1. Let this harvest pass, o love
Let this harvest pass, o love
not every crop can yield
expected satisfaction. the best
of weathers may take
a sudden turn, destroying
nutrients we waited
long through wintry nights
to bless our table.
Let this harvest pass, o Lord.
dissease, distress, despair,
exempts us from living immortally. a
assigning what burdens we bear
a perrennial rest. this spring that once
was ours depletes the soil, turns
our little seeds into the mud now heavy,
now hushed, now heartfelt like death.
2. perhaps there is something
perhaps there is something
we do not know
untold to us
unseen in dreams
the lyrics sung above our dreams
3. Something so simple
Something so simple
as a kiss
could kill for
lack of it
or build eternal
structures
for generations
to flourish
4. try the door
try the door
turn the knob
ring the bell
if you must
but under the mat
lies the key that someone
left for you
to make yourself at home.
5. let's walk to the beach
let's walk to the beach
where the bonfire
burns and heap all our
trinkets and all our garbage and all our trash
into the great flames
6. Our world is full of banalities
Our world is full of banalities
moments of inconsequence
irrational unrealities. time is
spent waiting and waiting,
for what exactly we are not sure,
a little laughter breaks
the sequence of desperation. love
is a cure of some things.
Come to me in the space
I have cleared for you.
seduce the furies. release the pain.
forgive the unspeakable past.
to heal is all we can hope for.
love comes easiest
with health. our hearts are seeking
a common center
7. We are whatever we are
We are whatever we are
and whatever we
deem so possible. we
tread on discovery
at every moment but only
to triumph when we
dare to dance an unsavory
waltz with defeat.
Not every conduit is lit
not every promise
fulfilled. even love, at times,
retreats in desperation.
what seeds to sow and how
to sow them can yield
a harvest or a sorrow. be glad
for every fruit however small.
8. After the rain
After the rain
after the streets have dried
after the drops
have fallen and ceased to dance
o where are you now?
what are your thoughts?
how will you travel
the dry terrain of naked choice?
Before the sun
before the light releases you
before the shadows
disappear and find us mute...
o when to speak?
why the stammered words?
who amidst this fury
will gather our deliverance?
9. of death
Of death
remember this
it is not the end
of all things
merely the end
of some things and
of those things
they are not
the things eternal.
10. For the memories ungranted
For the memories ungranted
for the tears that could not hold torrential tides
for the hopes unheeded from
the times we failed to press the passing time
It is a coming and a coming back again
perhaps in styles and forms
we have not dared to wish
like lilacs in the wind that may be us
Igloos aren't the most comfortable
homes in the world but they
are adaptable and whether we like it
or not (ask any Eskimo)
we have no choice or will. living
upon glaciers thicker than
the eye can fathom requires a certain
degree of pragmatic accomodation.
11. Sweet is the night air
Sweet is the night air
when all lay dying.
solemn is the cricket
of a soldier's winter.
the fog rolls proverbial
across mounted
stones announcing another
name of remembrance.
so sweet is the night air.
so still.
the limbs that bare no leaves.
death is a quiet wakening.
12. When all this is over
when all this is over
as all this must
we may again embrace
with a tenderness
beyond this time
beyond these tears
and vain regrets
time surely cannot give us
back the years
nor reclaim the yearnings
of our youth
but the faith to forgive
the strength to redeem friendships
where we thought
we had none
and the courage
to create ourselves
anew
all this and more
we have fought
and won
Carl Cook
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