run

in the valiant fight of leviathan and plankton

the milk like horizon slightly curved merged with the sea

and the velvet curtains of oblivion fall upon the city