Sample

COLLECTION TWO

VISIONS OF LIFE

L. E. SHAFFER

Canto 10

"4th Rock"
February 21, 1997

The dawn glows coldly
Ravines scar the landscape
Atmosphere weak and dull
The face on the land

Spires praying to distant sun
Weak light plays the shadows
Soundless gentle wind
Red dust scattering peacefully

World old and new
Dry rivers beckoning
And ice in view
Life gone to the eons

Mid-day sun weak and calm
Starkly the mountains come
And enters into the long past
Stand alone and empty

Into the dark colder still
And then dull light shines
Of a different time and age
Cyrillic printing on red walls

Words from the long past
New explorer yearns
Learning the truth
Carried on the cold air

For the new and old
Come together at last
Understanding for a new age
A new terran world

"What is Life"
April 4, 1997

What is love
If not expressed
What is life
Without the love

Remember when
We were young
Songs were never
The same as our love

What is memory
Without the pain
What is pain
If there be love

Without us
Where would we be
O, love makes
Us all the same

Remember when
We gave life
Nothing was ever
The same as our future

What is love
If we don't give it back
What is life
Without a child to carry on

Remember when
We all were young
Songs still lit the flames
Our love is ever the same

"Ghostly Spirit"
May 12, 1997

Mist pools lazily on the floor
Dark tremors begin unbidden
A cool wind comes through
Blue tendrils crawl the wall

Darkness swallows dim light
Soundless screams fill the mind
Then the glow of blue struggles
Under the closed door

Dreaming visions swimming
The long climb into reality
Bloodless calls from eternity
And the dim embers of blue glows

The fog grows deeply
Sound increasing eerily
Something stirs, eyes flutter
The cold deeply grows

Energy seeps out and in
The dark replaced from within
The twins from the dark star
Ancient, long before time

Ghostly spirit awakening
In the minds of the Many
Fallen prey to unreal fear
Ghostly spirit knowing

Suddenly a burst of blue
Blinding, pure, sweeps
Through the empty room
The halls of ghostly spirit...

"In The Fields"
June 6, 1997

Early morning cool
As smoke rolls in
Above the din and rumble
Somewhere a bird sings

In the fields does
The battle sing
And fear grips
Blood dripping

The sun rises hot
The sounds quicken
Even as quiet
Dulls the brain

Inches gained perilously
Lost again in tears
And now no pain
Lost in the memories

Senses sharpened suddenly
Detect running water nearby
But so far and death so near
Noon darkens the eyes

When was it
That the child
Laughed in the games
And life wasn't so cruel

Where to go
In these fields
When afternoon cools
Slowly life slips away...

"Stalking Death Plays"
June 9, 1997

Stalking death darkly
Played in the field of stars
And one knew too much
And helpless is drawn

Across the vision
A dream danced
In wispy life
Full of shadows

Gleefully the dark grew
Invited by all
Eyes blinked, blinked closed
And darkness came the dreaming

Comet streaming
Followed by the one
And the Many
For we lay living

Before this nebula
Dances the welcome
Before all else
Mind numbing cold fear

Stalking death calmly
Played in the fields of stars
Dimming darkly
Blinking, blinking out

And a curse spoken
Comes with a smile gleaming
As all dream visions happily
And the living death begins

"Lonely for the Last Time"
June 30, 1997

Sitting here all alone
Lonely for the last time
After all those years
After all the love gone

Yesterday where has it gone
Setting sun, emotion low
Quiet so loud
Lonely for the last time

Where did we go
When did it end
Why be alone
Ah, look at that star

Quiet like you were
Words gone
Love lost
Lonely for the last time

Night deepens
Sitting here by the tracks
Not a sound
Images playing

The air so still
The moon dull
Sitting here all alone
Love lost

And the mind numb
The eyes closed
Against the tears
Lonely for the last time

"Magik Into My Life"
July 29, 1997
dedicated to the Internet web site called Scully's place

There upon blue mountains
A golden sun waxes old
Dusk spins the notes
Of a song so fair

Fireflies glow warmly
Here and there...
Summer breeze moving
And the squeak of a swing

Moon rises slowly
Magically reflecting
On still pond
And the stars sing

Of roses wafting fragrant
Sublime, lost in time
And all in a tune
Subtle music to closed eyes

And in the moonshine
Comes the angels
Down from blue mountains
Bringing magic into my life...

For there we are
Hand in hand
Swinging that old swing
Listening to the night's mood

Not a word said
But all shared
In simple love
With magic in our minds...

"Darkly Writes the Night"
January 19, 1998

Cold creeping along sad stones
Wisps of grey seeping through
Dimly lit and dark to the corners
Only sound drip drip drip

A cat hugs the walls eyes aglow
Steel glinting in dim light
A flash of lightning streaks the sky
And all is not well

But then the writing lives
It speaks and tells soundless
Unforgiving, relentless, joyless...
Darkly writes the night

Hands all aglow while
Flying over keys violently
Yet only the hands are seen
But the words pour out

Darkly these stones but speak
The evil thereof and heartless still
Memory sweet idiocy while
Darkly writes the night

No death, no stillness
But yet writing comes calling
And there be words
Written darkly and never again

Suddenly it stops and dawn begins
There is an a end, merciful end
The hands are starkly gone
But dark words burn there still

Publication date: June 1998
Author: L. E. Shaffer
Company: Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company
COPYRIGHT 1998 - 2007, 2008 L. E. Shaffer
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FIRST PRINTING; ELECTRONIC AND PRINT MEDIA