Three Poems from Robert Sheppard

Tree in Winter

Exfoliate of lives errant,
Exfoliate of dreams illusive,
Exfoliate of desires obscurant,
Exfoliate of loves derisive,
This only Tree
In Winter,
Inward flows its long sap,
Like the flowing of glass.

Far below, hung as on one branch,
City of Illusions,
Derisive, Buzzes,
Eternal dwelling place of subjective beings,
Stares out of windows, refracted honeycombs;
Do not believe they exist,
The men who pursue them.


The Lunatic of One Idea

In the Kingdom of the Blind,
The one-eyed man is King;
In the Empire of the Clouded Mind
The Lunatic of One Idea
Is tyrant dictator
And First Mover.
Hail the Saturnalia!
The First shall be Last!
Joyous Monomania!
Free at last,
Free at last,
Thank God Almighty,
Free at Last!


"Solip-sliding Away"

Over-much selving,
So lips, so lips, so lips
Sliding away,
Tongue, tongue, tonguing
Tonguing, engine of
Tongue,
Run-away, runaway, awaying
A weighing
Auto-drive,
Driverless,
Drive-train,
No one there,
Behind the wheel,
No one there,
Run away engine
Auto-pilot -- tongue in the cheek of God.




**These poems first appeared as part of Robert Sheppard's novel, Spiritus Mundi.  They are being reprinted here, with the author's permission, for the reader's convenience and enjoyment.  (Copyright 2010).