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Under the Ice

                        Under the Ice   Reputedly,Antarcticais rich in oils    And minerals of every kind; sufficient spoils       To whet our appetites in raw materials          For industries. Constantly rise political Disputes over the ownership of such rare store    Under its miles-deep, age-protected ceiling-floor.       Yet, far more precious than these minerals are those […]

Pride's Penalty

      Pride’s Penalty     (15 March 44 BC)   Proud Caesar said: “The Ides of March are here!”, Then asked: “Now where is he who prophesied Great Julius this forecast time should fear?”.   “The Ides are come”, the prophet said: “Beware, Proud Consul, since their powers yet may chide”. Said Caesar: […]

Vampiric Parasite

                   Vampiric Parasite       Who has not seen that, when the moon is bright And full, it sucks the lustre from the stars Into itself, leaving them leeched of light And palely distant, through vampiric force;     But on a moonless night the stars appear To […]

Beyond Belief?

                            Beyond Belief?   Marking the South-West corner of Coolmela’s plot,    Within the purlieu of the forest, stands a tree      So broad and tall its age must be immense. To me,    It whispers gently every time I pass; though what […]

Atahualpa

                            Atahualpa                                (1532)       Sad Atahualpa – who five long years had fought To wrest the sacred llantos and the golden stool From Huascar, to rule the Inca-peoples as Lord-Inca, Emperor-divinity – enjoyed His hard-won privileges barely half a year     Before […]

His Monument

                               His Monument   Si monumentum suum requiris, poesis sua  lege.        His monument his poetry; His words memorial enough To illustrate his life’s ideals And point the patterns of his mind.       His passage through the fabric of […]

The Space Between

                   The Space Between        We’d marvel should it prove some mind devised Planets, bright stars and complex galaxies: Placing them in relationships so fine That they, (from ancient times through to this day), Stayed recognisable upon the skies As astrological phenomena Balanced amidst unstable cosmic flux.        Nor […]

Agony and Ecstasy

Agony and Ecstasy   Each poem that I write      Is forced from me By agony or ecstasy!.      Not day nor night Makes any difference      To tortured sense; For, when compulsion comes to me,      I cannot fight The agony, the ecstasy!.   Who’s no true poet may      Not pay this fee […]

Incubus

                            Incubus        Upon my back all day, all night, he clings Immovable as fabled Sindbad’s Old Man of the Sea; arms strangle-gripped around My neck, legs locked about my loins. He goads Me on to write whether I wish or no; Torments […]

Solitude's Demands

                            Solitude’s Demands        Those who would stretch their minds with weighty thought Seek solitude, that they may concentrate Upon the subjects of their choice, without Distraction. Interruptions militate Against coherence and often frustrate Successful culmination of intense Research and contemplation, (so […]

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