two poems by Adam Parry

Earth in the Window

Steer a course.
The moon behind, Earth ahead
rattling's getting worse
and the engines dead.

Suspended on a thread
of space and time, balanced perfectly
a juggler on a tightrope
life and death ahead leaving death behind
in the airlessness all around.
Somehow, as if the end of the film has already been seen,
we know we'll get home
though all hope has gone
if we keep the Earth in the window-
our home, our hive, our first love-
then hope is never gone.


MEGGIDO

Be at peace my love, my love
my second hand.
Sleep by Bibbylos and be forgiven
by the amnesiac of time.

There was a war there long ago, where
no TV crews came
or aliens from the sky
at the last moment saving the day.

my love you
saved the day with a smile.

In the ash and dusk of the
Plains of Yizreel where mighty Powers
crashed and set this
world ablaze.
With your face, your pretty face
looking from my head
I walked forth
to either victory or defeat.

Two poems from Adam Parry's Accidental Poet

A Battle of Words

The poet eyed the strife,
knew there was an answer.
He looked up random words
all paradoxes of themselves
in a dictionary of love
his eyes wandering for an answer.

He eyed the strife - all his other
experiments had failed him.
He squinted angrily at the stars,
cosmic diamonds crusting, clouding vision.

The poet took to long in looking,
as below the unhurried pace of war raged,
as he raged at his dictionaries of  peace.

Almost turning away
to write some ditties and out-of-time rhymes.
A thought struck
as they so often do,
with a well-timed kick.

the poet went to war then,
for he saw no other way.


New Amusements
You lifted such a weight from me,
my PlayStation.
I fight, but do not kill or maim
your fleshy pixels.

With you I flew through gravity
beyond pain up on our advent.
That I could fly and never die.

So much you taught
and rearranged this staid
insane and fallen man.
This weight you lifted, conjured me
to slide through indecision
and inert positivity.

We flew so far together, yet
still, somewhen: when? We flew apart.
Flew as I floated  in each sound and frown
you left me in.

But, once some sunny day, I took a jet
and grasped each cloudstep on my way,
half imagined in my mind, I left you,
and flew once more as the goose flies south.
Your name behind my voice.