This is a piece I wrote for Catherine Robinson’s exhibition ‘Journey to the Stars’. It makes more sense if you see the exhibition, but I think it can stand alone, and I hope you will enjoy it.
What To Do When You’ve Completed Your Quest and Find You Are Still Alive
lot of water under the bridge, lot of other stuff too (Bob Dylan)
i
THREE GIFTS! SEVEN STARS! ECHOES OF CHILDHOOD!
ii
The movie house’s neon lights portend
A quest with no beginning and no end
iii
Weep! At woman weighing this world’s sorrow
Gasp! As she tips her Love into the scale
Thrill! As she follows her loosened golden arrow
iv
Fairy tales have dreams come true
Why should this not hap to you-
The wicked fairy’s cradle curse
Annulled by true Love’s waking bliss?
v
-To what remote land is your flight?
–The unknown country where no light
Obscures the moon and stars at night
-Alas! What dangers you will meet!
What weapons have you, foes to beat?
vi
–Naked, alone; my feet uprooted from the earth
With soft tread take a path where is no path
Unfolded from the arms of my wise guide
A clarity I had not since a child
Compassion, the only cure for self-despair –
These gifts, no weapons, lead me through the snare
vii
What a movie! What a performance! A star is born!
I only wonder how it’s going to end!
What’s that? – There’s no beginning and no end?
That won’t do!- tell me exactly what you meant!
You must have discovered the true purpose of living
Your journey can’t be just for you- you’ve learned something worth the giving
–Love is worth giving; I am called Home and to Home return
envoi
The credits roll- we exit into the night
Too bright with street lights
And the lights from bars
To count the stars
freeversefolkestone 