Searching
Then down - and down - and down .
Those morbid footsteps always fall . 

Through the empty spaces of the heart
Drifting broken shadows fall
There plaintive love pursues an image fair
All bounded by a gilded wall .

Always chasing - but not catching her .
That hidden face you never view .
Sad dreams of love ; pursued by love .
But you do not know just who .

Oh love , that you should play such games .
Your teasing tortures me .
Your running sets my dreams in flames .
Stand still - just let me see .

This next piece "Broken Image" is an attempt to show that whatever we do and are is reflected in the actions that we take , the things that we make and that the world we construct around ourselves . All things appear to be a function of our own ideas . It is also a condemnation of wishful thinking and illustrates the impermanence of belief .

Broken Image
He was a god when he was made .
Folded hands and forehead overlaid
With gold , and eyes of sapphire
Glowing greenly as with devil's fire .
Silk clad the sensuous curving thighs .
And billowing robes fell from his sides .

The artisan who carved that face
Prayed such work would obtain grace .
Annull past actions and desires
Of shame - he hid them from his wife .
There was a whore he lodged with .
She and her mother . Shamelessly
All three of them in bed together .
So he - for penance carved that face .
And in that form fixed his desire .
Shaped in that stone the body's fire .

The limbs were carved by other men .
And their desires , each one of them ,
Were thus translated into stone .
And every man thought he alone
By such work could then atone ,
And save his soul -- or hedge his bet .
Each one of them had failed to see
He'd fixed his sins eternally .

Countless sinners came and went
Prayer and hope and good intent ,
All mixed with lust , was in their hearts
Their secret hope "Please just once more ,
I'll stop it then , if you won't score
That one time more against my sheet .
I'll live a good life . True and meet ".
Then looking in that face they saw
Themselves . And the image of a whore .

The years have slowly gone . And time
Has worked upon that sensous face . .
Those folded hands are broken stone.
The gleaming sapphire eyes and gold -
The billowing silks - stolen and sold .
Only the old stone hulk remains
Marking the sterile beliefs of men
Making their gods in their own image .

The third item is a piece about some pirate adventurers of the bronze age as recounted in the mythology of Ancient Greece . This story is told by Homer and several Greek and Latin writers . Around 1200 BC Jason was the leader of a band of Argive pirates (the Argonauts) . He stole the golden fleece with the aid of Medea (a Sorceress) who was daughter of the king of Colchis . They eloped , but later he deserted her and married Creusa , daughter of the king of Corinth . In 431 BC Euripides wrote the tradegy 'Medea' based upon this legend .

Jason
He journeyed on a daring argosy .
Intent to steal the golden fleece 
Belonging to the king of Colchis
It hung upon a gnarled oak tree ,

There guarded by a winged worm .
The hero answered Medea's call
And stole away the wealth of Colchis .
Carried the golden fleece to Argos .

Deserting Medea along the way .
Homer sang about them long ago
Those bandits and the bold adventurers
Who sailed upon that wine dark sea .

They stole and plundered as they went .
And then to salve their rotten souls
Made rich gifts to Hera's altars .
On their return from that adventuring .

This did not save the Argives from
Chastisement at the hand of Sparta .

Finally , here is a purely descriptive verse which deals with the perception of nightfall while standing in a country garden .

Nocturne 
Full moon shining
Occluded by drifting clouds .
Branches moving
Rustling in a gentle wind .

Moonlight shadows
Sweeping over the pathways .
Not disturbing
The fallen apple blossom .

Silently waiting
In the quietness of the night
The mournful owl
Watches the lonely garden . 
 

E . Nixon