I Am... (Window Bare)
i am...
words spoken with dark skinned hunger,
battles fought in the realm of the heart.
right and wrong that convicts the motive.
the smell and the feel of all that is common.
the question asked in the silent church.
the blood spillt on the courthouse steps.
the language of factories, mills, and shifts.
the cast iron skillet well seasoned.
the field plowed, the seeds planted.
the man standing against the angry mob.
the body hanging from the gnarled old oak.
the prison cell, the stink of fear.
the lovers lost inside each other,
the old woman staring at dishes just washed.
the haunting whisper of buildings vacant.
the old man's body found three days later.
the fury of the neon streets,
the deal made, the blade withdrawn.
the soldier come home to homelessness.
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
We Are Not Strangers
we are not strangers,
you and i!
we have walked through history together.
and the dust on our feet,
be it from Atlantis or Peru,
glimmers in the starlight when we make love.
i made the ink you penned with,
you cut the trees for my pages.
perhaps i was a turtle, or a wild stallion,
and you were a mermaid, or a moth.
or perhaps i was branches gathered,
and you were the very fire.
or i was a prisoner of war,
and you the officer in charge.
or i was the plague, and you the cure.
the black man they hanged,
as you hid and wept.
perhaps i was the cross Jesus carried,
and you were Magdelene watching from afar.
or perhaps i was the star that fell,
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Almost
the beginning of light
wrapped in the warm wet darkness,
before time, or the concept
of being...
in each word we almost speak,
in each thought we almost form,
in each feeling we almost allow...
do you know me?
i danced the day you were born,
pulling stillness out of the falling rain.
my name is written in the
deepest cavern of your soul...
i sweep the steps of your temple
while you pray and offer sacrifices
from my body to yours!
from your body to the children!
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Anybody's Idea Of Eternity!
i'd rather be a leaf torn
by a sparrow's beak...
a snail, a moth, the spider's web.
the old man passing out blankets
at the homeless shelter...
the mother nursing the child,
refugees of war.
the old dog curled against
the old man's leg...
the cigarette shared after making love.
a trash collector, a cashier in an all night store,
an immigrant picking fruit
with eyes in the back of his head....
the soldier who deserted,
and turned his back on the war.
the lover left with the scent of memory.
the young girl giving birth
on a bare apartment floor,
a rose petal wilted,
falling to the ground....
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
In The Smallest Of Things
when chapters become books,
and passion becomes love...
written in hours and minutes,
in days and weeks...
and weeks become months,
and months become years...
footsteps woven into one.
days of work for nights of small things...
food, fire, children, good books
and good wine...
quiet words spoken, falling like leaves,
the candle lit by touching
in the darkest hours...
do we forget, do we lose memory,
do thoughts become echoes.
bricks laid by sweat and toil
are lost in the wall...
need becomes distance,
and curtains fall.....
you stare at the body,
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Longing For The 'Mother'!
humanity's problems with distance and seperation,
are to a large degree due to the shift in ancient
times from a matriarchal society, to a patriarchal
society...
in doing so we lost the intimate connection between
the child and the mother... the senses of gentleness,
tenderness, sensuality, and awe... we lost the sense
of home....
as a patriarchal society, we react to feelings we cant
control by declaring war, by invading, by conquering.
our built in insecurities cause us to take, to violently
take, and yet to never be filled.
our god becomes as violent, and judgemental, as our
own images....
we search for wisdom in building, acquiring, all the while
pounding our chests... but our chests are empty!
the longing and the lostness we feel is for the 'mother'...
the god that has intimate conversations with trees is lost!
the god that is wind is feared...
and so we fear death!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Warriors Pledge... (Conclusion)
well, i've heard the footsteps
of hard determined walkers.
lost in the din and the noise
of angry faceless talkers
been twice betrayed by love,
in my hour of need.
i've planted my thoughts,
the earth swallowed my seed.
i've torn down the idols,
and exposed the lies.
been to the place
where the last raven flies.
put names on the bodies
strewn in the ditch.
been called a fugitive
and a son-of-a-bitch....
i saw that which i hated
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Guillotine
the guillotine stands
alone in the square,
the pinnacle of pulse....
that drains the heartbeats....
traffic heavy, horns honking,
hurrying, hurrying....
trucks and buses puffing clouds
of death into the air....
neon signs keeping score.
billboards selling the dream,
street preachers selling Jesus....
corner whores selling themselves....
in sterile rooms atop the skyscrapers,
far from the stink, far from
trash strewn in the alleyways
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Sound Of The Beating Heart!
we spend lifetimes searching
for the sound the leaf makes
turning from green to orange to red...
we spend our loving burning branches
in the shadow of the tree.
we spend our faith trying to capture,
and hold the wind for a moment...
never knowing that what we search for
is only our own being!
we are the leaf, the branches, the fire,
the tree, and the wind...
the sound, the loving, and the faith.
and yet we are nothing.
we are but a moment,
familiar taste and scent.
we are eternity,
the breath of an unknown god.
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Beginning and End (Again)
faded lines, greying hair,
life spillt from a cup.
even stars fall down,
nothing ever falls up!
world changes, still the same,
or maybe getting worse.
vanity of vanities
riding in a hearse.
and the truth kills the lie
with a savage swing.
but there's a place
inside our dreams....
a door only time can open,
a peace beyond all our hoping.
where beginning and end begin again.
the home of lightning and howling wind!
[...] Read more
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!