Early Poetry

by John Lunney

The poems below are all at least 4 years old now. Written in 2000 and before, when i was about 14.

The Big Beat Club

The smoke rises silently
Digits deftly dance
A syncopated sweet song
The dance around the ebony
Past the ivory
Take the first left
The music's good.

The Island

The cloud moves quiet
The sea below it laps
With the island by it
An island on no maps.

Carbon-Copies

A dark sky, a bright candle, black moon
Down in the mine, lie the dragons
Here I am, one, alone, with you
Once dead, forever alone
Indian gate, blue tile, gold sun, dance
Snow, spiralling down, freeze a heart
Inside a diamond, there, is life.

The Fire

A small spark starts
And the small twig catches
A fire is made
Without any matches

The fire grows large
And the people grow warm
In the corner of the room
Sits a shadowy form

The fire has died down now
And the people are gone
And in the dawn outside
A lark sings its song

The Hermit

In a dark, dark wood
'Neath a dark, dark tree
Under a dark, black hood
Lives a hermit

Alchemy and magic
Natural and not
The wood is alive
But the people are not

Boiling in a pot
Roasting on a stake
Measuring and pouring
A spell of death to make

The trees spin round and round
The ground is opening up
The sky is falling down
Call now for bread and cup

But you will receive none
For your God is dead and gone
You're on your own now, son
It's very dark and not much fun

Maiden Of The Wood

A dark and beautiful girl
Stood among the trees
At the river's curl
Where she made her home

The dusk had come upon her
Like a thick, dark sheet
She verntured out of the wood
And lay to sleep on wheat

When the sun is risen
And all things are bright
She is now a wolf
The maiden of the night

Monsters on the Rampage

A dark black cloud came forth
Upon an ice cold blast of wind
All the monsters followed it
Be they feathered, winged or finned.

The monsters moved down the valley
Following the ever bigger cloud
Their progress was most swift
And their screeching comparatively loud.

But they never reached the place
For which they did so journey
The wizard that they did chase
Had died in any case.

Sunset In San Juan

The birds rustled
And the dogs barked
The party began
At sunset in San Juan.

The Swift

The swift who sleeps upon the wing
Will not now be back till spring
His dainty features cannot stand
The awful cold in our land

America

There's a hat on a hook
A burning Chinook
The hook's on the tree
The pilot breaks free
And runs to the hut

The office is empty
The people are gone
The markets are closed
A man falls in a party
Life hits him hard

Sitting is cold at night
So is lying, no stars so bright
To guide a weary traveller
Who's going up to the clouds

Ma, he said
There ain't no road signs
No cars, and no trucks
Not where I'm goin'
Be back before bedtime, dear

The Sky

The sky is tinted
With orange and with red
As the sun rises
As the farmer from his bed

The time is now noon
And the sun is up high
The clouds drift across
The lovely blue sky

The sky is ablaze now
And the sun is going down
The people head inside
All across the town