He could clearly smell the sweet new grass
That sprang with life so sure
And lay like soft green velvet cloth
Beneath his bended knees.
And fingers, strong and sure again
Softly searched the earth
For pebbles, sticks and pretty stones
And childhood memories.
His eyes so clear in morning light
Saw the cloud foam surge
And galleons rigged for journeys far
In endless sky blue seas.
He heard the piercing birdsongs rise
Like an orchestras violins
To play their endless melody
Through distant wattle trees.
Those wondrous things that once he knew
When he was young and sure
As life begins to flee, again
He hears, and feels, and sees.
O Life, of which Love is a part
Give us this chance we ask
To open our arms to each other
And in Love’s warmth to bask.
O Love! You are a pearl of infinite beauty
That warms to the touch of a hand
A perfect orb with silk like lustre
That lies with pebbles in the sand.
O Love! You are sweet as Summer rain
When all the vines are dying
Sweet rain to give Life again
And set the crickets crying.
O Lord! Giver of both Life and Love
Thank You for these things
For without them both
No one would heed the soul that sings.
In my mind I dreamt a dream
Blackened river stones did gleam
Images dark that quickly shone
A crystal surge that soon was gone.
In my mind steel-silver flashed
As swords in battles old had crashed
Bright hot skies of Summer beamed
On Truth and Glory as I dreamed
In my mind I dreamt the Dream
As all that dwell at Life's deep stream
Unreal to real who dare cross here
To live their dream without a fear.
We dare to say we know
The braggart, liar and cheat;
Mirror faces, that pride denies
Are ours with feigned conceit,
But can we know each other
To the depths of our hidden soul
To the I we do not show
And not the player’s role.
There comes a time in life
When suddenly we know
That acting is for nothing
If we want our souls to grow
So when this time arrives
As come at last it must
Cast aside the actor’s mask
And climb up from the dust.
My mind knows no bounds
But can fly ever free
My mind is in the clouds
And in the earth and trees
It soars with birds on high
It leaps with waves in seas
And falls with Summer rains
And prays on bended knees.
My mind dances with the wind
And catches the falling star
It lays with autumn leaves
And drifts with sands afar
My mind can sing a million songs
The sweetest sounds there are
Of winds and seas and Life
As soft as sweet nec-tar.
I wish I could play the music in my soul
Or say the words that echo in my heart
I ache with the beauty about me
But my clumsy hands cannot paint nor mould it
These things belong to God alone.
O God of Whom I am part
And Who is part of me,
Maker of all that is
Let me see the beauty
As You first made it
For my blind eyes
See only as a mortal can.
So what if I die?
For I have been
And, by my being
I have done.
What more can I ask?
For it is all God’s will
So mourn me not.
And when I am asked, at last:
In Life what have you done?
I can say in truth:
I was loved and loved someone!
Scant threads of Time left in Life’s tapestry
Are fleeing like grains of sand falling
Like torn threads that are parting
Slowly but surely it is starting
So I must not waste a moment ever
As that moment is gone and lost forever
I must gather memories of those I love,
Of books and songs, birds and trees
Of skies and the colours around me
So I can give thanks for what they meant to me.
Go your way, you fragments of humanity
You hurry and scurry towards what end?
Born of Woman to briefly flourish then die
Like a gentle flower you too must bend.
Spare a thought, perhaps, if you have the time
To contemplate your being and your role
For Nature lent you a body for a time
But who gave you your Soul?
"Freedom through Labour" and flowers at the gate
Could these simple things signify the hate
Like skull and bones on capbands black
And studded whips that ripped the back.
"Freedom through Labour" and white stone paths
That led to death in "shower baths"
And clothing piles and hair short cropped
And ovens hot that never stopped.
"Freedom through Labour" the signs had said
Dying is labour say the weeping dead
Queuing like cattle at slaughter they wait
For "Freedom through Labour" and flowers - at the gate.
Eternal soldier from ages past
You come again like Winter's blast
Forever trapped where conflicts last
To fight the fights that never passed.
Eternal soldier strong and sure
You hear the drums and crash of war
Through ages comes the battle roar
And off you go to fight once more.
Eternal soldier born to die
'Neath foreign skies were eagles fly
And rain-tears fall and breezes sigh
As time goes by, and by, and by...
A red more deep than vintage wine
Once steeped this hot dry land of mine
It fed the soil and sowed its seed
In time it grew like choking weed
And what was sown was reaped tenfold
In those who now can ne’er grow old
Let those broad fields lie fallow now
With blooms unplucked, New life endow
To hearts with dreams to grow anew
Young life, bright hope comes back it’s true.
And earth, enriched with love’s soft tears
Will give this bright fresh hope for years
So tend with care new seeds chance sown
They’re not a gift - but just on loan.
Christian! Who is your God?
Jew! Who is your God?
Follower of Islam! Who is your God?
Catholic! Protestant! Who is your God?
Those of a thousand sects! Who is your God?
Can it be that your God is my God?
Can it be?
Please assure me!
You show me bomb and gun
And you force me to my knees
I thought our God was One
And heard all our pleas
Can I be mistaken
As I count the lives you've taken
In the Holy name of God
I ask again - Who is your God?
To me, me is me
And to me, you are you
But to you, me is you
And I am you, to you.
But remember friend
Together, we are us
And each, to each, is I.
I ponder my being each day in the quiet times
For I know I should serve a greater purpose
Than what appears here and now
But I always wonder - how?
One day in time yet to be I will surely know
Till then I must ponder and search my soul
For living is to learn and I will know myself true
As one day so should you.
Faces I have known
From memories mists they come
To haunt me once again
Those faces I have known.
I see things in their eyes
The thoughts they do not know
Yet do know
In their eyes.
Sad eyes, bright eyes
I seem to know the way
It was with each I know
From in their eyes.
Do they know as I know
That Time has gone forever
And now never was at all
Can they know as I know?
The moon quietly rose, greatly bright
like a cold lustrous pearl
in that blue-black June night
that was set with ice diamonds.
As I wondered at her silent beauty, all the while
amid the ripple of grey night clouds
her eternal face beamed her Mona Lisa smile
over a land bedecked with frost jewels.
May it be that man’s memories waken
from the deepest depths of his being
to know that this is not a jewel to be taken
but the Goddess of Time and Love.
From the moment we are born
‘til the instant when we die
Life is sparkling shades of love
and deepest darkest loss.
so catch the moment,
now and yet to be
...catch the moment,
already it's a memory....
We know the pain of crying
and thinking all is lost
We sometimes talk of giving up
and need that bloom of love.
so catch the moment,
now and yet to be
...catch the moment,
already it's a memory....
We cannot see the future
so catch the moment now
That heartbeat that is love
and hold it in your thoughts.
so catch the moment,
now and yet to be
...catch the moment,
already it's a memory....
Do I remember love?
Yes! I remember love!
It was uplifting
It was soul-destroying,
It was exhilarating
It was gut-wrenching,
It was expectant
It was doomed,
It was sugar sweet
It was bitter acid,
It was stillness
It was fire,
It was bliss
It was pain,
It was total giving
It was raw emotion,
It was Love!
It still is!
Do I remember love?
Yes! I remember love!
To seduce you with my words,
my words of soft persuasion
I gaze at half closed eyes,
and - who seduces who...?
I see anew sweet silken hair,
tossing as you walk
Small white teeth that smile,
a mouth so ripe and full.
Your lips so slightly parted,
are gates to paradise
Your sighs are softly gentle,
so - who seduces who...?
I kiss the soft firm pulses,
that hide on eyes and throat
And wonder at the tender touch,
of hands on trembling skin.
I sense the scent of woman
that rises in my mind
Soft down upon your arms,
so - who seduces who...?
I feel the warmth of body heat,
and tenseness like a spring
Tight coils within your breast,
a need to be released.
Your slightly thrusting body,
so soft but wanting hard
Your sighs still softly gentle,
so - who seduces who?
To seduce you with my words,
my words of soft persuasion
I gaze through half closed eyes,
so - who seduces who...?
When I brushed my face within the sweet shadows of your hair -
And as I gazed upon
the soft curl of your lashes
I whispered,
Be my Love....
When my hungry mouth met yours with sweet urgency -
And when our pulses beat
their soft insistent rhythm
I whispered,
Be my Love....
When our hands joined to explore warm valleys and peaks -
And when my seeking lips touched
your silky ripe fullness
I whispered,
Be my Love....
When we felt our bodies tremble with unknown fears -
And when our arms strained around each other
with a desperate desire
I whispered,
Be my Love....
When I plunged softly to the depths of your inner being -
And when I felt your warmth surround me
as we tightly merged to one
I whispered,
Be my Love....
Be my Love....
Graeme's poetry © 2001 Graeme Petterwood