USA

Ward708@aol.com

His Singular Initial

A single poem, bred well,
will race far ahead of all

the other thoughts in a poet's
mind, for most thoughts are

laden with the cares of our
existence: how to drag these

bones from place to place
while providing them an

adequate nourishment. But
a poem has no such baggage,

and instead gallops through
the brain, never in circles, but

always straight to the finish
line where it raises on two legs,

screaming a horse's thin exclamation . . .
and only then do you see the black-

caped rider who unveils his arm
to slash his wicked sword at your

naked chest then rides off, leaving
you marked with his singular initial.


Artist's note:
Galileo (1564-1642), in his "The Assayer" wrote, "I say that the testimony of many has little more value than that of few, since the number of people who reason well in complicated matters is much smaller than that of those who reason badly. If reasoning were like hauling I should agree that several reasoners would be worth more than one, just as several horses can haul more sacks of grain than one can. But reasoning is like racing and not like hauling, and a single Barbary steed can outrun a hundred dray horses.

Their Lithe Approach

It is the most difficult task,
this embrace of that thing
I most fear. For I watch
my daughters, their lithe
approach to this business
of living, how they go about
their lives charmed by their
child's world, and for a few
moments I share in the charm.

Being a morose man, I project
the worse, then cannot imagine
joyfully participating in one of
their funerals. I would rather
participate in my own.

Most people would counsel me
to forget this nonsense, and
instead enjoy the moment --
why incessantly dredge up
the worst of life? Yet this is
the sad duty of some poets,
is it not?

. . . for we were not designed
to enjoy that which we must
dissect and chronicle.


Artist's note:
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) writes of a trip to India where he sought out the celebrated Hindu teacher, Sri Krishna Menon: "The teacher in this tradition always answers questions. He doesn't tell you anything you are not yet ready to hear. So I said, Yes, I have a question. Since in Hindu thinking everything in the universe is a manifestation of divinity itself, how should we say no to anything in the world? How should we say no to brutality, to stupidity, to vulgarity, to thoughtlessness? And he answered, 'For me and for you -- the way is to say yes'."

Once You Speak It

Once you speak it, it looses its
potency, and such enunciation

works for either truth or fear,
yet appears the opposite for a lie

which gains strength with each
spoken repetition. Why truth

and fear share this trait, I'm
not sure, perhaps they both

reside at the heart; even odder
are the life spans of these three

when spoken and taking their
leave of the carnal body:

lies over time rust and are seen
as tarnished, fear congeals into

a substance that can be studied
then dealt with, while truth -- no

longer passionate from the heart --
becomes a fabric that can embrace

all who would pick it up to examine
the weave and texture of the thought.

Credit list:

POETRY COLLECTIONS & NOVEL

"comedy incarnate" on CD ROM
by Kedco Studios (Las Vegas, NV)

"histories of souls" paperback & ebook
by Word Wrangler Publishing, Inc. (Montana)

"comedy incarnate" on AUDIO CD
by Artvilla (Tennessee)

"the naming of parts" an ebbok
by Shyflower Press (Minnesota)

"Divine Comedy" a novel, paperback
by Word Wrangler Publishing, Inc. (Montana) 

© All Copyright, Ward Kelley.
All Rights Reserved. Printed By Permission.