Rhyme and Reason Volume Two

Excerpt

Bravo ! :

You speak to one and speak to all
Our minds ye have gracefully touched
In joy we leap and misery we crawl
But in Belief and Faith we have much
8>)

The '99 Blues (composed in 1999) :

Then garrisons marched out to conquer half the world ruled from the center with mastery of steel and agility discipline ensured victory in the reign of conquerors just a few millenniums ago

The sea a vast briny divide civilization still ruled by the tide then brave explorers discovered new lands and the people conquered their stake upon immortality for the homeland's glory just a few centuries ago

Red flag and sickle brought down a throne when planes first battled and droned world wars twice a century during the first half the Cold War ended just over a decade ago

We're not getting closer even as we get older resorted to arms negotiations crumbled talk in shambles just a few years ago

News still blaring strife and scandal weight of troubles for the willing and able to cleanse this world of ailments do we seek the new fangled or ancient ? we're still searching just a few days ago

Neighbourhood bustles with communal fussing jobs, relations, children, gossip and bragging folks I know and don't chattering I have the alcohol's fire in my veins from the drinks I had just a few hours ago

My thoughts flip back to friends I had times of delight and mirth made me glad then commitments led us away catch up with you soon I was in the past just a minute ago 8>)

Passage Of His Reign :

Supple youth gambols with fresh breeze.
Fledgling seeds sprout first roots.
First light flickers from the horizon.
Winds blow with a shrill.
His reign is ascending.

Seasoned vigour reads the seasons.
Roots rush to claim its share of the earth.
Torch of day hangs midway at meridian's hour.
Winds howl deeply.
His reign at its apex.

What was once a peak is now a plain.
The next crest yields a basin of troughs.
Howling winds bewray cracks.

Ripe form moves with care.
Old roots are gnarled.
Light of day is a humble blend of glow and grey.
Winds howl at slurred pace.
His reign at its ebb.
8>)

No. 14 :

He's been up and over the hill
He's lost the horizon
He can't see the end
to his plateau limbo

The parade of younger generations excite him they do not he knows the game the tools have long changed he a hapless victim of the course of regulations which write off able bodied people on set biological years not on account of physical decline

He wastes away
He's been up and over the hill
Bereft of direction
He's lost the horizon
which guided previous phases of his life

A man in retirement without lifelong passion outside the sphere of his career hastens his own decline He can't see the end to his plateau limbo 8>)

Worth Of Say :

Everybody's worth of say heard in haunts you roam Someone else's worth of say overheard as you flit by It's not your worth of say while you stand, watch and wait You want your worth of say before pale flag's hoisted the towel thrown

Everybody's worth of say in each twist of rhetoric Someone else's worth of say you cannot see your name It's not your worth of say you haven't spoken yet You want your worth of say before the heart's lost the daredevils retire

Everybody's worth of say as you glean the scene Someone else's worth of say while you keep your peace It's not your worth of say when others speak their mind You want your worth of say before the flames flake the embers melt 8>)

Illustration Of Melancholy:

'I saw your face , It was clouded by smoke I grasped the smoke, and inhaled despair Was I too late ?...