I wrote a poem
And then
I don’t believe
I criedO this is not a good way
To begin a cloudy dayI will look for distraction
Some hard labor to do
To get my goddamned, silly mind
Off of you
Written January 22, 1996
(desmond)
Images: Stefan Gifthhaler Photography
About Desmond and Poems Unrequited.
Copyright © 2013 Mani O'Brien. All rights reserved.
All useless
Puffs of dust thrown
From a flick of the hand
The straying of wild wind
A crush of smothering flowers
Every effort
Drowned at the start
A matchtip flare in the dark
All the dreaming and the toil
A spattering of rain on dried soil
All the words worth a dog’s bark
Plundered now the richest part
Left but the splinters
Carved in the rotten bark
Written January 20, 1996
(desmond)
Unfortunately a lot of the poems I’ve been posting written by my late father are a bit… er, depressing. This one I think is pretty relatable. A nice one for expressing those moments when your’re feeling especially discouraged. I feel like this sometimes with my career. Like all of these teeny, tiny steps don’t get me much closer to where I’d like to be. But, unlike Dad, I feel pretty confident that I’m meant to be right where I am in this moment. Gotta just keep on keepin’ on, as they say.
Copyright © 2013 Mani O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Let’s go drink some cloud wine
Stirred by sunset, ripe by time
Take this eager hand of mine
And we’ll get high on juice of life
Elixers made of dark and shine
Lets go
Into riptides of the moon
Swallowing until we swoon
Each to each in each own’s heart
Pretending death not us will part
Let’s get loaded with the drug
The Wizard made from secret stuff
Let’s get drunk on love sweet love
Written on Ides of March, 1997
(desmond)
About Desmond and Poems Unrequited.
Copyright © 2013-2023 Mani O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Bless the children
My fruits of life
The darling ones
Made in my image
And of her love
They are the treasures
Held palm to palm
The delight I take
From bounty spread
My flesh, my soul
These have grown
In the circling
The years flown
They the sparks
To light the vastness
Of my dark
Written January 27, 1996
(desmond)
About Desmond and Poems Unrequited.
Copyright © 2013 Mani O'Brien. All rights reserved.
To the empty bed go now, love,
To the shadow left
Where the crushed scent fled
The broken stalks were strewn
The torn deaf petals flew
Hearing not the singing from the moon,
Take your place now, love,
In the dust the minutes grow
For the ivory of the bones
The rust is shown, the stains
Where the wines were spilled
In the candlelights of dusk glow
To the lone dream bend low, love,
To the pillow lush in murmering spent
Entangling sleep where joys went
Lay your heart down now, love,
Where sighs alone go
Written January 19, 1996
(desmond)
Images: 1 Gary Tonge, 2 David Pinzer, 3 Gary Tonge
About Desmond and Poems Unrequited.
Copyright © 2013 Mani O'Brien. All rights reserved.