page two
perceptions
winter 2004

 

the silvery sea
margaret boles

I will come and commune with the sea
and tell it tales of things that trouble me
for the silvery sea will soothe me
murmuring as she does to the moon
the reach of the pier is reflected
in the transparent tranquil tide
and the harbour's entrance detected
by the rotating red of the lighthouse side
the silvery stars of the streetlights
stretch right out there to Howth
where the almost island stretches
like a benign and comfortable growth
having seen the sea's soft soothing
with its gannets and gulls a-gloating
I can close my eyes to the near moonrise
I can tackle my truculent thoughts

 

appleberry pumpkin shine
temi rose

hark the hollow angels sing
glory to any king
who persecutes and leaves us weak
who tricks, destroys and makes us weep
hark the soppy angels pray
let him oppress us just one more day
one more way we'll find
to murder our selves in our minds
one more dark road to hoe
planting where nothing can ever grow
hark those stupid angels quake
the evil they daren't forsake
shakes and rocks their peace and joy
turns the world to cheap alloy
then stamps the coins with an image putrid
just to make sure no one ever could possibly
confuse it with cupid

 

the people who live in glass houses
margaret boles

the people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
and the people who live in stone houses shouldn't throw glasses

a ripple of humor tickles my mind
with visions of stone houses
big ones and small ones
and glass houses
small ones and tall ones
(even botanic cream ones)
and stones, pebbles, and rocks
even some fossils
and glasses, tumblers
and all kinds of spectacles
seventies, eighties, and nineties
fashion glasses and spectacles
thirty's small ones, professor's ones
and the humor is wiped from my mind
photographs taken from Auschwitz take over
then in my mind it's Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
the stoning of stephen and stephen's gate
and palestinians and israelis playing games with hate

 

war
temi rose

there is undoubtedly
a war between men and women
and it simply consists in this
animalistic need to convert to prey
any species that is, well, edible
if I can devour you my animal instinct is satisfied
so there is this war between men and women
consisting of mutual desire for extermination
exterminate the opposition
the war is complicated by a vague cultural and spiritual
awareness concerning the interdependency of the genders
an interdependency that cloning negates on a biological level
and machismo negates on a cultural level
and everyone negates in order to survive the devastation of romance

 


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