Willow Walk

august morning villanelle

so long a silence covers up much pain

we can rejoice but we must still recall

this sun of freedom rises through the rain

 

why they were taken we need not explain

for weight of shadows on us casts a pall

so long a silence covers up much pain

 

of those who suffered for other folks’ gain

whose battered bodies hung against the wall

this sun of freedom rises through the rain

 

and still we dance our every hope made plain

elsewhise we’d stoop and crouch and bend and bawl

so long a silence covers up much pain

 

they won their battle and their long campaign

whose time of servitude was not so small

this sun of freedom rises through the rain

 

with words of justice sung in no wild strain

by men and women proudly standing tall

so long a silence covers up much pain

this sun of freedom rises through the rain

mastery

to travel takes us back to where we start

all journeys have good learning as their end

but no one can go further than their heart

 

we seek a place from which pain must depart

leaving us healthier and with a friend

to travel takes us back to where we start

 

where all our bags are piled upon the cart

yet we can see those folk who will not bend

but no one can go further than their heart

 

so we have gone unto a place apart

to understand but not to reprehend

to travel takes us back to where we start

 

into the torment that must make us smart

beyond the certain hope which we defend

but no one can go further than their heart

 

therefore we master the creative art

that teaches us the ways in which to blend

to travel takes us back to where we start

but no one can go further than their heart

come wind or weather

across the silences these words are true

that answer sorrow with with a worthy smile

but will not pause to soften nor revile

your efforts nor the feelings that are due

this passing day what is it we review

among the many sights that might beguile

each voyager who reaches this last mile

is that the known provides us with a clue

some would be said to answer that the day

is not sufficient for all that we need

but we must struggle onwards into night

actors and viewers of the self-same play

not certain if our desperation’s greed

but ever hopeful we can get things right

the guilty party

too many answers come down to the same

non-explanation of the simple fact

we are the ones who always bear the blame

 

for all the anger we have one hard name

clear and precise both noble and exact

too many answers come down to the same

 

wave of exhaustion so that we must claim

not what we earned but all the goods we lacked

we are the ones who always bear the blame

 

for what was lost and for the constant shame

that was included in the lost compact

too many answers come down to the same

 

inauguration of the truth of fame

which we can neither add to nor detract

we are the ones who always bear the the blame

 

for those who come when we call the right name

but have no thought of what it means to act

too many answers come down to the same

we are the ones who always bear the blame

no winners in the end

 

to speak of valour is no great mistake

when each of us confronts the howling gale

those who are ready when the sandbags fail

know what is meant when city turns to lake

each of them is that moment wide awake

while in their corners all the cowards quail

left with no benefit save their own stale      

as even stoutest bodies bend and shake

words that are spoken in the autumn sun

lose all their purchase during winter's turn

but are the currency of many schools

repenting of their choices no one's done

before they see their youthful wishes burn

and know themselves for ordinary fools

crossing rivers

 where crossing rivers can be made to count

against the value of all we hold dear

in spite of all that’s known at the frontier

where hope and learning are held paramount

no one would wait on those who’d dare remount

for the long journey of the pioneer

made by the awkward and the most sincere

who have their truths to keep and to recount

no voyage matters this at last we learn

except to those who never need the map

the ones excepted from each changing trend

those are the masters who will always yearn

to hear our answer yet not give a rap

since all must come out equal in the end

dessalines at vertières

our meanings come from choices handed down

by those who built the towers and raised the sky

the folk who farmed the fields and filled the town

who'd made the horrid trip and did not die

their long hope was back to lost home to fly

but all the horrors made their footsteps slow

while home was lost in the far eastern glow

they had their duties and their constant care

and all the many pains we cannot know

all changed with dessalines at vertières

 

so much depends upon a simple frown

a gesture or a winking of the eye

to  make disaster or to grant renown

turn all our wishes into one great lie

or  send us each to the last great good-bye

by means of one most massive mortal blow

that bursts the normal cheery human flow

and sends us hurtling to the upper air

until that moment all had seemed too slow

all changed with dessalines at vertières

 

the human is a move from verb to noun

a chance to prove that we can best rely

upon the one who could not play the clown

but was the stalwart soul who did not cry

under the lash but rather chose to fly

with the fresh dawn and the new morning glow

the day of history when all would know

just what we were and how much we would dare

to do when we came up from down below

all changed with dessalines at vertières

 

prince you have heard your men were far too slow

to face our wrath and take the angry blow

that meant our freedom in the open air

do not be angry for you could not know

the outcome would be more than a tableau

all changed with dessalines at vertières

clearer paradigm

no evidence the world is bent in shape

a bluish globe with wooly white of cloud

the mountains form a contrast sharp and proud

against the sea we note the golden cape

while in the sky dark birds seem to escape

the planetary force while winds are loud

above the foam and yet we are uncowed

though eyes are open and all mouths agape

there is a reason we have reached this place

and taken stock at the appropriate time

for our authority to be compelled

into new channels and a different space

with better thought and clearer paradigm

now that the party’s over and trial’s held

the turning of the wheel

no matter what we say we do not feel

the pain of others right inside each heart

instead we wait the turning of the wheel

 

for one more challenge for the last appeal

which was presaged right at the very start

no matter what we say we do not feel

 

our hopes and urges have been brought to heel

and the last hero laid upon a cart

instead we wait the turning of the wheel

 

to see the message and to take our meal

in comfort all who come here will depart

no matter what we say we do not feel

 

we will start forward and then we will reel

back down in sign that we have lacked the art

instead we wait the turning of the wheel

 

for what is good the last hard spring of steel

yet still the while some fool will strain to fart

no matter what we say we do not feel

instead we wait the turning of the wheel

no astrology

where no man argues and no woman fights

for good or evil we have reached an end

of human battles and the stars portend

no better indications as the nights

close in we note their distant blinking lights

as symbols we might faintly comprehend

when we are whole but what the worlds intend

is not a matter that we have to rights

the argument of workers in the day

or farmers when the wind upsets the trees

is much the same as when we all were young

to bring about the work without delay

ignore the rain and not yield to the breeze

since a strong back outdoes a silver tongue

human wit

where in the sunlight all the dirt's dispelled

we take our leave then some will go to sleep

their blankets piled upon them in a heap

while in the forest all the spirits gelled

anticipating that when we excelled

at sport and art the answer would be deep

but nothing holds there's no place here to keep

our kindnesses the earth itself rebelled

none can permit the law to be denied

 by those who are so bound to a far higher

that their hard hands are in the moment lit

by the illuminations of their pride

the incandescence of a greater fire

than can be understood by human wit