Thus I Wrote

Well, I depend
On you, my friend
Many times, we’ve stayed up drinking
Many times, we’ve shared our thoughts
But do you really know me
Do you know the thoughts I’ve got

Do you know I have a love
For everyone I know
I have a lust for life
To live and not let go
But sometimes I feel alone
Something rises up inside
It eats at my heart
And it darkens my mind

A dark demon
Stalks my dreams
(A dark demon
Stalks my dreams)
I need a love
To save me
From this dark demon…

Come, now take my hand
Together let’s make a stand
I’ll be your port
In the storm
When it’s cold
I’ll keep you warm
I hope we find peace
And love lights up our lives
And shines forever
Our saviour inside

(From…)This dark demon
Stalking our dreams
(This dark demon
Stalking our dreams)
We need a love
To save us
From this dark demon…

This is based on an earlier poem I wrote of the same name but more recently inspired by the song “I See a Darkness” by Will Oldham. The Johnny Cash cover version especially. I like the metaphor of the dark demon and of love casting out the demons as Christ did in the bible. He used love to banish fear. I have no particular allegiance to religion but the stories form a powerful backdrop to our culture and resonate with me. I see them as useful and powerful metaphors.

I’m in the cage
The cage of age
The signals I see
Are not for me
The flesh still willing
But no function fulfilling
While she flirts and pouts
She leaves nothing to doubt

Her body states
I can procreate
She dresses to show
How her body flows
With subliminal power
To strike in her hour
She flirts and pouts
She leaves nothing to doubt

So much imagery
In a democracy
To grab attention and sell
To cast a spell
It’s nature’s power
The sweet hiding sour
She flirts and pouts
She leaves nothing to doubt

So much energy
In a democracy
Wasted in control
Protecting the whole
When past the junction
When form shows declining function
She still flirts and pouts
She leaves nothing to doubt

The truth of beauty
Is in the underlying duty
Form is the birth of function
Removing faults at every junction

Do we need God as referee
When we now have CCTV?
Do we not need religion because
We now have so many laws?

We are so pragmatic
But we’ve lost some magic
Old people die alone
Such a hidden misery grown

We have yet to count the cost
Of the love we have lost

One day we’ll be too old to give

So..Let’s give to each other and get more pleasure as we live

One day we’ll be too old to listen and talk

So..Let’s cherish one another and grow through the knocks

One day we’ll be too old to forgive

So..Let’s forgive now and give ourselves more time to really live

One day we’ll be too old to laugh and have fun

So..Let’s wring the fun out of our days and laugh until we have none

One day we’ll be too old to hold hands

So..Let’s enjoy the gentle touch of our skin before the last falling of the sands

One day we’ll be too old to kiss

So..Let’s enjoy the affection we exchange before it is missed

One day we’ll be too old to have sex

So..Let’s enjoy the physical communion as if we have nothing left to expect