CHRIST WAS ESSENCE

Christ was essence.
Shall I bask
In that glow?

We all have a centre
That lights our
World - The show
Of Time, of Loving.

My friends give me light
I absorb the light
Passing through

*

I am glad I am a man,
Proud of his Buddha belly!
I do not think
I am strong enough
To be a woman

To be a permanent
Delicious beauty
Walking in a frame
Would exhaust me

Unless I too, remembered
Night and day,
Amongst the passion
That Christ was essence.

SOLDIERING ON

I’ve been painting figurines
For so many years, the
Same one inch plastic figures –

Soldiers disciplined on a
Tree-sprue, disembodied arms
Clutching regulation swords
Or rusting blunderbuss.
Most have half painted helmets
And astonished eyes
Until they receive the pupil.

The detail kills me –
I can’t quite bear the monotony
Of painting rank upon rank
Of tragic cannon fodder

Instead I always go first
For the top brass, on whom
I lavish all my care and skill,
Two coats of ‘Dwarf Bronze’
‘Elfin Green’ or ‘Prussian Blue’

But as yet
No-one in this Army has
Quite pulled themselves together –
The horses are completely unbroken
The artillery is un-oiled
Training has not yet begun.

VARIETY IS
THE SPICE OF LIFE

The more flowers
In the garden
The more beauty

The more races
On the Earth
The more Genius