Passage

I stare

Dark portrait

Looms in the hallway

Speaks of this passage

Its meaning I have weighed

More of late

Through hours of somnolence

Features elaborate

They glow

With meagre radiance

My leisure in pretense

Resembles

The dread they obfuscate

Indeed

The dread writhes on

I sense I am but all alone

In ghostlike movement

I turn away again

Never letting them get too close and inquiring

Absolved of guilt while weeping quietly

A place for repose since youth

Take refuge 'twixt sheets of shade and dew

Where poetries and theories of hell

Are all laid bare in lucid grace

Feeble am I

Beneath the guise

Wanting nothing

But this pain to last

The garden rests

'Neath a nightly gleam

Beckoning, welcoming

Here I can berth

Listen to the words

Buried for centuries

Wear the mask of Janus

Wishing to govern time

Keep the gates locked in wait

Vagrancy of mind

The promise of musing

Lets me fare by land and sea

Yet no lanterns there for me

Free from the contested

Libertine in darkness

Residence of flesh

The route of choosing

Has me bracing for distress

Knowing I will have solace

Then forever able

In an earthly cradle

Soon the cold will come here

Swirling, burning caress

Wake me from my slumber

Persuade where I falter

Though draconian years have pined

Hurt stays my bread and wine

Escapades of vain delight

Soothe not like tears sublime

Make this scar a coat of arms

Keepsake from battles past

Wisdom gathered from the rage

Gave me calm, built me space

Leads me back in dialogue

With the voice in the hall

Its meaning I have weighed

More of late

Through hours of somnolence

Figures communicate

Tell of a rueful revenant

My labour in honour

Will wear out

And force me to the ground

Oh, dread

The dread is mine

I know I am but all alone

In ghostlike movement

I turn away again

Never letting them get too close and inquiring

Absolved of guilt while weeping quietly

A place for repose since youth

Take refuge 'twixt sheets of shade and dew

Where poetries and theories of hell

Are all laid bare in lucid grace

Je puis me persuader

D'avoir été fait tel par la nature

Que je puisse aisément me tromper

Même dans les choses que je crois comprendre

Avec le plus d'évidence et de certitude

(René Descartes - Méditations Métaphysiques)

Dogs of war

Chased day and night

Bloodlust drove the nails of spite

Will I ever forget

Is there any way

Any way at all

Any way at all

Any way at all

Any way at all

Is there any way

Will I ever forget

Soon the cold will come here

Swirling, burning caress

Wake me from my slumber

Persuade where I falter

Though draconian years have pined

Hurt stays my bread and wine

Escapades of vain delight

Soothe not like tears sublime

Make this scar a coat of arms

Keepsake from battles past

Wisdom gathered from the rage

Gave me calm, built me space

Leads me back in dialogue

With the voice in the hall