Empty tombstone

bed my *****

picked clean,


my temper

tested and

left to it's

madness.


the unbalance

thoughts of

your leaving.


holes in

my front shirt

pocket,


where I used

to keep all

my secrets

of you.


the tasty ones,

without equal,


the scent of  you

around me

now feeling

like hell's wrath.


I saw you

with him

last night,


him taking

the place of my

kisses stealing

the flickers of

starlight

from your eyes.


but it

was not

me and

I must

swear that to

oath from

now on,


it will never be

me again.


I am an

old photograph

with nothing to

do in your

heart but fade.


an old song

that will never

be able to

change it's

tune.


and your  love

will never

find me

here again.


with my

pants dropped

down below

my knees.


the newspaper

will still come to

christen my

cobble porch

tomorrow


and in the

afternoon

the trash flies

will come to

be scattered

and picked up

by four,


on this

slow news day.


as my bones

turn to grey

and my heart

can ask for

nothing more.


than to stand

in love's

broken corners

alone.

good
morning
eggs
frying

milk
*****
babies
crying

drool
*****
m­ommy's
dying

To be submerged in world and Word, in Word
That is the world, in words that are the Word
Written in holy fire, the eternal Song
In which and through Whom the world is breathed into being

The Torah scroll unrolls the years of creation
The pages of the Talmud frame the law
As in the statute-structure of the ark
Or as a tabernacle of the soul

To read the words, to chant the Word, to sing -
To be the yad in the great Hand of God

.
Quiet! Shhh!
Can you hear it?
The animals are talking.
No, they are panicking.
Can you smell it?
The Forest is on fire.
My Forest is aflame!

I run, following nostrils singed with heat,
against the tide of the fleeing fauna.
Reaching the blaze I see....
eight of them.
My anger rises and erupts.
'STOP!' I bellow. They turn and draw swords.
My eyes narrow and a look of pure disdain unfolds.

I continue.
'I am Rook, Lord of the Forest Kingdom.
How dare you, enter my domain with no permission
and reek havoc on my Forest'.

A step is taken, toward me.
The eyes of a fighter glower, at me.
The point of a sword raises, threatening me.

I punish.
'For your transgressions and your destruction
you shall stand as stones, for eternity,
and as a warning to others'.

A scream pierces the air as a foot,
then another, compresses to rock.
The rest join the chorus, agony,
as each become statues,
twisted and contorted as
the Ancient Oaks they had destroyed.

My Oaks.
This is my Anger.
Would you care to see my Love?


© Pagan Paul (2018)