Mirror Poems

Steven L. Griffing

Description

The poems contained in this book were composed, primarily, in 1986 and 1987 when I was living in Columbus, Ohio and Los Angeles, California. In June of 1986, I moved from Columbus to Los Angeles, and embarked on one of the most profound writing experiences of my life.

I worked as a security guard in Los Angles from June of 1986 until October of 1991. My work had some influence on my poems from this time, but the main influences were the people and culture of southern California, the climate and geography of southern California, previous and present life experiences that I was having, an understanding of God and a search for the meaning in life, an interest in women, and a love for nature, which I still maintain today.

I was fairly low income, and surviving, almost, entirely on my own. Previously, and at about the same time (through the end of 1986), I was finishing off some major parts of my book on the golden section. Concurrently, and years later, I was writing up my essays on philosophy and life, which I did not finish until after I had returned to Columbus, Ohio, at the end of 1991.

Sujets

• Poetry

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 13 août 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780759633919
• Langue: English

Extrait

MIRROR POEMS
 
 
by Steven L. Griffing
 
Copyright © 2001 by Steven L. Griffing.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
ISBN: 978-0-7596-3392-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-0-7596-3391-9 (e)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1stBooks – rev.       01/26/2023
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1: 01-06/1986
1.Mirror, Mirror
2.Big Fish
3.Sitting on a Mound of Dirt
4.What Will It Take?
5.The Plant
Chapter 2: 07-12/1986
6.Oh, Beautiful Lover
7.Winter Song, Winter Dance
8.We Will Build a Sacred Manger
9.Stand by Me
10.Beautiful Bird
11.Oh, Beautiful Bird
12.Your Beautiful Eyes
13.Incessant Love
14.Do Another Dance for Me
15.She’s Shady, Silent, and Gray
16.Look at Me, Now
17.Nightfall
18.Laughter in His Eyes
19.Be a Painter of My Dreams
20.Our Spiritual Sky
21.The Little Elf
22.In the Dark Part of Our Lives
23.He Looks at You
24.You are My Truest Love
25.One Soldier after Another
26.I Have a Black Heart
27.What Totem Pole, or Obelisk is This?
28.I Fly; I Cry; I Die Away
29.Little Bluebells on a Stem, I.
30.It’s a Little Orange Ball
31.I Send the Counselor Renovating
32.Little Bluebells on a Stem, II.
33.The Plaintiff Called a Little Bit Earlier
34.When the Few of Us Shall Lament in Peace
Chapter 3: 1987
35.I Have a Hard Life
36.Enclosed, Herein, These Withered Walls
37.Racing Cars
38.Inquiring Minds
39.Forsake Thee, and Forsooth
40.The Light of Lights
41.But, Once the Wind has Blown
42.Believe in Me, Obsolescence
43.At the Quiet End of Time
44.Boundless Seas, and Boundless Clowns
45.Unbridled Passion
46.Around and Around the Wheel Goes
47.I Stand before God
48.The Dark is Devastating
Chapter 4: 1988, 1990, & 1996
49.The Wolf
50.I Live in a Broken-Down Palace, II.
51.The Atomic Sun
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION
 
 
Poetry is the way of making logic out of the universe, of making reason out of sound, and a way of forming mathematics to understand the physical and astronomical ways of God. Poetry is meter and rhyme; it is the essence, or root of language.
Chapter 1 01-06/1986
Mirror, Mirror
 
 
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the fairest face of all?
What image do you see
in your glass?
How old are you,
and what face doth thou seest
when I lookest there?
What thoughts do you, secretly, hide
in the reflection
of your glass,
and will your image live
in eternity?
Big Fish
 
 
Big fish, big fish, I want to play a game with you.
I want to play in school.
I want to play at home,
and in the courtyard after school.
I even want to play in a pool.
 
Big fish, big fish, how are you?
What is your name,
and how old are you?
Are you a tuna, a perch, a trout, a salmon, or a shark?
And, will you play with me, even in the dark?
Will you play with me after school?
 
Big fish, big fish, do you speak my language, too?
At the bottom of the river here,
it can get very dark and murky, you know?
But, I don’t get dirty, anyhow.
I just swim and glide.
I just fin and dive.
I fish for fish, and other fish’s food,
like plankton, krill, and squid.
It gets mighty dark and murky
on the river’s muddy bottom,
and I don’t know if I will survive another year,
especially, under the frozen ice,
where my blood almost freezes to the bone, too:
like sap in a blade of grass,
or in the trunk of a tree,
during the winter chill.
 
Big fish, big fish,
will you play after school today?
Sitting on a Mound of Dirt
 
 
Sitting on a mound of dirt;
sitting on the ground.
Sitting on the top of the hill,
feeling so free.
Sitting on the top of the hill,
feeling like me.
Sitting on the top of the hill,
playing guitar.
Sitting in the sunrise next
to the steel.
 
Sitting on a mound of dirt,
playing a game.
Sitting on the top of the hill,
playing guitar.
Sitting on the top of the hill,
seeing so far.
Sitting on the top of the hill,
playing a song.
Sitting in the sunrise next
to the steel.
What Will It Take?
 
 
What will it take to make the garden grow?
What will it take to make the flowers show?
What will it take to make your children know?
What will it take to get your children there?
What will it take to make your children stare?
 
Lots of work,
lots of work.
 
Lots of eggs, and lots of dirt.
 
Lots of work,
lots of work.
 
Lots of love, and lots of birds.
The Plant
 
 
It’s a lovely growing thing.
It’s a little sting.
It’s a plant
with a flower.
It’s a spiral,
and a phyllotactic twist
on a stem.
It’s a little gem.
It’s a real red flower.
 
It’s lots of willpower.
It’s lots of bend.
It’s lots of growth,
and photosynthesizing
on a leaf and a stem.
There are so many wildflowers.
There are so many weeds.
There are so many seeds,
that can produce any living thing
with roots in the ground,
and water and nutrients,
that give it growing power.
 
It’s a real red flower.
It’s a living thing.
It’s a little gem.
Chapter 2 07-12/1986
Oh, Beautiful Lover
 
Oh, beautiful lover
under the cover
with locks and frills
and little chills,
and lots of locks
and little curls.
Who knows where we will sleep?
Who knows when we will creep
across the floor, unknowingly,
to the bedroom closet
to dress and rise?
Who knows when the sun will rise?
What time is it
when we rest and writhe?
What sweet dreams
we will have tonight.
 
Oh, beautiful lover
under the cover
with your hand
on a pillow,
and a bedspread
covering your body.
Who knows
when it will be time to die?
Why not, let’s just roll over
and play possum?
Let’s just say goodbye.
Winter Song, Winter Dance
 
 
Winter song, winter dance,
it is time for another romance.
Winter bird, winter robin,
who knows why you can survive, so long,
in the depth of winter
in the winter’s snow
without food or water,
only the leaves, and seeds, and bark
of the old, numb trees, and bushes, and grass.
 
Winter song, winter dance
in the fall, the full moon has risen,
and the Halloween day has been celebrated.
But, who knows when the thick snow blows,
and the strong winds hail and burn
when the winter robin will return,
and when the eddies
of snow will spin and turn?
We Will Build a Sacred Manger
 
 
We will build a sacred manger,
and this time, it will be written
in the names of you and I.
For when we give birth to a baby boy,
his manger will lie in a field of rest and peace.
His body will rest in peace for evermore.
His soul will lie in a cradle of joy.
The lambs, and goats, and animals of the herds
will bow their heads
in reverend respect.
The neighbors, and friends, and relatives
of our family
will come to our stable bearing gifts.
 
We will build a sacred manger,
and this time, it will be written
in the names of you and I.
His sporting grounds will be the fields
of love and joy.
The objects of his desire
will be the most beautiful women and game.
The capture of his hunting
will be the finest game.
And, the rewards of his pursuits
will be the finest fruits.
His clothing will be made
of fine linen and satin.
And, his statements
will be made of the finest gold.
And, when he dies,
his soul will rest next
to yours and mine.
Stand by Me
 
 
Stand by me.
Stand by my side.
Always keep your mind’s eye
on my eye.
Always, always die.
Always go to the evergreen forests
of my destiny.
Always, always think of me,
my darling, and sweetest girl.
 
Stand by me.
Stand by my side,
and, please, never say “goodby”.
Never say, “Let’s quit, or not try.”
Let’s just go
to the Everglades
of my side
to see the flamingos, alligators, and toads
to visit a swampland,
that was, once, so old,
to bring back the life
of the Everglades’ swamps and fauna.
Beautiful Bird
 
 
Beautiful bird
with a gray little bill,
sitting on the window sill,
ready to kill.
 
Beautiful bird
with a gray little frill,
looking at me
with admiration and thrill,
as if the whole world were ready
to die.
 
Beautiful bird
with a gray little quill,
you are ready to fly,
and hop away.
You create such a beautiful, gray spot
in the cloudless, blue sky.
 
Beautiful bird
with gray and white feathers,
you can sing a song
of my heart’s desire.
You can attract a mate
of the same feathers and style.
And, you can even wake me
in the morning
under cloudy skies.
Oh, Beautiful Bird
 
 
Oh, beautiful bird
with an eagle’s dance
with long, sturdy legs,
and feather