Because She Has Banished Me

Because she has banished me from her soul,

The words come, though with a greater pain than before.

In exodus now, in a world much like oblivion,

I scatter the ashes of my heart to the four winds

And drink from the tepid pools that line the road.
Time, like my body, withers away and I try to pray,
But there is nothing to pray for, nothing

That I have not wasted away in my loving her.

No song but my sorrow to sing,

And that, to no one, not even to myself.

Myself is gone. All that’s left is a stream of bitter tears.

May the stream flow back to her.

May it always quench her thirst.

May the tears of repentance never stop flowing
As long as this body has strength enough to remember her.

A Thousand Miles

My love sleeps a thousand miles away from me tonight,
And though a thousand stars and a thousand muses
Vie for my affection,
I sing this song for her and her alone.
A thousand days may pass before it reaches her ears,
A thousand storms she may need to weather,
A thousand moons may wax and wane,
A thousand treasures carried away by flood
Before these words--like an olive branch carried by a dove--
Come to remind her that she is my love
And will be, forever.

A Nation

A nation forged in revolution against tyranny.
A nation drowning in the blood of innocents.
A nation whose revolution has not stopped.
And who can hear the sound of the drums raging,
Yearning to fill this bountiful land?
And who can picture the uniform march,
Protesting space, protesting God?
Sit quiet, and you will hear them.
The drums that pronounce the one and only Name.

A Single Gesture

All our lives add up to a single gesture

As fleeting as a truly honest smile

A momentary glimpse through a window

Where obscured figures move about in haste

Preparing something greater than we can imagine.
A moment of awakening—so brief;

Of falling asleep--

How aware yet unaware!
And so beautiful!

Conjuring

Awake in my bed

Using stillness to conjure sleep

But sleep does not come,

So I bestir my tongue

To form a song

That passes sweetly over my lips.

The shadows on the ceiling

Seem to dance like mist.

Never has there been a sleep
Sweeter than this.