Here, in this silence, may we hear
Michael, friends, family
and the listener speak
‘He is not here; but far away
The noise of life begins again’
a man
go fell 22 years
too old
The Unwanted Mask
Wangai,
take off the mask
this life has given
and let us inside
it’s been some time since
a generation knew how to ask –
why
∞
how long will the birds continue
lying
day
broken by slow
chirping circle light guided
and tied
by tired shadow flight
sus-
p ending us wide
in sombre shackle
∞
how long will the drums be
blind beaten silence
beating swollen
and reverberating numb
all around us-
the storm
dreams lifeless
∞
solace is a ghost
overheard-
it lurks
torments
and chokes
like loss
and thirst
one cannot swallow
so huddle-
together empty source
question and fill puddle
to ocean
with the voiceless
surge of water
sweat thirst
suffer
and dirge
shriek
and beat aloud
ripple and recede
shrink and swell
constrict and fit
into hearing
assemble and stir ash
to once again
possess the form
of our percussion
¥
hope reach the long length
of destination pour-
us tender
through threshold
cloud burst centre let
us enter
mountain blow-
chalk
and vapour
now set-
tle restless silhouette,
cluster residue
and sail westward
towards death
and nature, spread
¥
muscle
soak knot and with-
draw let
go
oppose and start
again
¥
thunder
shiver collapse
and pour timbre
this heart beat
.and journey-
this language
we utter but
cannot wake from
¥
how far
will this sound carry-
on permeating un-permitted
as forgotten expression-
less echo
’til it finds
its core-
a hollow
in noise persistent
as m –
m –
more –
morning
∞
breath
is faint-
ing pain
is painting
prayers
lay patiently
layering
earth-
quakes
¥
pages
and words
are but pale
praise
they endow
the name with
nothing
¥
how many feelings
lie behind what is seen
how many haunt
and distort
one
vision of
happiness
seeming
so much exists
behind the people
you love but how much
friction is torn
and broken
to weave
and tangle
an anthem
as beautiful
as yours
¥
how long will life be
a camouflage
and forgetting be a step
towards death and the present
path un-
becoming
tremor
of acceptance
¥
elephants summon
huddle
and herd the dead
wave ears touch-
foreheads open-
trunks
and bless
remembrance
listen there,
the dead
are not deaf
¥
they say the path crosses
the water
that crosses the path
but where does the message
start
time is old with walking
life has grown cold
of talking
enough-
is enough it must be
enough but
the palm still fronds
goes on
¥
The river’s influence
is over-
come
in loss
its voice
is
plangent
distance seems
weak-kneed
shrivelled
and thirsty
the seed
is slowly peeled
to stone-
hop skim
and sink-
skin shed
to tone
pip skip and hover
leaf spin
and trans-
form
sunk and
muted
spill
stutter
and swarm
pebble surge
swell
and intersperse
split whole
and fall open
into motion
evanesce and emerge
drifting beyond
amid song-
the beetle
flew
full
stopped
and the tree
has become
dumb
dry-bent will-
less
and weary
but it will
wither-
crack
fall-
whole
take
root
and bud meaning
ful
¥
and you,
Michael
you are
no longer
tired
so smile
uncover
the shades
of silence
ray light
and dance
dance –
celebrate
the life
you gave
and give
to us
¥
listen
we cannot incant
a reincarnation
shepherd presence
into this space
and yet
the dead
are
not deaf
they linger
and console, hidden
and dissolved-
in the airway
and ear-
canals our
passages of creation