BMP15
nzpoetsonline
Erin Thomas
USA
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foliage rises up the mountains
clouds amass upon the eastern ridges
i am home, finally i am home

my feet grew sore in the desert
my back stiff on the plains
like gusts of wind, i could not rest

rivers wandered their courses
stars glittered from the abyss
starved and alone, i followed them

one day i crested a ridge
and cradled in a valley
a hamlet lost from the world

this place i had never seen
yet what my eyes never knew
my heart somehow remembered

in the world i am tossed relentless
storms pass to leave me in ruin, but here
am i a cypress firmly rooted




desert song

heat rises in waves
dust plays gently on the wind
the sagebrush whisper
here creosote dance in rings
whenever a raindrop falls




Moonpines


Montgomery Redwood Grove at Full Moon
   Mendocino County, California
       Winter, Spring and Summer of 2003


Gently gleaming from shadowed depths, a single pillar shines,
Held in place by the full moon’s gaze, suspended on the night;
Bold within the enshrouded gloom, the silent moonbeam climbs.

Vaulted high into moonstone heights, both bark and bough alike
Etch mosaics of subtle hue in countless shapes and shades,
Held in place by the full moon’s gaze, suspended on the night.

Shifting softly with light subdued, the moon with traces vague
Brushes ever so faint the forms where rays, diffuse and dim,
Etch mosaics of subtle hue in countless shapes and shades.

Slowly walking, devoid of thought, low glimmers skim the skin,
Moonlight faint as a whisper’s breath, with tingle and tickle touch,
Brushes ever so faint the forms where rays diffuse and dim.

Sitting down where the wood is deep amid the moonshade hush,
Downy zephyrous breezes join the opal-toned caress,
Moonlight faint as a whisper’s breath with tingle and tickle touch.

Sudden, deep in the patterned depths one massive tree is blessed,
Caught entranced by the moon’s embrace, and all my heart is thrilled;
Downy zephyrous breezes join the opal-toned caress.

Here my spirit escapes the mind and laves in peace until
Gently gleaming from shadowed depths, a single pillar shines,
Caught entranced by the moon’s embrace, and all my heart is thrilled;
Bold within the enshrouded gloom, the silent moonbeam climbs.






Legacy


an essence rises from the land into our spirits
   a touch like the raven’s down dispersed by a maiden flight
       that permeates our souls with an otherworldly memory

           in one ear seethes resentment deep and bitter
       reflections of a suffering long endured
   and in the other burns remorse as sour

this land is an amalgam of disembodied psyches
   its rivers and rocks infused with their enigmatic drift
       an essence rises from the land into our spirits

           as one hand grips a wound too deep to bear
       the other twists a blade that lightly glimmers
   reflections of a suffering long endured

we drink of water filled with transcendental engrams
   a sense emerges in all who share in its natural course
       that permeates our souls with an otherworldly memory

          while one arm holds a steady hand for moments
       and all the warriors freeze in sober pause
   the other twists a blade that lightly glimmers

like sea-mist on the wind our minds are touched by phantoms
   immersed in their love and hate—a plight we cannot escape
       an essence rises from the land into our spirits

           one eye sees arrows pierce men to their rest
       another watches bullets drop their targets
   and all the warriors freeze in sober pause

the waking world is brim with long forgotten relics
   their shapes reduced to the dust we breathe from the fragrant air
       that permeates our souls with an otherworldly memory

           one hero’s war-lance slaughters human objects
       the rage that sent it warm upon the blood
   another watches bullets drop their targets

all ancestries are fused in our subconscious insights
   we dream their atrocities—their advances and retreats
       an essence rises from the land into our spirits
           that permeates our souls with an otherworldly memory

               each side is long remembered in our veins
           in one ear seethes resentment deep and bitter
       the rage that sent it warm upon the blood
   and in the other burns remorse as sour





Reunion

i met him once
in another plane
beneath pale blue sky
surrounded
by cold grey towers
older than time

i remember
walking by myself
down archéd hallways
stretching long
sullen and dim
devoid of life

life lived not here
though it did pass through
in its erring quest
to fathom
what it all means
this strange journey

i met him here
where corridors crossed
through ages brooding
we alone
held in our gaze
one another

his face showed pain
fathomless concern
i saw not in life
but here now
in this city
Necropolis

we did not speak
though thoughts in balance
poised long on his lips
unable
to form one word
from his pained heart

not one thing moved
in this agéd place
where motion and time
stood frozen
as in silence
our gazes locked

i saw his pain
his longing to know
how i was doing
in absence
of his own life
he took from me



Erin Thomas was born in Riverside, California, in April 1971, but was raised in various locations along the California coastline. For the past year and a half he has lived in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Jenna. His interest in poetry began when he was twelve years old upon discovering The Best Loved Poems of the American People, so his first contact is with primarily formal poetry. Thomas' main influence has been Robert Service, whom he read vigorously from age twelve through his twenties. As might be expected from this, his secondary influences are classical English and American poets such as Tennyson, Thomas Campbell, and Julia Dorr. He has committed a decent repertoire of poetry to memory over the years, and has come to sing many of them--such as Dorr's "The Legend of the Organ Builder" and Tennyson's "The Daydream"--as "cantillations". Since he started writing poetry seriously around 1997, he has been accepted for publication in printed and electronic periodicals such as Blue Unicorn, Candelabrum, Illuminations, The Lyric, The Penwood Review, Art Arena, Disquieting Muses Quarterly, The Ghazal Page, Tales of the Talisman and Zephyr.