Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

Out of the Labyrinth

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

there was no reason to fall,
to pretend you forgot
who you were, what you are,

except for the labyrinth
you created in your mind
where you find yourself now.

you asked for help,
but what use are directions
if your compass is broken?

do you hear
the distant rumble of the ocean?
vibrating without and within?

these are precious memories,
nothing mysterious,
the call of home.

isolation is what you believe,
but you were lead astray.
what is out there is in here also.

sit still, try to listen.
then retrace your steps.
i know you can find your way.

© 2009 Ron Herman

Rabindranath Tagore Home

Sunday, May 9th, 2010
Just after Easter, I visited Rabindranath Tagore’s home in Kolkata.  It was a much anticipated visit to this poet saint’s residence, now turned museum.  I had poured over his Gitanjali, a 1912 book of metaphysical devotional poems that earned Tagore the Nobel Prize in Literature.
What does it feel like to be standing under a cool waterfall on a hot summer day? What does it feel like to be standing in his home, and particularly in the room where he passed away?  I cannot describe.  I felt it on a previous visit.  This time, to verify the experience I asked my travel colleague Arun, “do you feel it?”  He answered in awe, “yessss, this is wonderful!”  While Arun stood absorbed, I sank to the floor. A few minutes later, I took note of the poem and letter hung on the wall of this room:

“Your creation’s path you have covered
With a varied net of wiles,
Thou Guileful One,
False belief’s snare you have
Laid with skillful hands
In simple lives.
With this deceit have you left a mark on Greatness;
For him kept no secret night.
The path that is shown to him
By your star
Is the path of his own heart
Ever lucid,
Which his simple faith
Makes eternally shine.
Crooked outside yet it is straight within.
In this is his pride.
Futile he is called by men.
Truth he wins
In his inner heart washed
With his own light.
Nothing can deceive him,
The last reward he carries
To his treasure house.
He who has easefully borne your wile
Gets from your hands
The unwasting right to peace.”

“When I leave from here let this be my parting word that what I have seen is insurpassable. I have tasted of the hidden honey of this lotus yonder that expands on the ocean of light and thus am I blessed. Let this be my parting word. In this playhouse of infinite forms I have had my play and here have I caught sight of him that eludes all forms. All my living body and limbs have thrilled with his touch who is beyond touch – and if the end comes here let it come – let this be my parting word.”

- R. Tagore

Mountain Friend

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

The old hermit on the mountain
Can’t see straight no more.
His vision curves like light,
Speeding to far out galaxies.
But he has a day job.

He doesn’t look into your eyes
Lest you see the choice.
Try to move in front quick,
He’s quicker to look away.

He doesn’t look into your eyes
Lest you see too much:
the mirror that sends you running,
Or on your knees in awe.

One day I asked him what he thought.
He looked up to the sky,
He looked down to the earth,
He looked left, then right,
Sighed and turned around,
Departed without a sound.

I don’t ask him questions no more.
No, we don’t talk at all.
But when I feel alone,
He shows up at my home,
Pokes me with his stick
Until i’m on the floor laughing.

© 2009 Ron Herman

Silent Eyes

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Silent eyes,
Look into my own,
Partched and colorless.

Silent eyes,
Where have you been
After the day your tears
Brought me life
And the waters flowed again?

Each night I lower cupped hands
Into my reservoir
And pour it’s life
At the place you were.

But I have poured my last,
And now sit motionless
As before,
Save for my rememberance of you.

Silent eyes,
I no longer ask for life.
Break your vow of silence
And stay.

© 2009 Ron Herman

Turning Your Way

Sunday, November 8th, 2009
In Franco Zeffirelli’s movie Brother Sun Sister Moon about Saint Francis’ early life, the first song by Donovan is a beautiful accompaniment to the scene where Francis returns desperately ill from feudal battles and prison to his home town of Assisi.

Oh the drums are so mournful my dear oh my love
As my thoughts they are turning your way.
Where are the eyes I beheld with my own
On that long-ago lazy day.

Dead are the deeds on the stark battlefield.
The stench of the flesh sickens me.
I slept soaking wet and the worms ate my bread,
And the mourning of men filled the air.

Oh green are the leaves of the old apple tree,
Those sweet perfumed blossoms of spring.
Entwined in your hair, the smile in your eye,
A soft blade of grass for a ring.

Warm are the loaves that cool on the sill
To the song of the clear trickling stream.
The good clean smell of the rough woven sheets.
The song of the children at play.

Oh the drums are so mournful my dear oh my love
As my thoughts they are turning your way.
Where are the eyes I beheld with my own
On that long-ago lazy day.
On that long-ago lazy day.

Last Breaths

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

You wanted me to drown in conflict,
To resolve the unresolvable
With only a slim chance at success.
So be it;
I give the mind to your madness.

But my hand I keep with your defiant,
The ones who gasp for breath,
Who want to be loved
Even briefly
By what they see
And what they know.

Yes, maybe I let my mind
Linger too long on the hand I held.
Maybe I wanted a few last breaths
before i drown.

Yet, the stormy surface sorrows
To keep us here
In struggle and separateness.

I must go now, dearest friend
To love that is madness,
Your beginning and my end.

© 2009 Ron Herman

Dawn Paean

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

son of aeolus,
i glide in whispered tones
across low valleys
where waters gather
the uprooted and discarded.

my kinsmen prefer
the hills and clouds
to join you
in the spectacle
of your brightest hour.

daughter of hyperion,
you long to illumine
the skies of avalon.

in lucent saffron robes
you hasten to rise
from dreary dreams
of night’s demise.

with careless ardor
you rush the gate
that none can open
without your fate.

its doors are iron,
grave and wet;
the moon casts
a silhouette

of lattice bars
with welded stars
circling in a vortex.

each night
supposing a fight
you charge
clashing to it.

your breath gasps,
hands trembling;
your pupils
wide and dark.

alas, the gate is heavy
burdened by your
forgetfulness,
your unknown disclaim.

though I
with all my might
heave storms of air
to aid your plight,

only a steely ode is heard
weaving through the vortex.

***

your eyes are soft
with tears aloft
cast for the morning dew.

i waft your hair,
gentle and fair,
as you turn into my whisper:

eos,
eos,
who art thou eos?
what dost thou seek to do?

***

the night is long,
full of regret,
for mortals persist the dream,

self-abandoned, shackled
with slick iron stars
to their ankles.

but you,
fierce lover,
don’t you remember?

it is you
of all creatures
who awakens old dreamers
to higher reverie.

even the gods
in all their power
rely upon you
to meet your hour.

***
morning star heralds
to weary hearts;
a scent of laurel
midst the dark.

the hour has come;
blinding and strong,
the chariot of apollo
haunts the morrow.

with all your might
you heave for his light
thrusting the gate
with your fervor.

clashes of iron,
glimmering passion,
forces that echo
steel from sorrow.

a thousand voices,
skirmish of choices;
yet only one
will shatter your disclaim.

***

eos, fire
burning white,
I am she
who molds with light.

wood to ash,
water air,
iron liquid,
does it dare?

time and fate
have always been
mine to dance
in amber scene.

the threshold,
now I see,
stands before
my victory.

***

weary hearts,
frozen starts,
do not despair.

I am dream light
that battles dream night.

I unleash a siege
of falling embers
that scorch your forsaken sky.

I am a torrent of sight
piercing the tomb of your night.

arise with abandon,
to ocher and crimson
beyond your horizon.

© 2009 Ron Herman