Your birth marked the death
of the 'endless' pain
The cries of the evil
subdued, they went to vain

My joy was born
with your very first cry
with you, 'my joy' was immortal
swore to never die

So, if death takes you
I shall follow thee
for without you,
I sink, even in the shallowest sea

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                     Dull Substance Indeed!

                                   Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet 44

When we are young we are like airy spirits
Smooth and lean and lithe, strong in limb and hope
Earth, water, air, and fire sustain our flights
Beyond all time, beyond the weight of substance dull

But with age, even the stars grow heavy and dim
The orders four of all created things
Burden our love with distances and walls
Pulling us down, wrecking our happy dreams

I cannot run to you, I cannot fly
And yet I know you’re here, in my poor mind’s eye

sunlight's strung the bow,
and the kiss of the wind strikes
the waltz of flowers.

I hear your wails;
I add my sorrow
To the howling winds.

Ribald footprints

of a silent, brooding zitar

rendezvous with an ebbing tide

recalcitrant thoughts wash away

along this sandy shoal.