Tuesday, July 17, 2012

As No Other


By: Gus Victoria

There you are
‘Neath a sky so clear
With sun so dear
That to you is given
The beauty of angels
To tempt the unworthy man,
You are the jewel of an iron crown
Bestowed upon the peasant heart
Of a humble sort
Unknown in the halls of power
But for his dreams
That hope does shower,
He is to be great
If trust is given to fate,
You give him release
From failure’s sting
In the guise of a false spring,
And the fool he plays
For he knows not the praise
In your soul you sing
For his toil
Separate from the sacred soil
Of love’s grove,
He is yours as you are his
And yet neither owns
The heart freely given
The soul shared
The flesh bared,
Together as one
The genesis of timeless hope
To find in one
The other.
To know in one
The other.
Two as one,
One as neither.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Claddagh Ring


By: Gus Victoria

In the town of Claddagh of Irish kin born
The band that once worn,
Given of friendship and love
Destined from above
To be greater than dreams
In lonely moments dreamt
More in hope than contempt,
Was made to here be betrayed
In the heart that gave
The ring of Eire;
Ashes burnt in the heart’s fire
Upon time’s pyre
You were forgotten,
Spread across the land
By Journey’s fickle hand.
Claddagh ring
Do you still sing?
Blackened and burned,
Loved, rejected, and spurned? 

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Refuge of Night

By: Gus Victoria

Elegant and serene
She waits for me,
The sun oppressive in its light
Is gone in the night,
She in her silvery dress
Of moonlight fair,
Gives to me
Dreams I dare,
Flight away on a ship of name,
Or hidden treasure
I would claim,
She whispers it so
That perhaps it might be,
She whispers to me,
That I might see
A limitless journey
On her inky clouds,
That with the dawn is stolen away
To wither in the sun’s rays,
I, without fail, await
Her return;
My muse,
My refuge,
My love,
She comforts what day torments,
She gives what day takes,
Night, mistress, love
Rise again that I might dine
Under your gentle light,
That I find that refuge you give,
In day I die,
By night I live.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Indivisible, Indestructible


Mortar cannot hold this house together
As ideas seek to tear her asunder,
Words cannot assuage the anger
That we foment,
Ignorance is the darkness
And truth a luxury.
Yet she holds.
The winds of change batter her
And the sands of time erode
What we allow them to touch,
Yet she holds.
Rivers of tears flow
Threatening to flood
And make of her a memory,
Yet she holds.
This house cannot divided stand.
And this house divided shall not endure,
Our fathers and their brothers
Together, with blood paid,
Created a bond
That time cannot fade,
Words cannot degrade,
And we cannot repay.
Blue and grey
Perhaps never knew
What their struggle would do
To a country young as they.
Their sacrifice gave to us more than heroes
More than villains and battles,
More than songs,
They gave us this,
They gave us a home
They gave us brothers
They paid with life and blood
That ours be free,
For that is our destiny,
A destiny unachieved.
They gave us a home
From where our own fight can be waged
Indivisible and indestructible.