New Classic Poems – Contemporary Verse That Rhymes

New Classic Poems
People and Places
Jerusalem Engines
Michael Pollick
The city walls pulse with the knowledge of soldiers' fears,
I have no hint of weaponry: nay, not one;
The torch lights swagger with the threat of daughters' tears,
I have no sense of history: nay, not one.
She appears to me with the promise of sweeter days to come,
I have no time for leniency: nay, not now;
She comforts me with the dulcimer, the psaltery, the drum;
I have no room for sympathy: nay, not now.
Death is now my brother, and my brother calls me out by name,
I no longer have a soul to speak of: nay, not one;
Men will lay in linen by my hand, their eyes will speak my shame,
I no longer have a land to return for: nay, not one.
She returns to me with the solace of unbroken dreams to be,
I have no fear of redemption: nay, not now;
She anoints me with her oils, she soothes me with her mystery,
I have no cause to lose her love: nay, not now.
We built engines in Jerusalem to darken our fallen land–
In my house, it shall be said, love dared to show its hand.
Urim and Thummin
Michael Pollick
Your tattooed stigmata are showing, my dear–
That spot of willful blood lies dormant;
While greedy hosts of Angels draw illicit lots,
And seek redemption in performance.
I may cast off now into more uncertain seas,
Now that the winds have finished their shift;
I sing the shanty songs of unbroken sailors,
Now that my heart is allowed to drift.
You have no hold on me, my tortured mercury dancer,
Now that our final sails have failed us;
For if Fate were a captain, and we were the sea–
The poor Bloke should never have sailed us.
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