A companion to THE WORD OF SINNA LUVVA blog. An Outlet for new poems, drafts of poems and even rediscovered or reworked ones! For more poetry by Malcolm Evison see the Related Sites listing.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Listening To Mahler [ A response in six movements]

LISTENING TO MAHLER
[A Response in Six Movements]


1



Have I lost the need

to weep



the power and the beauty

the freedom and the fire

tremble through my body.



The beauty – the beauty

the beauty and the power

tremble through my mind –



heavy with joy I want

to weep –

drunk with longing I need

the tears to weep

at the tragic and majestic

power – the power and the beauty.



Beauty, power, tragedy and fear –

and I can’t weep.



Have I lost

the power to weep –

the beauty, such beauty and

such power.








2



relax

a little

gently, slowly, rest –

now waiting, urging on the day

grasping

each nuance as it comes.



Slowly burning

through the air –

my song

resounding in the sea

gently, lyrically

and then

I start to skip-a-long, to dance,

dance arminarm around the earth

and then start dreaming.



Lushly sliding, skipping and prancing

struck dumb

for a moment

succumb again

to the power,

the tragic happiness of knowing

of being and living

enslaved

by the melodies of life

free and captive to her whims.



Free and beautifully gliding

living and alive.













3



moving, singing

dancing and laughing

cutting sharply

all springtime and in love.



In love and diving

deeper diving – driving lower

then exalted / and softly degraded

and next I’m snarling

at my fears.



And violently into the present time

I’m tossed, active being

to and fro-ing as the cancer

spreads

and bursts

into a shower of crystal.



My ears hesitate behind

my eyes – my mind is dreaming –

and I am sharing your pain

and your pleasure

living within you, viewing wider

horizons

sharing my body and mind

with you; with all

born out of the grass and trees –

as each new thought becomes

a world, and each new world

is me.













4



the words of two minds

and a thousand ears, become

those of one world.

Words of belief, of faith and trust –

songs of the children

unborn and dying,

accepting their deaths

with dignity

living their lives



with pleasure and ease.

Delights of the dream arouse

their desires – a sombre pleasure

a woeful joy. The need for love

as strong as I need tears –

weaving the largest into the smallest

weaving past greatness

into the hearts of children.



And this laborious mission

has a goal of joy – your eyes are smiling

now

and in their reflection

I see my life.





5



Gloriously the birth and mirth

of Christ, who lived a hero – died a man.

The innocent know far more understanding

than the callous heart –

their voices echo and thunder

from a mountain stream into

a waterfall.



Cutting through the hills and trees

carving the tree

into the shape of man –

until the wood takes its revenge.



And in the days of youth,

which is our life – there comes a reckoning



the tingle and the bitter fruit

of age



still

we rejoice.





6



Body and mind alone can never make

a man –

as we walk

through the valley

of tranquil thoughts, the beauty

pressures us

to face the truth –

each step discovering

the jungle and the pit, each life day

drinking from the streams

pausing a while and kneeling down

to praise the men who made

us what we are –

and God who we created

gave us life, as it floats sweetly from

the wounded side

of Christ.



Casting aside the altars, so every man

woman and child

may wear the ring of wedlock

in their soul.



Calmly I retrace my steps

and see my faults,

back to the garden – sit down

in the fioelds and sigh for the sun.

throw wide your arms and thighs,

embrace the living – forget the dead

who readily received their joys,

who gave us life and pleasure.



I need to weep no more – I sit

just sit and listen

listen to the open spaces.





Malcolm Evison

Sunday, November 07, 2010

ConDem(natory) Cycle

ConDem(Natory) Cycle (Rough draft)

First we eliminate
all job security -
ensure

all contracts
can be terminated
on a whim.


Knowing
that work makes free
we guarantee

the long term unemployed
will do these jobs
unpaid


Malcolm Evison

Friday, September 24, 2010

Son et Lumiere


SON ET LUMIERE

the orchestration was
truly awesome
the acoustic reverberant

a dynamic sostenuto
from the bass section
held me in thrall

until
a random glimpse
of light

through an uncurtained window
played prelude to
a further atmospheric roar -

the sound immediately
responded
to the lightning flash



Malcolm Evison
24 September 2010

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Twitter Poem

These few words were my first tweet of the last couple of days - scribbled down whilst observing the garden, feeling a bit sorry for myself - the poem as yet untitled


I see the lavender
transformed
into a fluttering

of butterfly wings.
Large whites
re-emphasize

the colour
of their perching
bloom. 



  Malcolm Evison 
  12 August 2010

Sunday, May 02, 2010

MAMMON





MAMMON
(creator of social divisiveness)


Behold the god of lies
taker of lives
maker and breaker

of dreams -
creator god
who captivates

the mind -
spins webs
of treachery

replaces hope
with greed
installs himself

in all the highest places
proudly proclaims
there is no god but me

and we
fall for the party line.




Malcolm Evison
2 May 2010

Sunday, February 07, 2010

"Sometimes" - for Janet & Graham

SOMETIMES
(for Janet & Graham)


sometimes a meeting
just happens

sometimes
it's simply meant to be

often
the seeker doesn't know

just what is sought -
the meeting speaks

of what may be -
sometimes

the meeting tells
all those who care

a miracle
has just begun



Malcolm Evison
February 2010
 
 

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Snow Trek


Crisp crackling surrender
greets each footfall
almost as if it yearns
to be defiled.

Journeying on
I leave
an imprint
of my progress -

I tread defiantly
towards my goal.
Returning, I observe

my very own
ice-moulded tread -
almost as if

my journey
had been frozen
in time.



Malcolm Evison
14 January 2010