Ideas, Ideals and Delusions: Poem

Ideas, Ideals And Delusions

I have some notions of nothingness
I have some ideals of illusions
Into the abyss then with these thoughts
My ideas, ideals and delusions.

I can sweep away those cob-webbed dreams
Wipe clean every troublesome image
But nothing, nothing ever again
Can help me really turn the page

There are persistant and resistant matters
That will come back like a boomerang
Like a half-latched door in a tempest
That will continue to maddeningly bang

Away then and into the vast starry night
I will somehow continue to live;
My ideals of illusions, my dreams of delusions
Can also help to make me survive.
 
Copyright: Rani Turton

Artisan Of Words: Poem

Artisan of Words

I am an artisan of words
Which I sculpt, chisel and fashion the way I can
I am a creator of worlds;
I pour my emotion into the poems I write.
I breathe life into them, blow them skywards
And finish them only when they sound right.

These remnants of thought without reason
Will remain on pages season after season
Long after I'm gone; when my task is done
The love, the longing, the pain
Will be evoked then by somebody else
Who in turn will remember and write again
To create another slow soft song
That people can read and draw into their hearts
Then pillowed by words, cushioned by dreams
My poems will ride high the moonbeams.

copyright: Rani Turton 

The Poet As In Exile: Poem

The Poet As In Exile

The mind moves, the way hands do
To touch a beloved's face;  to feel within
The soul, the thoughts, the skin.

The mind, sometimes heavy, lacks the shine
Of the freshly polished vase
The mind, saddened by its exile
Tries to leave the poet behind.

The mental, the metal,the marital, the martial
Worlds seem to be in fusion;
And then ultimately comes
The anguish, the joy or the confusion.

Footsteps around the world;
Standing over the Seine
Clouds in the water, and nothing
To guide me even then.

Like any other poet in exile
Destiny seemed knotted like a rug
Persian-perfect and that thought,
That absurdity  finally made me smile.

Copyright: Rani Turton

The Teacher Of All I Know: Poem

THE TEACHER OF ALL I KNOW

Here alone with all I profess
A faith, a belief in some systems of thought
Professors and priests, mystics and bards
All were often one I confess.

There were some unlettered men
Who knew more than the savants, then
There were bards who could sing and swear
And find their way to your heart there.

There were wild poppies dancing
Wild horses prancing
The teacher of all I know
Came for a few seasons
Then went for his own benighted reasons.

There was life’s blood and show
The poetry and pain and pageantry's stream
Whirled around in a fevered dream
Life was what it did not seem
Thus taught the teacher of all I know.

Copyright: Rani Turton

Beloved: Poem

BELOVED

I heard about you long before I saw your face;
I heard about your family, exploits, travel
They even said you played soft chords
On your guitar on moonless nights

Invited to your home, I expected to see
Someone extraordinary

I saw your hands first drawing aside the curtains
I saw your eyes then looking at me in silence
I saw your smile then and my poems became reality
We spoke about cities, countries, humanity

Beloved, don't share these moments with somebody else
Beloved, be gentle with my life
Beloved, leave me these instants of grace
And one day please let me touch your face
And say to you: Beloved.
 
Copyright: Rani Turton

Last Night I Dreamt, I Dreamt

LAST NIGHT I DREAMT, I DREAMT

In those familiar corridors I saw you in your room
I saw your head bent over papers
When you raised your head and saw me
I dreamt I dreamt I saw
Those oft longed for smiles
You got up with that characteristic quick movement
You had worn that blue shirt I knew so well
You stood at the doorway smiling and said
Well, I thought you would never come back

I thought that it was a dream that I had wanted to dream
Then I realized it was a dream and that I had wanted to dream
That I had dreamt of being a protagonist in it
That in dreams I still have you
Real life took you away

Last night I dreamt, I dreamt
Of today, yesterday and eternity in your eyes

Copyright: Rani Turton

My Mind, in Blinding Light: Poem

MY MIND, IN BLINDING LIGHT

Waits, waits, in a silence that is as heavy as pearls.

Waits for the lines and lanes of destiny to redefine
And refine; when the refined mind
Silently doubles and doubletalks itself out of rational thought;
Waits for the light to go, to disperse itself after the dark;
When the eyes can refocus and see
The difference between can and would be.

And destiny weaves her loom,
By blinding light or darkest gloom.

Copyright: Rani Turton

My Mind Has A Mind: Poem

My Mind Has A Mind

A calm surface: a world within a world.
My mind, at times, turbulent, savage and contrary
Just at the sound of a simple word
Gallops like wild horses across the prairie.

Oft I longed for calm; for a magic balm
To protect me from various kinds of harm;
Oft I yearned for tenderness:
Life was a game of dice or chess.

Moved from space to space.
Tumbling and wasn't it humbling
Trying to find a minute space
In my mind's mind's universal place?

My mind told my mind
Don't leave me alone;
Life is long and my destiny unsigned;
My mind with my mind, then intertwined.

Copyright: Rani Turton

Tears, I Told You To Go Away

Tears, I Told You To Go Away

I told you, tears, to go away
Not to remain so close to me everyday
To tell the trees and rocks who knew me
That I was as far away as eternity.

My tears were just rivulets of pain
A passion that need to fall like rain;
I could not speak out what I thought:
I could not seek out whom I sought.

My cheeks were wet as on a rainy day
But the sky cloudless, remained dry;
Tears, I told you to please go away
My ineluctable destiny is here to stay.

Copyright: Rani Turton