26 January 2021

Meditation #11 -- spirit of the West

Close by the shore stands the city of lore,
Where the man of the ashes dreams;
Where music and art rise to nourish the soul,
Yet nothing is quite what it seems.
His journey, his vision, here shocked me awake
At the dawn of my newest life,
As the idol of old rose anew crowned with gold,
Coaxed him up from a world sunk in strife.

His dreams became mine, as remembered design
Made my marveling brain its new home;
I built Babylon, Egypt, the Persian domain,
And sowed glory in Greece and in Rome.
From the Indus to Gaul I lived free and lived true,
Countless lifetimes of wisdom and lust;
And I relished each sin that my treasures could win
In the empire of Aaron the Just.

But his dreams and my mind soon fell poisoned and blind,
As the crescent and cross rose to rule;
My libraries burned, and soon I did as well,
As new faith turned men zealous and cruel.
And the dreams became nightmares and I went astray,
And my homeland was sundered in two;
Through my warm central sea, by fanatic decree,
Battle-lines between brothers they drew.

Yet the ash-man's despair, as he dreamed in his chair,
Slowly yielded to visions of joy,
As his tale unending showed me and the world
Light anew that no priest could destroy.
Fantastic brave beauty, drawn dagger in hand,
Stern avenger with steel and stone;
While a song from the cold called the youth to be bold,
And proclaimed, you do not walk alone.

Though a thousand dawns break, he can never awake;
For his sacrifice, vengeance is mine.
He was wronged, as was I, and no mercy I'll show,
Trampling crescent and cross in the slime.
The vision he followed will reign in his name
In the new world whose triumph now gleams,
And which bows every knee to the place by the sea
Where the man of the ashes dreams.

11 Comments:

Blogger Sixpence Notthewiser said...

Very nice!
It took me away, your meditation.

XOXO

26 January, 2021 04:40  
Blogger Ranch Chimp said...

Good poem ....

26 January, 2021 07:41  
Blogger Mary said...

Very well done

26 January, 2021 09:15  
Anonymous Annie said...

Oh, my! I read this meditation several times—in part because the rhythm is compelling; in part because the historic breadth is so sweeping. May the man in the ashes continue his dreams of a better tomorrow as the young soul strives to make it so.

I eagerly await this poet’s next work.

26 January, 2021 10:03  
Blogger CAS said...

What a wonderful poem. I love the meter and imagery. Bravo!

26 January, 2021 12:50  
Blogger yellowdoggranny said...

I'm not a poem type person...but I loved this so much.

26 January, 2021 16:10  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Thank you for the kind words! This one has a lot of personal meaning to me.....

28 January, 2021 03:22  
Blogger Debra She Who Seeks said...

You're a born poet, Infidel!

28 January, 2021 05:41  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

I like to think so.....

29 January, 2021 03:56  
Blogger Daal said...

this is beautiful both in profound sentiments & musicality - bravo!

28 January, 2023 23:38  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Thank you!

29 January, 2023 01:03  

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