Rembrance of Things Present

A Book of Poetry

by

Allan Porter

 

I

Rembrance of Things Present

Poems from1 through 9

 

 

I am as Old as Mountain

I am as old as a mountain

and nevertheless not

I am as old as a lake

and nevertheless not

I am as old as the trees

and nevertheless not

I am as old

and nevertheless not

then I am not as old

and nevertheless

then I am not

and nevertheless

I am . . .

 

There is a Stillness

There is a stillness

which stretches out

within the silence

it hovers and

bathes the human

spirit with

chilled wind

fortifying

a desolation

and anxiety

to the brink

of fear

 

There is a stillness

which reaches

within

without silence

it lives in

the caverns

of the heart

it showers us

with warmth

believing in

what we are

and casts

the radiation

of love . . . now

There is a stillness

which emanates

into completion

it consoles

us and

helps us to

meditate and

understand

this is a

joy this

is a salvation

this is life

 

There is a stillness

that occurs

which transforms

us

the change is

time

and it passes by

this interloper

it interposes

and then we

await

this stillness

that closes

we were

 

My October Child

The sun is dry in clear

Crystal light

With etched shadows of

Purplish blue

Against the chromed warm

Light fixed on the landscape

And hard reflexions or

The city scape

The heaviness of Summer

Gives way to new fragrance

The morning wet grass

The dew dropped 1 eaves

And bushes

The smell of early morninc

Haze

The chill of the air mixed

With the scent

The new position

of the stars

The rising of the sun and

Its setting create new

Patterns of light and time

The evening becomes sooner

The morning becomes later

Long shadows begin in the

Morning

And the noon sweeps by

As fast as it came

Yes is the change

Of a season

And the Autumnal Equinox

Has approached

An October child is about

To appear

This occurence is a

Recurrence and it

Is perennial

She is all of the things

That determine the

Fall

The Autumn is my beginning

Of the year

The summer the end

It is a birth not

A death of nature

It is the harvest of

Life

The fruit and nut of

Humani ty

That comes to this season

It is the season of colour

A hue that before was

Never seen

Richness in umbers, reds

Golds, browns, siennas and

Deep moss and burnt colours

From the sun

The mere metamorphosis of

Time is in nature's hold

And appears in apparition

A vision of beauty

A feeling of comfort

A sense of communication

It appears as my

October child

 

The Picture as a Child

Do you remember

the painting on the wall

above the trunk strewn with

a tapestry woven shawl

depicting Daniel in the

lion's den

it was a fall view of

the forest

a forest you have never seen

never been and never walked through

its thick trunks

its narrow trunks

silhouetted against

the amber gold mellow

tanned oranged parched

surfaced leaves

why was it chosen

why was it there

what will it mean

how often have I

since walked through this scene

 

An Awakening of a Child

Immersed from the womb of its own

sees, thinks, aware not of

the world and its desires

An awakening of a child:

resumes the breath of its new

habitat showered by a grown

graduation of time

without a thought to expire

An awakening of a child:

now takes form, grace . . .

of youth

with a panging intuitive thought

of love be loved

An awakening of a child:

now succumbs to knowledge

a bite of an apple a piece of lace

the stage of youth and adolescence

an obvious awareness of truth

An awakening of a child:

confronted now with womanhood

never ceasing the want of love

motherhood affection vanquishes not

metamorphosis merely takes to soul

An awakening of a child:

with the same vascular, pulmonary

yet a new connotation

a mate of perfection takes its toll

An awakening of a child:

looks now with a different eye

original thought

the spiritual ... emotional have

taken a new physical encasement

... love persists

An awakening of a child:

has taken the roll of its origin

motherhood now it's procurement

a womb of a womb

An awakening of a child:

a womb of a womb, bearer of a bearer

a love of a love, thought of a thought

the child has grown

a child of its own . .

This is an awakening of a child

 

Once Upon a Decade

Once upon a decade

it is autumn

it is cool

it is colour

it is clear

it is fog

it is autumn

once upon a decade

Does autumn

does the fall

come every year

perhaps

but for me

autumn appears once

every decade

Once upon a decade

it is fall

fall is feminine

fall is beauty

fall is love

fall is the first snow

on the mountain tops

fall is green to brown

fall is brown to red to yellow

fall is the light of crystal

the delicate lace patterns

of frost on the grass

fall is the sound of

leaves crushing under foot

Swirling in the wind

in circular patterns

never finding the right

resting place

fall in the mountain

lakes receding

the rivers' level lowering

a love blooms

The evening shadows in the early

afternoon

play their light and dark

from the multicoloured trees

formulating the palette

of umbers and gold with

the inebriating reds of

life lingering from the

summer that was

the evening shadows in the

afternoon

send their forms on what

was youth from birth

to a full summer of

adolescence and adulthood

they are no longer long

days or variations of

shadows but long shadows

on shorter days variety

is over the summer of

life utilized the variations

The evening shadows in the

afte afternoon n

are symbolic of the autumn

of life

winter awaits with nary

a trace of spring to

enter the equinox

vernal gives way to autumnal

the autumn of life

has arrived

 

To Have What I Thought I Would Want

To have what I thought I would want

is another reality

to want what I thought I could have

is another reality

what other than that which one could or would

to have or have not

is but human

to see what I thought I could see

is another reality

to hear what I thought I could hear

is another reality

oh my senses play

in another reality

as my emotions play

in another reality

to have lived what I thought I would live

is another reality

to have lived what I thought I could live

is another reality

at this to threshold

I have witnessed

a paradigmatic experience

 

My Place in Space

My place in space

has no time

for space is infinite

the place in space

is timeless

and indeterminate

I have chosen the

place

in a space that

was given

this space is

a point

between life and death it is everyman's space

but everyman does

not choose his place

in space

 

Winterset

When winter sets

upon the meadows

upon the pastures

upon the trees

When memories set

upon one's mind

upon one's soul

upon one's heart

It is a year that

has left us

and others before

the winterset

When love sets

upon the senses

upon the body

upon the experience

When time sets

upon the world

upon the people

upon

It is a year that

has left us

and others before

the winterset

When sadness sets

upon my thoughts

upon my touch

upon my dreams

When you have set

upon my place

upon my being

upon my emotions

It is a year

that has left us

and others before

the winterset

When winter sets

upon my memories

upon my love

upon my time

upon my shadows

you have set

as winterset

 

End of Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV