Abdication

You turned

And pulled the veil across your face

The white linen wavered

In time to your mind

You raised

Your hand and took the crown upon your head

Sad were those fingers

As you dropped it

You backed

So slowly backed away from the diadem

Those tender steps retreating

Hidden beneath a white flag

You bowed

And said your adues to all

And returned to your stony keep

To slumber once more

You sighed

As you promised and prophecied of a different day

When you would walk down the tower steps

With crown and veil once again

In time to my mind

The Game

The game is on

Shall the romp commence?

Shall we move these piece?

Once again

There was a time when you were

The queen of the castle

And I merely a pawn

To bend to your persuasions

But now we are so evenly matched

You circle left

And I write

But to the end of things

Who can say

We both make plans

And try not to smile

You counter me

I step back, but forth come I

This is the dance we dance

With swords

and words

And eyes

So no banter made

No tapestry of love to weave

Shall we be rivals then

Or lover caught in sweetest heaves

I'll be a general, you be the queen

You move your pawns against mine

I command words

You command hearts

Together apart

As two dwarf stars dancing

Nearer each other

Our mutual destructions arise

So apart we keep

And dance only with eyes

But maybe destruction can also be sweet

When the dance draws closer

And our desires then meet

For destroying the self

For the gain of the twain

So now let us move this way

You this way and I that

Parallel each other's minds

Countering each other's souls

The game is afoot

And I love to play

When an excellent player's to be had

This shall be the most excellent game

The game is surely on

Said a thought to me, in passing

Said a thought to me, in passing

And you remember don't you

When her eyes only danced for you

So long time ago

When your love had not tasted winter's breath

And you remember don't you

When the world would stand still

So long time ago

When all you ever wanted stood before you in her

And you remember don't you

When the inferno grew hot

So long time ago

And your passions were stoked to fire

And you burned to touch her skin with longing

And you remember don't you

When the fire went out

So long time ago

And you tasted the dust on her heels

And you knew a thousand slow, cold deaths

And you remember don't you

That you made that empty promise

So long time ago

That you would never love again

So why would you hold me captive tonight?

On this St Valentines'

I have tried to drink you away

Wash these marks from my heart

From my mind

I have tried to forget you again

With the taste of gin, and whiskey, and wine

From my being

But even though I no longer love you

Or her as I once so fervently did

From my heart

You have all shaped my soul with your absences

Sculpting who I am without you

From my memory

So this day I shall raise my cup to all of you

To the memory of your sweetest smiles

From our pasts

And I shall no more weep these sweet tears

For anyone of you

From my soul

Burnt Offerings

And then there was light

And it burned us

But a little

And then the tingle grew

And became a prick

A drop of blood

And then there was life

And feeling once again

But a little

And then the life grew

And became a note

A burst of song

And then there was a love

And it bloomed up again

But a little

So shall I let it grow?

And let it become a fire

A burnt offered soul?

Draconian Meditations

So many shades of venom

Spring to my tongue

To my mind

That I have mind enough

To mind what thoughts race in yours

I am thankful

But ere long the walls cannot contain

These riotous inmates of pain

And leaping like the young ruiders on the veld

They'll break from me

They'll break free

They'll break upon you like waves on the strand

And break your walls of sand

And I will console myself

And say that you pushed me to it

I shall comfort myself

And say that I am just human

But I shall not deceive myself

With these or a thousand and one other lies

For I also know myself

And how I savor each turn of the screw

So build your walls of sand

And I shall build up the venom

Until each shade is perfectly formed

Each syllable like the blade of Brutus

The heart of Judas opens to all

Compassion stays this hand for now

But her arms are ever-wide

And her wrists are ever-weak

Take to heart this warning given

Rise not the dragon's bile and derision

Another thought

Another thought for the night

I would dance this dance with you

Though I'd try it with all my might

These things that you just do

I know I'm irritatingly specific

I try so hard to make this rhyme

You terrorize me, so are you terrific

Or do we just keep byding our time

Keep me close this eve in slumber

Keep my face in your mind's eye

Pity this poor poetic blunder

Just take it as a piece of mine

To be My Queen

Your father brought the offer to me

With promises of a rich dowry

And while the lord of my reason

Rejoiced at this sound

My lady of passion cautioned

I cannot, will not love you for

The inherent entail you carry

Like the Queen of Sheba at the head

Of the endless line of plodding camels

Heavy steps sinking into amber sand

Weighed down by the silks and spices

Your mother brought the offer to me

With promises of sons a plenty

And while the lord of my reason

Rejoiced at this sound

My lady of passion yet cautioned

I cannot, will not love you for

The endless line you shall conceive

Like Hecuba standing above the battle noise

A rampart of proud Illium's white walls

Bearing her breasts as a call to arms

A generation of heroes she called her sons

Your brothers brought the offer to me

With promises of strength in arms

And while the lord of my reason

Rejoiced at this sound

My lady of passion yet cautioned me

I cannot, will not love you for

The promise of a sure sword

Like the mighty one Semiramis

Whose reached crushed far off kings

Her walls so high, her gardens higher

Yet her king lay buried in the sand

Your sisters brought the offer to me

With promises of beauty beyond measure

And while the lord of my reason

Rejoiced at this sound

My lady of passion still cautioned

I cannot, will not love you for

The form in silk impressed

Like the temptress Cleopatra

The perfumed sighs filling her sails

Slipping her barge further down

The waves lapping at the edge

Come yourself and offer to me

The promise of your every tear

For those precious drops of life

My lord and lady ever revere

I could, I would love you for

Yourself- no other reasons abide

Let your smile be only for me

And with joy I shall seek when it hides

Be no mortal queen or Helen for me

And I shall be no mortal prince for you

My River, Your Doctor now and forever

Then I could, I would, say "I do"

The Minefield Before Us

O Dew-eyed

You call to me to venture

Through fields I have trod before

How can I follow once more

When too recently

I have found the secrets hidden there

Lying in wait, the trap for the travelers

These fields are meant for naught but death

And yet as you walk among the bodies and the flowers

I see the new life seep into the grass again

And all things dead stir once more

And all things are remade anew

And at that song that resounded

How the dead things trembled with near life

And looked to me with hollow eyes

As the breath of life they so desired

But I cannot yet set foot again

This battlefield carries too many memories still fresh

I shall linger a while here at the demarcation line

And look with longing as you dance in the mud

Where the flowers spring up to meet your feet

And soft dew washes away spot and stain

I shall watch and long to join you

And know that I too may dance as before

But not yet

Just wait a while longer

I hear your calls to my heart

And my heart would follow your dance

Yes those waters that you cherish

Twin pools of glistening starlight

That shine when they reflect my face

How I would follow them

Wherever they would dance

Dance me away on dewdrops

That explode with morning light

River Song

There were the river bends

I shall watch by starlit night

And there were the river curves

I shall wait until your dance begins

There where the river turns

I shall be watching only you

And as the river flows

I shall wonder at your beauty

When the river begins to churn

I shall rise in time to you

And where the river calms

I shall dream in your embrace

Until the river ends

Until this song ends