In the Space Between Breaths

Bobby BeauSoleil

 

Keeping his timeless silent vigil

the sentinel sits tall in the saddle

casting a long shadow on the plane

of a dimension betwixt losing and finding out

unfazed by the din of lost souls

howling and screaming like monkeys

for the attention of mothers now ghosts

 

A bereft bighouse sparrow

chirps incessantly his staccato call

for a mate or just a friend

a rival if it comes to that

his chirruping echoes down the long hall

it almost seems that he is answered

so he flies its length to see

the one he seeks just out of view

 

 A world seen through grimy windows

offering promises long unkept

sunbeams play on cobwebs and old paint

making cave paintings on manmade stone

and imposter fireflies from the dust motes

like those pesky persistent thoughts

rattling in the skull like wooden beads

offerings to be burned on the altar of the heart

 

Wandering the bowels of labyrinthine dream

one good turn deserves a hundred more

until finding the door to escape at last

only to awaken in another dream

where the joke pretending to be peace

is a masquerade for the gap between wars

glories sublime in unimaginable horror

the history games of desire and suffering

 

The sentinel observes it all unblinking

unmoved by pleas for intervention

by desire for winning or fear of failing

the parade of fools unrecognizing

the seeker’s search for truth unchanging

knowing the peace without an opposite

there to be found in the immensity of space

between the falling and rising of breath

The Other Shore

Bobby BeauSoleil

 

My dreams

             are not for sale

But wait, wait

             here is one for free

It stretches high
             far and wide

And deep

             as you can see

 

Your gaze

             it pierces me

But you can’t see

             what I’ve become

You couldn’t know

             the hell I’ve seen

Or how Heaven

             has touched me

 

Lay me down

             lay me down gently

Lay me down

             on the other shore

Lay me down

             lay me down gently

Lay me down

             on the other shore

 

We dance

             we dance in the lovelight

Turning and turning

             laughing like children

Hearts afire

             a beating of drums

Divine song

             we are its melody

 

Blindly we leap

             Hearts in our hands

Into the nightmare

             Foolishness borne

To teach the world

             Lessons the hard way

Oh the price

             The price we would pay

 

Lay me down

             lay me down gently

Lay me down

             on the other shore

Lay me down

             lay me down gently

Lay me down

             on the other shore

 

My soul aches

             for gentle mercies

Sweet water

             to ease my thirst

A kind hand

             to stroke my brow

To bathe me

             in blamelessness

Launch me now

             like an arrow

Into the heart

             of the mystery

Birthless and deathless

             where is not is not

And everything

             Is held in a word

 

Lay me down

             lay me down gently

Lay me down

             on the other shore

Lay me down

             lay me down gently

 

Bear me up

             on wings of love

Carry me high

             above the carnival

Far beyond

             the seas of regret

Across the chasm

             of forgetfulness

 

And lay me down

             lay me down gently

Lay me down

             on the other shore

Lay me down

             lay me down gently

Lay me down

             on the other shore