Weekly Poems: A Third Anniversary Poem and More

by Nicholas Gordon⁽⁴⁾
http://www.poemsforfree.com

HAPPY THIRD ANNIVERSARY

Happy third anniversary!
A time for celebration and reflection.
Praised be those who live as they believe,
Pursuing through each act some deep connection.
Years refine what none can grasp or see.

There is in every love not two but three:
Happiness requires consecration,
Requires some sweet angel both conceive
Equally, the child of their relation,
Elf of the heart, who binds them spiritually.

YOU TOLD ME IN A DREAM YOU ALWAYS LOVED ME

You told me in a dream you always loved me.
I wept with joy at what with joy you said.
My sadness was not there. It was so lovely.
And with you was my darling, also dead.
The sky was with an early sunrise burning,
Yet still with ample darkness for the moon,
Which held the secret of its youthful yearning
Although it knew that it would vanish soon.
How wonderful, I thought, at last to hear you
Say what I had known but never heard!
Abandoned, I have long longed to be near you
And find my long-lost refuge in a word.
I saw the truth of it within your eyes
And blessed the dream that ends but never dies.

DO YOU WANT ME? WHAT'S THE MATTER

Do you want me? What's the matter?
You're afraid some door will close?
You want the scent without the rose?
The moans of love without the chatter?

You think our love might be a tomb,
The only exit through my pain?
You'd rather put things off again
To give your fantasies some room?

You think: she's great, but in a while
I might get bored? Or something better,
Filling out a tighter sweater,
Might flash me a quick come-on smile?

You don't want to be tied just yet
To just one future, just one kiss?
You think about all you might miss
And hold out for a better bet?

Well, fine! But then why do you haunt
Me like a jackal night and day?
Why, when my interest seems to stray,
Are you so sure of what you want?

Why, when I dare so much as laugh
At some guy's jokes, you go ballistic,
Nasty, borderline sadistic,
As if somebody touched your stuff?

And yet when I hook on to you,
You will not let yourself be mine,
Take out your fears and draw a line
Between what you and I can do?

But freedom must be mutual,
And it takes two for one embrace.
You can't both love and freedom chase,
Unless you would adore a fool.

I DON'T WANT TO BE COY

I don't want to be coy,
But to say what I'm about to do
Would not be cool.
Let's just leave it at that.

If the world is black, it's black,
Whether you complain
Or collaborate by silence.

Even if people liked me,
I wouldn't like them.
I would just have to watch them
Being mean to people
And not say anything.
Because to say anything
Would not be cool.
Let's just leave it at that.

You're not going to change the world,
Whether you complain
Or collaborate by silence.

I travel often to the frozen heart of the world,
Inland to that Antarctic, rock-strewn desert
With a few dozen warm-blooded penguins wandering around
Lost, dazed, dejected.
That's the way things are deep down under.

I'm never going to change things,
Whether I complain
Or collaborate by silence.

Let's just leave it at that.

GISELA

Gisela would all essences rescind,
Inviting entities to go their way.
So would we all decide what we would be,
Each moment giving way to mystery,
Leaves becoming leopards for the day
As worms are stripped of wombats by the wind.

LOVE FINDS LITTLE LATITUDE

Love finds little latitude
Once it leaves the sea
And sails between the rocky heads
That guard its proper berth.

Precise in pitch and attitude,
It must turn perfectly
To miss the sharp-edged coral beds
Garlanding its girth.

The wind still blows, the waves still roll
Out where the water's deep,
But here within, a tidal peace
Reverses with the moon.

Here is the elusive goal,
Too permanent to keep,
That sits in small print on the lease
Of those who dock at noon.

APPEARANCE AND REALITY

To appear wise, one must talk;
To be wise, one must listen.

To appear to do good, one must be busy;
To do good, one must know when to stand aside.

To appear to lead, one must put oneself first;
To lead, one must put oneself last.

To appear caring, one must give advice;
To be caring, one must give space.

To appear to love, one must know how to give;
To love, one must know also how to receive.

To appear happy, one must smile;
To be happy, one must be free with tears.

Article submitted Wednesday, August 12, 2009 & read 157 times.

Nicholas Gordon is a poet and the webmaster of the popular poetry site, Poems for Free, at http://www.poemsforfree.com. He holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Stanford University. For most of his working life, he taught English at New Jersey City University, in Jersey City, NJ.

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