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Meteors collide in space and fall to earth in ashes
Comets orbit the mind and its planets
A tabby cat sits upon a window sill in a sleeping bedroom
A night star burns in the vast ether of its black void
A child is sleeping in the land of giants, warriors and astronauts
And the promise of things to come -
Adventure, jungles and ice caps
And animals from the ark roaming the land of plenty
Now that the earth is dry
Except for an ocean or two.
Lovers ride the night breeze
To locus beyond the realm of their imaginations.
And she, the one who awoke him with her touch,
Comes from an ocean, unfathomable, unknown,
Over which viking longboats stormed the waves,
An ocean beyond our grasp, beyond our longing
Beyond our grieving,
An ocean present at the dawn of time,
An ocean we strive to know
Yet, heavy breathes the ocean, insomniac, detached.
And we storm, storm the shore.
There is granite in our eyes
And we awaken unto heroes of the struggle
Whose battles are never lost and never won
And we know ourselves to be strangers in a place called home.
And mountains stand as history
To tell of a time when the land danced
To tell of a time when it bled
To ask us what is our time
What is our pledge.
For they have known the cruelty of our wars
They have seen us dare kill our kind
In ways we never thought possible.
And today lingers just long enough for the axe to fall one more time.
But beneath these solemn gods
Amidst the confusion and doubt and the illusion of self
There is a people who gather their harvests before the storm,
A people who call their children from the fields
To sit as one 'round the fires of elders
To sit, to feel, to be.


Bernard McVeigh

Dear Bernard ~

Your poems always have such a mythic feeling that I love.

A night star burns in the vast ether of its black void

This line describes so well the reality of the night sky, and how amazing it is whilst we look at the stars and try to understand... this conveys that same sense of awe.

A child is sleeping in the land of giants, warriors and astronauts

I love this peek into the dark bedroom, looking at the small and sweet, sleeping face of a child... and wondering what is going on inside that little head right now; yet this also speaks to the world out there today, in which the child is for the moment literally and figuratively asleep, having no idea of all that is to come and become of this world.

And she, the one who awoke him with her touch,
Comes from an ocean, unfathomable, unknown,
Over which viking longboats stormed the waves,
An ocean beyond our grasp, beyond our longing
Beyond our grieving,
An ocean present at the dawn of time,
An ocean we strive to know
Yet, heavy breathes the ocean, insomniac, detached.
And we storm, storm the shore.

These images are mythologically beautiful.

And we know ourselves to be strangers in a place called home.
And mountains stand as history
To tell of a time when the land danced
To tell of a time when it bled
To ask us what is our time
What is our pledge.

I love the sense of confrontation that history brings us... and how the mountains are such an imposing relic of history and challenge us into tomorrow.

But beneath these solemn gods
Amidst the confusion and doubt and the illusion of self
There is a people who gather their harvests before the storm,
A people who call their children from the fields
To sit as one 'round the fires of elders
To sit, to feel, to be.

I love how you bring your focus so closely in to real people and endeavours, living their daily lives upon the earth, according to the seasons and what nature brings, and finding comfort and wisdom from those older than they, where all of them join in just being in the essence of who they all are.

I could say more, but I'll just let the rest of this poem go with a very tender feeling, and say I love the way you write, Bernard. I always feel a deep sense of soothing when I read your poems.



Love,
Lizzy

G'day Lizzy,

A big thanks for your comprehensive feedback. This piece has never been edited. I thought I'd leave it in its original form; imperfect, but raw. I hope all is going well in your world.

Keep on keeping on
Catch ya' later

Love Bernard

Hi Bernard ~

I hope all is going well in your world.

Keep on keeping on
Catch ya' later

Yes...

yes...

and, especially, yes. Later .


Unedited... uncut... raw?? I'm amazed. Where is it that words come from... ??


Later...
Love,
Lizzy