After spending last night arguing about life in general with a large group of philosophers, I decided to unwind with a poem. This one comes from a small purple book I keep called "Poetry for Mornings without Coffee":
You Can't Drain the Sea
The golden chalice gleams aloft;
would any man dare fill it with his blood,
The cup that for a thousand lives was lost,
two thousand years of mystery?
Would that the flesh was crumbling bread,
would that your crown not prick with thorns,
how easy 'twould be to drink the sea;
when the serpent lies slumped in your drinking horn.
But no! The rocks don't lie, they keep silent watch,
as stars wheel by and nations hatch,
as kingdoms grow and good men die;
The stones sit still and the rocks don't lie.
Oh the ancient heaving hills beneath us hear,
they listen to every folly we breath beneath the sun.
They watch with craggy eyes and wonder at our fear;
for though our theories multiply; their origins stand as one.
The hills keep guard and the rocks don't lie,
God rebuilt his Word on the blessed morn;
would that giants fall from aching eyes,
But you can't drain the sea with your drinking horn.
And here's a smaller bit from a poem that used to be much longer- until my great aunt spilled coffee on the page. (Thus is the reward of unworthy readers.)
Enoch's bones never feared for rot,
Elijah rides in the pillar of flame;
Would that the fire consumeth not,
when the bush must be pruned for wise men's shame.
You Can't Drain the Sea
The golden chalice gleams aloft;
would any man dare fill it with his blood,
The cup that for a thousand lives was lost,
two thousand years of mystery?
Would that the flesh was crumbling bread,
would that your crown not prick with thorns,
how easy 'twould be to drink the sea;
when the serpent lies slumped in your drinking horn.
But no! The rocks don't lie, they keep silent watch,
as stars wheel by and nations hatch,
as kingdoms grow and good men die;
The stones sit still and the rocks don't lie.
Oh the ancient heaving hills beneath us hear,
they listen to every folly we breath beneath the sun.
They watch with craggy eyes and wonder at our fear;
for though our theories multiply; their origins stand as one.
The hills keep guard and the rocks don't lie,
God rebuilt his Word on the blessed morn;
would that giants fall from aching eyes,
But you can't drain the sea with your drinking horn.
And here's a smaller bit from a poem that used to be much longer- until my great aunt spilled coffee on the page. (Thus is the reward of unworthy readers.)
Enoch's bones never feared for rot,
Elijah rides in the pillar of flame;
Would that the fire consumeth not,
when the bush must be pruned for wise men's shame.
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