The Way Of Things

A Love Affair

Once I fell in love
It was a strange feeling
Unknown before
Changed me so much it’s hard to explain
I was suddenly strong
Undaunted by the world’s previous hostility
I noticed beautiful things
Once unseen
By an embryo in adult clothing
Even the sun seemed friendly on a hot day
Rain was fun
As you shared an umbrella
The moon was a lovers’ lantern
Shining on two
Whispers were poems of excitement
Laughter was music
That you danced to majestically
Spoken words were magic
That filled you with wonder
And time was endless
When you’re involved it with another
All this was a consequence of togetherness
Of a life suddenly shared
Now that joy has ended
And time is a dark adversary
Days pass untouched by the previous enchantment
Death tends to be so final
Yet
Somehow, somewhere
Memory rises triumphant in the loneliness
And some things you still remember
For true love
The kind that wreaks change in the world
Lives by its own energy
Forever

Always

Something happens
When love comes your way
A far from trivial thing
You are suddenly not alone
In a world where hostility rules each day
Things are different in other ways
You have a listener
Who pays attention to you
Your ideas will be valued
However wild they may be
If you laugh
There will be an echo
As another person responds
To the laughter
If you sigh
With a tear in your eye
Sympathy will surround you
Like a warm blanket in winter
If you dance
A partner will be there
Moving with your time to the music
If you scheme
An ally will come forward
With willingness to conspire
If you dream
The reverie will be caught by another
Who runs with it
To the highest mountains of the mind
And if you die
The world will have changed
Be just a little different
Always

Greed

A destructive way of living
That denies help for the needy
Is greed
It is a fungal infection of the mind
Whenever it prevails
That leaves society impervious to pity
You will notice it
Shockingly
When power brings vast rewards to the unworthy
In a world that is a marketplace…
Graspingness
Is a common social blight in such a world
Observable for example
In mercenary, usurious, predatory, influential entities
Known as banks
Yes
That is where reform
Is so desperately needed
Have you noticed bankers’ sordid triumphs lately?
Seen the unjust pricing of their services?
Felt the pain a tawdry corporate monopoly
Imposes on its clients?
That is the way of things when the money business
Predominates:
The rich get returns while the poor crowd burns
So
Let us go then, you and I,
To where interest rates do not decide your fate:
Where you live
Where you work
Where you learn
Where you dream
Where you die
Ah me!
Once in my lifetime I owned a bank
It was devised by a government I could vote for or decry
But privatised by dullards it now causes me to sigh

Dear Friend

For John Bradshaw

Dear friend
We have noticed
Your final hour has come
And you are pretending to leave us
You thought you could do that
Just fade away
Into the vast plains of forgetfulness
Come on now
You, a much loved teacher
And distinguished sportsman
Should know better than that
Why
You will be with us
Constantly
As the years pass
When summer turns into winter and football begins
When naive students need wisdom to guide them
When children play games amidst laughter
When friends share examples of your tender-heartedness
Or when Auld Lang Syne is eloquently sung
Therefore
Heed this now
With no more of your diversions
You cannot slip away from us
But will be with us constantly
As the world demands we value you correctly
As a consequence
Get this into your head
Note that these words are not idle gossip
Or unsubstantiated assertions
By ingenuous busybodies
They are the truth
As verified by a host of your comrades
So end the mythology
And admit that you will walk beside us from now
Until the end of time

So Beautiful

You were so beautiful
Artless
Not the film star type based on illusion
Or the highly paid fashion model
With beauty
Removable with its mascara and lipstick
Just a special persona
Salient, unique, inspiring
In an unpretentious way
With a light in your eyes that swept me away
When first I saw your face
I changed forever
And when you noticed me
I wondrously learnt to rule the world
It was a spectacular change
I began to respect myself
Suddenly felt I could do things as never before
Academe
Had previously been an impassable barrier
Now it welcomed my contest
And I won
I walked taller, ran faster
And breathed deeply more easily
Ascending mountains with an alacrity
Previously undreamed of
Yes, I was the new man you made me
And I loved you fondly
More fondly than this humble poem can tell
Then fell the shadow
A change that tore the world asunder
And seemed to turn reality into a dream
Of distress
For you had found another
And you left me with nothing but these memories
All that remains of us
Yet somehow even now they lessen my despair

royciebaby