A hyacinth’s scent last night
Brought such delight
To me as she stood,
Pure and white
In her box of wood.
Others unopened stood
In that box of wood.
They will flower and die
As will I.
A hyacinth’s scent last night
Brought such delight
To me as she stood,
Pure and white
In her box of wood.
Others unopened stood
In that box of wood.
They will flower and die
As will I.
There once was a place
Where men went
To find a kind
Of temporary content
And many a girl’s face
Graced that place
Where men could buy
A lie
Of love.
But perhaps a few
Believed it was true.
Some poor fools
Tried to buy
Girl’s love
With jewels.
The girls would smile
And would inwardly say,
“He is good
For a while
Until his money runs away”.
Sometimes, girls awaking from sleep
Would weep
And when kindly men
Heard them cry
They would wonder “why
Do I
Try to buy
Her love?”.
Some men would die
Inside and lose all empathy.
For such a He
The payment of a fee
Made everything okay
And he could say
And do
Whatever he wanted to.
Not all girls took drugs
And few had thugs
Keeping them in the life.
But poverty’s sharp knife
May cause us all
To slip and fall.
Some women freely chose
To give a certain part,
(But never their heart)
To men for a fee.
Though some deny
That such women freely chose
Or maintain that she
Is the minority
And that the privileged few
May have true
Freedom, while the majority
Are not free.
The place has long gone
But the profession lives on.
In dark streets
And expensive hotels
Client and girl meet
And the poet tells
How a fee
Often obfuscates morality.
And how all must
End in dust.
And
At Christmas time
I compose a rhyme
Of winter weather
And us all together
Emptying the wine
As we talk of bygone times,
While the clock on the wall
Watches us all
Until sleep calls
Us one by one
And we are gone.
On the ground
Logs lie
While all around
Joyous dogs
Spend their day
In play
Unaware of the decay
Of logs
And of how I
Envy dogs
In their play.
I was delighted to appear on the World Poetry Reading Series for Thursday 21 December, https://www.mixcloud.com/VictorSchwartzman/world-poetry-cafe-for-dec-21-2023-with-alaha-ahrar-kevin-morris-and-timileyin-gabriel-olajuwon/. My segment appears approximately 16 minutes into the podcast and runs for around 9 minutes.
During the podcast, I answered questions on what inspires me to write poetry, and read 2 of my poems.
I listened to the podcast using Google Chrome, but other browsers should also work.
My thanks to Ariadne Sawyer of the World Poetry Reading Series for hosting me on her show.
Once green leaves
Are brown
On the ground.
Great trees
Wither and die
And I
See dead leaves
At my door.
Sometimes the tide of lust
Sweeps my sense away.
But on this windswept day
I know my lust
Is but leaves and dust.
You and I
Said goodbye
For a little time.
I walk through
Fallen leaves
And compose a rhyme
To Eve
And Paradise Lost.
I have felt the bitter cold
And thought of sinning
With young women
And of how I grow old.
I have heard the clock tick
And heels click
In the late evening
And engaged in couplings and leavings.
I have considered right and wrong
And fought the fire
Of my desire
But my lust was very strong.
I have pondered on old rakes
And the mistakes
Of my flawed humanity .
And sometimes I see
The Grim Reaper coming for me.
(Doubtless I have been influenced by poets much greater than I in the composition of the above poem).
I heard no birds
In the winter churchyard.
It was just
The cold sky
The tombs
And I
On a darkening afternoon.