LIBER I

Hommage � Khayyam

The Feast of Life began too long ago,

for me to partake of more than crumbs, I know;
But let me drink deeply from the cup called ... Love!,

and gladly the other courses I'll forgo!

PRO IUVENCO: a Sonnet

When to the Refuge of Silent Thought,

I wander as a pilgrim to a shrine;
Then in my reverie thy form is wrought,

to bring my soul some helpful anodyne.

Half boy, half man, thy shade to me appears,

untouched by age and garbed in youth's pure white;
Dispelling from my mind all doubts, all fears,

as Phoebus Rising drives forth dreary night.

Let me then gaze upon thee whilst I may,

and burn into my brain thy winsome hue;
Lest Felon Time's slow poison find its way,

to rob thy cherished image from my view.

No more shall quiet hours spell unrest,
If by my heart ... thy vision stay possess'd.

A Valentine - for "Vito"

We may never be lovers, but we could be friends.

I came into the world too early, you too late.
I am the stately oak, my roots run deep into dark crevices;

You are the verdant sapling; your leaves grace the brows of victors.
I am fine cognac, aged in oaken casks;

You are a gushing torrent, fed by newly melted snow.
We may never be lovers, but we could be friends.

Before you were, I had already been.
You are a young stag, running though the forest;

I am an old bear, following his hoary breath.
You are the gold-and-purple sky of sunrise;

I am the mantel of stars, that silver-shell we call "the moon."
We may never be lovers, but we could be friends.

Because we are ALIVE and drawing near,

might count each other's heart beats.
You could ask, and I could answer;

I could gaze, and you could wonder.

The joy begat by closeness would more than make amends,
For our not being lovers, but warm and caring friends.

NEBULAE

So like a dark-rimmed cloud,

that on a summer's day might pass before the sun,

and plunge one corner of the land
into soft shadows,

are Doubts,

that fleet across the mind

and then move on,
Remembered only in the desert

of sleepless nights.

- Finis -

LIBER I

Hommage � Khayyam

PRO IUVENCO: a Sonnet

A Valentine - for "Vito"

NEBULAE

So like a dark-rimmed cloud, that on a summer's day might pass before the sun, and plunge one corner of the land into soft shadows, are Doubts, that fleet across the mind and then move on, Remembered only in the desert of sleepless nights. - Finis -

So like a dark-rimmed cloud,

that on a summer's day might pass before the sun,

and plunge one corner of the land
into soft shadows,

are Doubts,

that fleet across the mind

and then move on,
Remembered only in the desert

of sleepless nights.

- Finis -