bratislava

underfoot stone. walls no longer for defending. a castle.
vantage point. an open gate. enemy within.
bells toll for the faithful. bars full. what the young do not yet know.

the past is a deep river. it runs and runs. mighty waters.
the past begot a child. the present. wants to forget.
the future. a vista of many colours now. not only red.

Need

we need to come clean
sit out in the autumn rain
let enough water seep through
to float sunken dreams

we need to find the silver thread
weave it through ideals
loop it around as many as possible
make a human wall

we need to dam the tide of hunger
shore up against future's greed
hear hammer blows of tyranny
scales of justice creaking in the breeze

we need our need
we need to see evil's dark heart
and be cut to the bone
we need to come home

The Human Family

Marked for a tribal future
The face of a stranger appears in a dream
And then fades into a forgetting day

What breath, what breeze
Could change our fate?

Clothed in kindred spirits
The face of mother like the sun never to set
Nothing to be seen in the glare

What war, what want
Could change our minds?

Driven by a need so deep
It's never to be named, not to be met
Pushing down, down into dust

What rhetoric, what ritual
Could change our hearts?

Marked. A bloody future
Subsumed by the wounds of a stranger
Scars. Remembrance. The Human Family.

Inspired by the photographic series, The Human Family by Martin Crep

Poppy

Grown in such inhospitable ground
Petals of pity trembling in battle's breeze
Pity for all that's lost, for all in the grip of blind force
Pity for every soul torn, for the weight of unrelenting remorse
Distressed soil of forgotten fields your home

The earth weeping the blood in which your seed is sown
Pick the poppy, make its death your own
Wear it close to your heart, walk on
But do not look for peace
It is the shoes on your feet

Form-ed

From what was I made?
Dark longing of man
Full-orbed hope of woman
Met in yesterday's pool
Where passion rose
And thought descended
Into the deepest depths

From where did I come?
Above, below, within
Womb within a womb
Travelling, entering, confined
Suspended within the walls
Of blind time

What does this mean?
Fallen between
Male and female
Near or thrown far
Distance measuring existence
Beyond maker, creator

Where will I go?
Breath before death
Blame before shame
Brother against brother
A flood, an ark
A flaming sword piercing
Between the light and dark