Lullaby
for the dead
How can a eulogy
have so much more
of dignity and space,
than breath, or birth,
or torn and gaping flesh,
or flowing movement's grace ?
lullay my liking,
lullay
rocking and aching
lullay.
who'll take my pain
and soothe it away ?
there are enough dark dreams spun
out of grief's loneliness
into this weary net of lies,
that one more shouldn't count,
and word of death's delighting
seems no more than childish beating
on the sullen door of fate,
and time itself seems sluggish
and delayed..
lullay my liking,
lullay
rocking and aching
lullay.
who'll take such pain
and soothe it away ?
only yesterday my hair accepted love,
pulled with a babyish fist,
was knotted up with biscuit crumbs,
in paste, all rubbed and pulled at
with your helpless twist.
Oh all those manly skills they taught you son,
all mind, and manners, all outsider stuff,
this feint, the fake and take of worldly power,
of death's impatient shots
were not enough to give you
elsewhere's honour,
elsewhere's love.
How shall I lay you
to rest, to rest
under the shapeless sun?
how shall I hold you
to my breast,
out of the shameless sun?
What kind of lulling, murmuring hum
brings comfort from this burning run?
lullay my liking,
lullay
rocking and aching
lullay.
who'll take all our pains
and soothe them away ?
oh you were so good, my son,
the very best
to me, to me.
remember the first steps,
remember to walk before you can run,
take care, take care.
would I had taught you
first,
to run..
a little warmth
a little warmth on the sore place.
a little tenderness
running, running ragged
race to the swift
race to the strong ?
my child, my child. oh
kiss it better, oh
my son
one thing leads to another it seems,
from pain to pain,
from blood to blood,
where did it all go wrong ?
what did I do ?
what could I be ?
was it there, all the time
in the bone ?
See how the search for fame
has found you time's infernal hunting
in the corridors of horror, hurt and shame
God did not want you
yet.
Death is no lover
for this painful dark.
lullay my liking,
lullay
rocking and aching
lullay.
who'll take my pain
and soothe all away ?
Alice
Thorpe 29 April, 1999
(C) Copyright 1999
ALYS
All Rights Reserved
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The
Nexus Collection
ALYS
Blake's
Law
COLUMBINE
TRYPTICH
Ode
Queen
of the May
Lullaby
for the Dead
Communion
Dishonesty
Eye
The
Fiddle
 POEMS
FOR FORT WORTH
Fort's
Worth
For
Cassandra
Soughing
Song: Fort Worth
Futility
The
Gate
Harvest
Pause
Punjab
60
Song
Stones
Ulster
Wanted:
two in one
CONTENTS
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