Not Opposed

Once upon a midnight clear,

While ravens nested far from here,

I knew, my love, you’d venture near

To treat with me again.

And evermore my dreams did take

Your form, the sight my eyes did make.

Your grace alone my heart did crave

To talk for hours on end.

Come to me now, I whisper loud,

Away from those, the maddening crowd

To commune in spirit, without a sound,

With naught but love to spend.

And when, with flourish, you do arrive,

I’ll open my soul, devour my pride;

Laying bare my thoughts for you to find

The place you need to mend.

For weary toils and labors hard

Have on your tortured mind made mark,

But by my side face down that dark

My joy, my love, my friend.

 

-Dakin 2/13/08

The Old Ghosts

So now I know you, but you never knew me;

Though you may think you do – I recline

By the shore of this oasis in the midst

Of this deadly desert in perfect

Peace of knowing now I have no

Control. When years ago this thought

Would have sent me scurrying out

In the hovering heat of the noon hour

Or in the cloaking coldness of nightfall

To search for that next unattainable

Mirage, it now causes me only to

Turn on my side and glory in once

Again the sight that fulfills my watching

Gaze, knowing now I am never

Alone. So, you may ask, with what

In your high posturing do you fill

Your growing hunger with now – Is the

Source of the spring so full of food

You never have need for new nourishment?

I, hearing your question wave by in the

Wind driven by a solar power striking

The waking sand, simply smile and shake

My head knowing my thoughts but not

Revealing them now. Take your inquiry and

Start off in your own direction for such

Has been your choice even from the

Beginning – though too late was my dreary

Discovery of the nature of your intimate intent.

I live by the secret knowledge of

Gentle surprise hidden within each

And every lapping wave washing out

On this stretching sand. I do believe.

 

Whoso list to hunt… I know her hidden haunt –

She travels under a closed canopy of

Branches intertwined, stretching from trunk

To tree. She breathes the stagnant air

And believes in her shadowy shelter

While she circles round the wood thinking

All the while she is traveling upon new

Ground. Dare not to trap her fragile

Form; let her run her course. Some

Things are worth letting go. I’ve lived

Deep within the crowded forest and have

Breathed the heavy air. My legs would wade

Through mud whenever I walked about

To stretch them, waking them from their

Sleepy state, shaking out the hornet’s strings

That stapled under my skin. When pushed I

Struggled forward to fall off the cliff

And sail in the sea of air and discovered

The forest, full of trees, stilted upon the

Still summit of a single mountain. And when

At last I alit on solid earth I looked

Above and found a canopy of stars shining

Bright bits of shower through my skin

Welcoming me home. I am not alone;

I am merely between one ghost or

Another – traveling companions. The forest

Not forgotten lingers on the left edge of

Fading visions instilled in a distant

Unfamiliar past presence. Seeking shelter,

Challenging fear and thunder, I wonder aloud

Which way will blow me breeze of breath when

Morning finally beckons. I still believe.

 

My new home rings with sparkling rain and

Weathers well the warmth of rising sun

Left above by a careless charioteer. The inconstant

Sun, which wears its heavy crown to signify

Its dominance of day, hangs hollow longing,

Like me, for shadows and seeks to spell its own –

But still, across this open plain, lies a distorted

Image of my standing form – too similar still

To the shadows of the mountained forest, not real

Enough to match the energy of this electrically

Charged, ever flowing breeze. I let her arms

Sweep around me and hold me quietly as

Together we wait for our living shadows to return

In our midnight sightings.  We wait not long, for

The strings that stay the sun in the sky let slowly slip

Their awesome grip and let their ward away. Adieu

O Soldier – sun of sky; Adieu dear comrade,

You who have lightened my eye may now find

Your rest in late night hours – May your dreams

Be truly pleasant as mine. A desert oasis,

A wooded cliff, a meadow of solar drama

Set these simple pictures of presence and

Separate us from our certainty. I have tasted

The fear that keeps us from freeing ourselves

From the forest and digested the bitter

Herb that leaves us too long a recluse at

The oasis’ pool in internal contemplations – For

Now, I choose to rest in the meadow and

Feed on the growing grain about me, ever looking for

A new lay of land on which to set firmly my

Feet and experience a new breath of air. I must believe.

 

-Dakin 8/20/95

Run To The Roar

 

So often I wish to be

Away from the touch

Of kings, the touch that

Causes me to shine,

The touch to paralyze.

So often I stumble

Through the crossfire

Of ins and outs

Bowing at the waist

From the buffeting

On both sides –

And all along I

Thrash my arms to

Try and rise to the surface.

And still so often

I sink in the shallows

That surround us all.

So often I swim

In a sunken sea

Somewhere short

Of where I really

Wish to be, wanting

To be with someone else.

So often a lion roars

Across an open field;

I turn and run away

Only to be devoured

By the pride.

 

-Dakin 8/25/93

 

 

For Beverly…

There upon my mind

Sits the single promise

Of simplicity and content,

For you shine like the sun

In all its strength

Burning in the sight

Of my eyes that have

Grown weary with the

Years, have grown leery

With the tears of promises

Unfulfilled and unattained.

You were that single stable

Focus that was lost among

The measure of youth

And uncertainty. Days past

With seasons that have

Simply disappeared upon

The moving hands of the

Scratched face of this

Temperamental timepiece,

My mind.

Talk of passion, burn the

Flame, and I feel the

Life that does go on

As I capture the test

Of will in the wild wind

That wraps her arms about

My form freely accepting

Her caress and touch

As I spin in this dance

Of perfected movement.

When there was a time

That you had given me

Your face to feel with

My hand, I knew that

Despite the pain of pure

Emotion, the reality of

Feeling and knowledge

Was ever more than enough

To sustain the laughter

And the smile of certainty.

There really is something

Wonderful about love,

But I don’t know when

That spring will come

And yet I fear the destiny

Laid before me like

Too many yellow bricks

In this unending road.

Yes, you’re on my mind,

But you’re nowhere

In my world,

But I vow to grab hold

Of that one word that

Seems so elusive to me

At times like this,

The word that your

Life’s joy and sorrow

Has demonstrated to

The unwatching world

Innumerable times in

The daily life you lead -

Courage.

I understand.

 

-Dakin 8/19/08

For Joshua…

The one time I stood

Still in your shadow

Has passed from here

To where we are now.

So now no longer does

the seventh day draw

Our hands together

Yet, still we remember.

Today you stood still

In silent celebration

And stuttered sorrow

While your knees supported

A frame that followed

Your walking feet, guided

By spirit, for the mind

Was watching the motion

Of a grey world wander

Away. And your mouth

Spoke though your

Tongue still sat in

The cavern waiting to

Communion with the thoughts

That no longer guided it.

A smile was shared in

Your moment of sorrowful

Celebration while still

Lay the body of

The mother soul now

Singing songs at the

Palace of promise.

She goes and awaits

Eternal reunion knowing

Of our brief reunion,

Retouching the embers

Of a briefly blazing

Moment that burns in

My mind, the friends

That became from such

A short sentence still

Stand shadow upon sand

Watching the sun set

Behind the hills. My

Eyes open; I look to

The time when we may speak

Again – away for a while,

While eternity awaits our

Still standing shadows.

 

-Dakin 9/25/93