A POETS’ ROAD….

Four score and seven years ago ( no I’m not rechanneling A. Lincoln ), okay
How about forty seven years ago I put pen to paper and foot to stage,
So began my poets’ road and over these decades it has been with me
Every day those verses, though I did work in every form in every state,
As well as fought for every kind of cause in places where the work
Needed doing, where suffering was great, where rights were threatened,
But always there was poetry, writings and readings and even publishing;

The poets’ road is paved with obstacles of every type, and challenges
To stay true to the profession of the bard, be it warrior, prophet, laborer,
All had there place, all had there time, and all were done when doing was
Needed in their place and the cost was paid in the coin of flesh demanded,
Sacrifice unyielding, even dreams that had to be turned away for the time,
As highways were traversed, boots upon mountain trails, sandals in the desert,
Miles unwinding like streams of black diamonds unraveling behind my passage;

Yet always there was poetry, writings and readings and even publishing,
Along the rain streaked pockmarked streets that comprised the poets’ road,
Battles won and causes fought and lost, still never shirking the duties call,
And forget not love that was pursued, gained, then failed in the mist of night,
For love, whether gained or lost, is the armor that holds the heart in thrall,
The quest followed like some mythic journey across the frontiers of the hearts
Imagination, for that too comprises the glue of poetic rhetoric on the length of
The poets’ road……

BONGO SYMPHONY #2 IN THE KEY OF LOVE
WORD MUSIC IN THREE MOVEMENTS

Movement One: Allegro Tango Amour
(Love is the most powerful and non-definable of all emotions)


You came into my life and the universe tilted on its axis,
all preconceptions, prior experiences, imploded with banality,
it is true that nothing appears in life until one is ready,
able to understand, value, the complexity, simplicity,
the mystery, the joy, of the arrival of the one great love;
up until a few weeks ago I thought casual sex, quick flings, were love,
never was I more wrong, those were the causality of flesh,
sudden orgasms more related to car crashes than to love,
and in my confusion, my melancholy, even my writing, my words,
had no substance, no quality, no purpose, only acts of absurdity,
exercises of a super ego running unchecked while the ego hid;
I was a sad miserable human being, too blind to see the traps of intellect,
then the first rays of enlightenment began to arrive,
hesitant, frightened, unsure of myself, then ego shifted,
assaulted super ego and placed it in its proper position, I emerged,
my work began to reform, redefine, my spirit shifted,
from illusion, self hate, fear, loneliness, to a new determinism;
so as the old self was deconstructed, a new self began building,
then you my dearest one, entered my life, like the heavens shifted,
love finally came and the void took form, truth became clear,
a purpose emerged from out the detris of so many years,
perspective changed, no longer chained to the past, a prisoner,
you broke the final shackles, gave me back what I thought was gone;
now at last I have found the lost language of the hungry soul,
in the faith regained that I am a writer and proud to call myself that,
the past is history, to learn from, not to be enslaved to it,
lessons learned, character built, unbuilt, defined, redefined,
now I know the real path that I must follow, travel along,
and it is loving you, creating the writings of my spirit,
witnessing and sharing the visions of history, of the future,
one moment at a time, each complete, each leading to the next,
no longer in solitude, in alienation, in unquenchable sorrow,
I have been shown the Tao, love has rekindled my heart,
I have risen like the Phoenix from the ashes, reforged, renewed;
it has been love that has drawn me back from the abyss,
showed me the road that I must travel in seeking completeness,
so thus I go against the darkness, a ship full sail,
into the winds of change upon the sea of discovery....


Movement Two: Largo non Cogito
(When awareness knocks on the doors of perception, answer it)

You are the sun that washes away the rain,
your smile a beacon to steer me safely through the reefs of life,
the words you speak I hear in my spirit, not my mind,
and the lines that I send you come from that same wellspring;
this time we have been apart has shown me that my love,
my feelings are true, strong, the very fabric of existence,
I want to be a part of you, completely, totally,
our lives entwined, bound together with the cords of love;
love has given me the anchor of reality to moor
my ship of exploration, my journey into new realms of enlightenment,
and you are the real doors of perception, altering, bending,
time and space and being in a festival of pure illumination;
I want the years to pass for us together, loving growing ever deeper,
these four days have taken me into a wilderness where I meditated,
allowed my intellect to cease its chattering, my spirit to emerge,
and from that process I know that we are meant one for the other;
I hunger for long deep kisses, firm languid touches, hugs,
more kisses, sharing films, music, poetry, coffee, our inner selves,
to lie naked with you and make hours of delightful passion unfold,
growing richer, more aroused, as days create months become years;
it is not cogito ergo sum, let it become libido ergo sum,
equation of wonder unfolding into a coverlet of tantric pulsation,
of exploring the mysterious landscapes of flesh and emotion,
leaving sterile intellect behind to find its own course;
let us celebrate each other, to joys of sharing completely,
laughing together like mad children dancing naked in the moonlight,
flying kites, drinking coffee, enjoying brandy,
looking into each others eyes and becoming lost in their beauty;
your beauty is in every drop of silver rain, each blade of new grass,
in the string quartets of Haydn, the jazz riffs of Miles Davis,
the sunrise over the Cumberland Gap, the sunset over Guaymas,
in all these things, places, visions, you are found abundantly,
so let this movement close with a soft played chord,
the sound fading into the background of our loving..........


Movement Three: Andante Molto Tempesto e Passionata
(Love is best practiced with two people who are in love and best enjoyed as it ages over many many years)

When we make love let it begin slowly, a single violin singing,
then a cello comes in with subtle resonance, kissing, touching,
a second violin, a flute, fingers stroking hair, shoulders,
the bass, bassoon, more kisses on bared skin, another flute,
lips embracing, tongues touching, a trumpet chord joins,
fingers stroking bared breasts, tongue rubbing nipples, third violin,
second trumpet as kisses become more aroused, flesh ripples,
music mates and soars, clothing is cast aside, kisses move,
eyes peer deeply into each other, symphony begins to form,
kisses cover thighs with passionate ardor, trumpet chorale rises,
string section fills the sir with sighs, fingers stroke along a line
from neck to breast to thigh to penetrate gently,
kisses matching tempo, orchestra moves to major chords,
passion intensifies, flesh merges, music plays on majestically,
love play moves into long slow movement, largo carried by strings,
I enter, we become one, union of music and bodies swaying,
time seems to hold, waiting for the great crescendo,
and as the music falls away in shimmering colors we pause,
kiss, stroke, hug, after play so sweet, a single flute sounds,
carries the theme, as the symphony moves to closure,
and we two lovers lie and play gentle till the coming of sleep.........