Harley "Timrod" Verner
USA
                        Mesopotamia
 
The puissant paladin wields his sword in the sand.
He defies the world with contempt and scorn.
He defies captains from the west to take a st.and
And issues orders for a mighty undertaking ...to be borne
 
A converging coalition marches out to meet the foe.
Where the gentle Tigris and Euphrates flow...
The prince, a self proclaimed son of Mohammed makes a decree.
To the Saracens of the east is this, his desperate plea.... 
That these infidels, will find wrack and ruin...
Soon the slave and prisoner will go free...
The tempest comes and trouble is brewing.
Meanwhile, captives are released from years of oppression and tyranny.
 
Soon,  peace will return to this once troubled land.
where the puissant paladin made his final stand...
 

 

                        In Memoriam

                            ( A reflection on the Va Tech massacre)
 
In moments of quiet reflection and thought...
Our minds wander to the unspeakable horror that was wrought.
On a college campus... in an old and historic  Virginia town.
Did the world recoil as lives were turned upside down?
 
Let the tower bells ring out across all this nation!
Never forgetting the slaughter of innocence, the displacement of a generation...
We pay our respects to those who were lost.
and bowing our heads in silence, we weigh the price and count the cost...
 
Do not allow this dark tragedy to divide public sentiment
Rather, let us treat our wounds and commune with feelings intimate
Allow compassion to fill our hearts
May we long remember and etch these names on our hearts
 
Until all anguish subsides and all grief departs and tears no longer brim our eyes
comforting one another between our sobs and our cries...

 

BROOKGREEN  

Elderly oaks stand aloof and alone,
Testify against man’s follies covered and unknown.
Statues and topiary fill the spaces in between,
 And litter the landscape and gardens of Brookgreen.  

A familiar and revered silence overpowers me,
in this botanical beatitude that few ever see.
We pause in the moment, savoring senses of sight and sound.
And watch over the fragile fawn that grazes o’er the verdant ground.  

A lonesome peacock cries from deep within the wood.
foraging for both kernel and seed…
Strutting o’er the fields so great and good,
are the blooming flowers and the writhing weeds.  

At Brookgreen, we retreat to a world of solitude and silence,
And keep at bay, the one filled with aggression and violence.

 

Copyright, Harley "Timrod" Verner.
All rights reserved by author.