POETRY

by Edward Crosby Wells

GRAMATICUS MORPHOLOGIST

I lie on freshly mown lawn
the grass lay strewn around
the scent I smell is Gramineae
I lament to the sky below
O, to be a virgin
again and again and again
O, to lie on my earthen bed
again and again and again
O, to feel my petals plucked
again and again and again

~ECW, 8/17/2011


A WALK IN THE SUN

A walk under Father Sun on Mother Earth
through the prairie and fields
of wild sunflowers and groves
of cattails soaking in the sun next to one
of several lakes shimmering, dazzling
under the blue August sky where leaves
on cottonwood trees chatter like children
through the breeze of a day
under Father Sun on Mother Earth.

~ECW, Denver, 8/13/2011


THE GRAY AREA

I was caught in the gray area
between the Beat and the Hip
taking cues from off the movie screen
learning the best one could from false examples
falling down the smokey funnel overhead
a lapse-dissolve melting one into the other
coming into focus as neither one nor the other
images caught between the source and its goal
expanding from out the eye of the projector
throwing forth hollow, senseless, untruths
across the screen I watched and believed
when I was young after Jesus and fairy tales
studying and learning manners in matinees
seldom hearing nor feeling the real
between the Beat and the Hip
I was caught in the gray area

--ECW, Denver, July 2011


I AM YOUR EYES (For Ron)

I am your eyes
in a moment of real
in a captured glance
something sincere
something honest
and you watch the subjects
wondering where I am
I tell you I am nowhere
I am he who took the picture
through my eyes you see
there for a nano-second
you see yourself through me

--ECW, Denver 2/14/2011


STAR OF HIS LIFE

sometimes he saw himself the star of his life
playing the actor playing the role
reflecting upon which is which
sometimes in the moment
sometimes somewhere else
sometimes nowhere at all
but always the actor playing the role
when he was the star of his life
sometimes with little regard
sometimes with genuine respect
or a slap of truth for uninformed prediction
sometimes spontaneous applause
for the grace of his performance
when he was the star of his life
sometimes it was difficult
sometimes merely impossible
when he didn’t have the stomach for it
and when he was bored with the plot
lacking compassion and lacking heart
lacking truth and lacking soul
he didn’t like the actor playing his role
he wasn't the star of his life

~ECW, Denver 4/14/2010


THE RHYTHM OF YOUR HEART (for Ron)

The rhythm of your heart
beats next to where I awaken
from voyages upon airy seas
and I listen as your breath
sweet-scented heavenly breeze
sighs through our waking hours
reminding of our love by day
and our vow of mortal care
and I am split between two loves
the love of the divine eternal
and the love I hold for you
my here and my now

~ECW, Denver, 11/28/2009


HIS DAY IN THE SUN

Let me tell you about his day in the sun.
He awoke in the gray of early dawn
as the sun’s illumination touched the horizon.
When he lifted his eyes to the breaking light
the moon’s voyage faded from sight.
With a long sigh he wondered how
he would spend his day beneath the sun.

There were unexplored roads to travel
and mysterious places in books to see.
There was goodness and beauty and truth to uncover.
There were bitters and sours and sweets to savor
and girls to watch as they grew into women
writhing in beds with bodies to taste.

Let me tell you about his day in the sun.
He saw his feet as they walked toward the warmth.
He reached out and scooped up the burning globe
and from his hands sunlight poured
like undone ribbons of liquid gold
as the world grew far and bright.

It was day and he was ready to begin
his journey into the sun where life explodes
into diamonds of light splintering
into the time and the day of his life.
He savored the bountiful flavors of being
and he tasted the bathing women
in the heat of the noonday sun.

Afternoon in the shade of whispering trees
bearing fruit and nuts and flowers
he whiled away some precious hours
as he lay content in the scent of earth and shadows.
There were roads untraveled and lovers to meet.
There were lies to tell and hearts to break.

Let me tell you about his day in the sun.
He hurt and wounded innocent souls.
He raised his fists at those who loved
and from his hands crimson blood poured
as the world grew weary and dark.
He gathered himself into a sad refrain
of loves lost and hard earned wisdom gained.

Shadows stretched around the planet
beneath the feet that took him nowhere.
Soon he would sleep and he wondered where
and he wondered if the sun would rise anew
with unheard music and dances he never did dance.
He lay on the ground as the sun disappeared
and he looked to stars wondering if they cared
as he slipped into the night at the end of his day in the sun.

~ECW, Denver, 7/8/2009


OMNIPRESENCE #1
a mere shift of attention
and you dare not mention
how the person before you
has melted into god

HAIKU #1
intellect divine
bitter whines the unplucked grape
wisdom is the wine

HAIKU #2
is no god, he cries
into his midlife morning
then prays for an answer

HAIKU #3
silently he sleeps
dreaming of the moon and stars
awake she sees clouds

HAIKU #4
weightless sparks of light
soaring dreams through silent air
prayers of night flight

OMNIPRESENCE #2
and the road goes round
while stumbling through life
on half remembered visions
of being here before
by choice or by chance
deja vu
wandering into the searching eyes
of strangers never known before
or perhaps the only reason you don't recognize them
is because you have forgotten
deja vu
and the road goes round

PRAYER #1
O, Most Beautiful Spark of Life,
Animator of my Body,
Deepest sense of Self –
Teach me to Love.

O, Most Glorious Being,
Center of all Life,
Of all things manifest –
Teach me to Live.

O, Most Inner Awareness of I,
The center of all that was and is
And is yet to come –
Teach me of You, My God.