← Poems

HERESIES

MILTON — A GREATER VISION BEYOND

The first poem
tearing itself loose

the shock of its emergence

the priests of poetry
making augury
before the gods

for the bard
is sacred to the gods

he is their priest
and speaks of things hidden

derived from human life,
yet larger than human life

hidden symbols
to convey worlds
beyond human knowledge

holy counsels
of the gods above
and down below

where the fierce dog barks

the human perspective,
so limited and finite

how acquire the answers
to questions beyond
the human experience?

The word

a verbal revelation
of God to man

the poet listening constantly
for messages

the shelter
of ancient languages

death marks
the limits of knowledge

the essence,
the poetry,
the word

the human and the divine
in direct alignment

the cycle of nature

at night
the sun falls
into the western ocean

the young dying god

pastoral worlds
see no winter

for the sun of righteousness
never sets

revelations
versus the repeated question
of ignorance

long nights haunted
by sinister gods

that made man
in their own image

the worlds of Moloch
and Osiris

the world of Comus,
master of illusion,

whose domain
is the forest at night

the fallen world
man and false gods
call home

and sometimes hell,
infernum

escape the helpless servitude
to desire

for passion is tyranny

lives plagued
by ignorance and confusion

ending in slavery
and bondage

human nature
is a state of tyranny

the prophets use words
like spells

they transcend
their meaning

man cannot acquire freedom
without knocking down his idols

and willing to be set free
by something
far greater than himself

the prophet
is a breaker
of false images and words

the only authority
is spiritual

forget not
the rule of charity

the bondage of moral law
ensures that man only hears
what he already knows

the revelation
of all true things

always sounds foreign
and dangerous
to the ears of man

most prefer tyranny
over freedom

false securities
over ancient truths

and shiny things
over the permanent things

worldly revolution
is merely a technique

transferring power
from one class
to another

a greater vision beyond

to repair the ruins
of our first parents:

Adam,
Eve,
Abel
& Cain

where are the agents
of spiritual authority?

the enemy
is at the gates

the true poet
is not a heretic
or blasphemer

he is the prophet

through him
and not by him

ancient truths
are spoken

history begins
with the fall of man

man lost his liberty
and refused
to take it back

no peace,
no freedom,
no justice

are to be found
in the ways of man

creation:

the separation
from chaos

redemption:

nothing but
the recreation
of order

the kingdom of hell
mocks the kingdom of God

Satan,
the grotesque court jester,

presides over
an army of slaves and fools

mistaking the demonic
for the divine

destroying the idols
of servitude

is the only path
to liberation

the lost
seeking reconciliation
with the found

when you come
to the end of your will

your will
is nullified

the temples of ignorance
and servitude
crumble

and a mysterious change
will take place

The valley of shadows

ruled by
the ferocious children
of Nimrod

bewildered slaves
with no masters

a dying culture
wailing to its helpless gods

a dead giant
in a pile
of broken stones

heaven & hell
within.