Loneliness

'Won't you come and see

loneliness? Just one leaf

from the kiri tree.''

Basho

Upon Westminster Bridge

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still!

William Wordsworth 

(1770-1850 / Cumberland / England)

Sonnet

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul. 

I love you as the plant that never blooms

 but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

 thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

 risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

 I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

 I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

 so I love you because I know no other way

 than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

 so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

 so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Pablo Neruda

Cel mai frumos poem de dragoste

For Those Who Greeted Me 

1. You came to me this morning

And you handled me like meat.

You´d have to live alone to know

How good that feels, how sweet.

My mirror twin, my next of kin,

I´d know you in my sleep.

And who but you would take me in

A thousand kisses deep?

2. I loved you when you opened

Like a lily to the heat.

I´m just another snowman

Standing in the rain and sleet,

Who loved you with his frozen love

His second-hand physique -

With all he is, and all he was

A thousand kisses deep.

3. All soaked in sex, and pressed against

The limits of the sea:

I saw there were no oceans left

For scavengers like me.

We made it to the forward deck

I blessed our remnant fleet -

And then consented to be wrecked

A thousand kisses deep.

4. I know you had to lie to me,

I know you had to cheat.

But the Means no longer guarantee

The Virtue in Deceit.

That truth is bent, that beauty spent,

That style is obsolete -

Ever since the Holy Spirit went

A thousand kisses deep.

5. (So what about this Inner Light

That´s boundless and unique?

I´m slouching through another night

A thousand kisses deep.)

6. I´m turning tricks; I´m getting fixed,

I´m back on Boogie Street.

I tried to quit the business -

Hey, I´m lazy and I´m weak.

But sometimes when the night is slow,

The wretched and the meek,

We gather up our hearts and go

A thousand kisses deep.

7. (And fragrant is the thought of you,

The file on you complete -

Except what we forgot to do

A thousand kisses deep.)

8. The ponies run, the girls are young,

The odds are there to beat.

You win a while, and then it´s done -

Your little winning streak.

And summoned now to deal

With your invincible defeat,

You live your life as if it´s real

A thousand kisses deep.

9. (I jammed with Diz and Dante -

I did not have their sweep -

But once or twice, they let me play

A thousand kisses deep.)

10. And I´m still working with the wine,

Still dancing cheek to cheek.

The band is playing "Auld Lang Syne" -

The heart will not retreat.

And maybe I had miles to drive,

And promises to keep -

You ditch it all to stay alive

A thousand kisses deep.

11. And now you are the Angel Death

And now the Paraclete;

And now you are the Savior's Breath

And now the Belsen heap.

No turning from the threat of love,

No transcendental leap -

As witnessed here in time and blood

A thousand kisses deep.

Leonard Cohen

September 21, 1998

Clown in the moon

Clown in the Moon

My tears are like the quiet drift

Of petals from some magic rose;

And all my grief flows from the rift

Of unremembered skies and snows.

I think, that if I touched the earth,

It would crumble;

It is so sad and beautiful,

So tremulously like a dream. 

Dylan Thomas

Full moon

"They say true love only comes around once and you have to hold out and be strong until then. I have been waiting. I have been searching. I am a man under the moon, walking the streets of earth until dawn. There's got to be someone for me. It's not too much to ask. Just someone to be with. Someone to love. Someone to give everything to. Someone."      

 Henry Rollins 

Image credit: Jason Wharam Photography

Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes

Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

When my heart's full of sorrow and my eyes are filled with tears 

Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

My mother often told me, angels bonded your life away 

She said I would accomplish, but trust in God and pray 

I'm on the King's Highway, I'm travelin' everyday 

'Cause I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

Well, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

When my heart's full of sorrow and my eyes are filled with tears 

Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

My mother, she's in glory, thank God I'm on my way 

Father, he's gone too, and sister she could not stay 

I'm trusting Him everyday, to bear my burdens away 

'Cause I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

Well, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

When my heart's full of sorrow and my eyes are filled with tears 

Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

I thought when she first left me, I'd pray 

for a little while 

Soon it all would be over, and I'd journey on with a smile 

But the thought as I get older, I think of what I told her 

And I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

Well, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

When my heart's full of sorrow and my eyes are filled with tears 

Lord, I just can't keep from crying sometimes 

Well, well