Open

Open

The German clouds

want to rain

but just slide by.

Then bells 

from a modern steeple 

emit an ancient sound, 

warding off thunder 

and bringing the sun 

to glimmer on the river,

contained in stone walls. 

The willows 

still reach down

toward the common center 

of our worlds,

as they always will,

but now they are green.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Here is a link to a video of the bells that inspired this:

http://youtu.be/xlVgB--Lo-w

Spin free

This is actually a slightly older one that I just felt like posting.

Spin Free

Smash the compass,

shattering

the whirling

viscous sound,

so gravity cannot

hold its needle

on a pivot,

and air cannot

dampen its spin,

and light

cannot reflect

its directions,

and the metal

cannot feel cold

in our hands,

and the magnetic field

becomes invisible

again,

leaving

our souls

as the only map to follow.

Robert L. Jackson III

Spinning Seed

When spinning

the earth sees

the days continuing to flare and dim,

the bicycle tire

balances more easily,

the escaping rocket

flies straighter

and pierces the darkness more deeply,

the leaf and seed

take longer to reach the ground

and spread their species farther,

the atmosphere organizes

into a storm,

and the mind

thinks of analogies

and correlations.

-Robert L. Jackson III

Kudzu

Kudzu

The uncultivated bloom
rivals the colors and curves
of the gardener's treasures
tended to perfection
behind chemically cleansed glass.
We know the names
and structures by heart
of every domesticated jewel,
but the one draped in vines
never has its worth measured.

-Rob Jackson

Thanks to Roy Knight for the spectacular picture of a Kudzu bloom.

Combustible

Probably the last one for 2012...

Combustible

The smoldering dust
of the prophetical star
ignites the transparent fuel
of the engines of youth.
Pressure entices the aperture
to restart the fabled fountains' cycles.
Some sources release water,
too pure to burn,
others bubble black oil,
aeromatic and volatile.
Tall opaque men seek to locate
and drain each source of clarity,
while others aim to cap
each well with explosives
to suffocate the flames
that we were born with.

-Robert L. Jackson

Poem about Iran and the State of the World

Well, I hardly slept last night. With everything going on in the world I couldn't resist writing my thoughts. I send my prayers to the people of Iran, Korea, the subway victims in Washington D.C. and people everywhere in the world. It appears that green is taking on a symbolic meaning. Here is what I wrote last night:

Green, Red, White and Blue

Beyond all borders,
whether covered
by branches, barricades, bridges,
or by blood,
we are similar
in our primal heart.
When it rains
we often relish
its sparse cleansing drops
until we grow cold
and find shelter
beneath the palms.
Green is the color of growth,
but vines
can tear down
the stone structures
of civilization.
Rather than plead,
let us build
our own palette
and become vivid
within the world
of ant hills and marble palaces,
of bursting forests and soft oceans;
forever finding balance without limits.

-Robert L. Jackson III