Miscellaneous Poems 1

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A brooding fortress, high atop a stony mountain peak

Veiled behind a grayish trace of forest fire haze

Intruders, all, come to a stop, and conquerors, fall weak

The boastful all fall silent as they stand below and gaze

Upon the walls, of ancient rock, where careful scan reveals

No path by which the curious might scale the icy height

Beneath this looming redoubt, even hardened stoic feels

A loss of hope, with pinnacle still secreted from sight

No portals in the walls, and no keeper of a gate

No hearth with fire blazing. None ever comes to seek

A welcome in this cold dark place, no hope, no hero's fate

A brooding fortress, high atop a stony mountain peak

Along a gravel road, a morning mist, a sunny shaft

Of light within the forest - I think I probably laughed!

A sign from heaven, gentle, not the thunderous tales of old

Which sons of Israel, watching Moses on the mountain, told

I'm glad to live in modern times, a son of math and science

Who sees more clearly, thanks to all the works of learned giants

A sign of awesome splendor which, in spite of fearsome might

Speaks clearest in the joy of nature's music and her light

On the beach, polished, by a billion flecks of sand

Sensuous seashell fragments, like little mirrors, shine

I hold them, magic bits of sun, glinting in my hand

Like shifting, sparkling ocean water, mine

Cool as waves, splashing all around my sandled feet

Smooth shells held against my sun-warmed face

Precious seashore jewels, a respite from the summer heat

The makings of a necklace in a hot and sun-baked place

Cupped within my hands, I give them all a gentle shake

Jingling, and mimicking a little sea-bird call

Who darts among the waves, then escaping as they break

Upon the shore, laughs there, as they fall

Unseen, this thing called gravity, attraction and reaction

Among the spinning orbs in space, a kind of far-off traction 

A web of ropes and pulleys, and of levers, gears, and strings

And clockwork parts like pendulums, and slowly ticking things

Silent, slow, and moving in a rhythmic, spatial dance

Stars and planets follow cosmic paths as they advance

Along the great ellipses, perturbed by random calls

From other passing dancers in this great galactic ball

Order and its odd twin chaos, both born from the math

That Newton saw while tracing planets, on their arcing paths

Two orbs lead to order, to perfect curves and times

Like music, chords and rhythm, faint celestial chimes

But three or more decay to spawn disorder and confusion

Unrest lying underneath a dangerous illusion

Ending with collisions, zigs and zigs, perhaps escapes

Solar bedroom bedlam, just behind the starry drapes

A million years of quiet while the planets spin around

Their mother star in orbits, keeping peace, without a sound

Until a random asteroid's misstep brings cosmic death

To denizens of Earth, en masse, extinguishing their breath

I think I've sensed the same, among the people that I've seen

Two by two, they circle, with attractive force between

Like worlds that spin in space above, all orderly until

An interloper brings a dose of malice and ill-will

How nice if, underneath it all, the Universe brought love

And demonstrated kindness in the circles up above

Alas, though love is like the gentle order Newton saw

Death is like the chaos, like his doomed three-body flaw

The temperature's dropped, and the wind is growing

Branches are snapping, and leaves are blowing

While I sit by the hearth, and quietly gaze

At flickering flames on logs ablaze

Wind shakes forests, and roars through hedges

Whistles through rocks as it sweeps along ledges

While I read a book, held tight in my hands

Imagining ancient faraway lands

Stars twinkle brightly, and moonlight gleams

On snow-covered fields and ice-glazed streams

While I lie in bed, wrapped in blanket and sheet

Savoring warm cozy hands and feet

Then, sometime towards morning, the storm dies down

And a calm dark cold settles all across town

While I sail along, in dream, fast asleep

In layers of fantasy, hidden and deep

Outside, a world recovers from storm

Inside, a world that's quiet and warm

Outside, the dawn of a brisk new day

Inside, a stretch in bed where I lay

Outside and in, the very same world

Two different views, mixed and swirled

A contrast to feel, and a contrast to see

At times like this, how lucky are we!

Protons, wee

As they can be

With neutrons, whirl,

A tiny pearl!

Electrons spark

In endless arc,

Atomic spheres

Turn like gears

And molecules make

Earth's ovens bake

To pebbles, stones

And mountain bones

A little ball

(the Earth, is all!)

Spins in space

A little place...

(the Milky Way!)

And might I say?

It spins, too

A little zoo!

Galactic flock

A tiny clock

That pirouettes

And silhouettes

Against the endless universe

Within an ocean, vast, immersed

Which knows no end, nor certain start

But lives within my awe-struck heart...