Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Sorrow's Cry - A Collection of Poems (1990-1994)


Sorrow's Cry 
A Collection Of Poems

By Moses Seenarine
(c) 1990 - 1994


CONTENTS
                                                                                                       
      1.  Mankind                                      
      2.  Someone                                      
      3.  Craving                                      
      4.  Trapped                                      
      5.  A Face                                       
      6.  Two  Worlds                                
      7.  The Letter                                    
      8.  The Child                                  
      9.  Sorrow's Cry                                 
     10.  All Fool's Day - Jiddu Krishnamurti          
     11.  Can One Be Love?                             
     12.  This New Day                                 
     13.  The Ego Wants More                           
     14.  A Moment of Love                             
     15.  Deny                                         
     16.  A Flock of Parrots Flew By                   
     17.  Friendship                                   
     18.  Video Dreamer                                
     19.  The Difficulties                             
     20.  Ugliness                                     
     21.  Caumsett                                   
     22.  The Illusion of Reality                    
     23.  The Encounter                                
     24.  Importance                                 
     25.  Blue Skies                                 
     26.  The Night                                    
     27.  Insects                                      
     28.  Sanity                                       
     29.  Poverty                                      
     30.  Waves                                        
     31.  Rocks in the Stream                          
     32.  Why do you cry?                              

-------------------------------------------------------




                             Mankind                                                  


                       Rich, poor
                       Young, old
                       Constantly thinking
                       Eternally worrying.

                       Smart, stupid
                       Handicapped, gifted
                       Lovingly maimed
                       Jealousy inflamed.

                       Doubtful, religious
                       Apathetic, ambitious
                       Culture concerting
                       Future uncertain.

                       Healthy, weak
                       Powerful, meek
                       Distressing envy
                       Searching endlessly.

                       Man, woman
                       Somebody, no one
                       Imparting violence
                       Longing silence.

-------------------------------------------------



                             Someone

          Someone remembered...
          With whom another sense,
          Whenever united,
          However briefly excited,
          Belongs to no one else.

          Someone rewarded...
          With another's abuses,
          Routinely submissive,
          To be possessive,
          Of their assurances.

          Someone complimented...
          Yet, there's no doubt,
          Begging the other to stay,
          To forgive one everyday,
          Someone can live without.

          Someone realized...    
          Crying occasionally,
          Of the abundance to share,
          If only someone cared,
          Without vanity.

          Someone blinded...
          To their own mind,
          Too deeply engrossed,
          In pleasure and remorse,
          To see human kind.
-----------------------------------------------------



                             Craving  

          Light, cloudless evening,
          A familiar voice screaming,
          Pleading for intimacy,    
          Loneliness appealing.         
                  
          Thought emerges in traction,
          Fighting its own faction,
          Violence in words and feelings,
          Incurring mindless action.
                   
          Simmering moods of passion,
          Subside in exhaustion,
          Angry, confused shouting,
          Soften in trembling emotion.

          In darkness, shame arising,
          Sharing the blame, realizing,    
          The agony of guilty pain,
          Mutually uncompromising.

          Self imprisoned psyche,
          Craving another for security,
          Seeking escape and comfort,
          Briefly aware of actuality.


------------------------------------------


                             Trapped

          Trapped within silly egos
          In stylized masks
          Living a death
          In our own stupid past.
          With paged words
          And caged memories
          Reality conforming
          To personalized fantasies.

          Untravelled paths
          Of insightful observations
          Languish amidst a myriad
          Of mundane concentrations.
          Simple truths lie ambushed
          Helplessly, in silence
          Conspired against
          By a world of violence.

          Honesty's useful reflection
          Is quickly left unspoken
          Fearing that self's importance
          Might easily be broken.
          Earthly responsibility await
          Woefully unrecognized
          While humanity race
          To successfully economize.

          With hardly a space
          On thought's imaginary island
          Compassion's an alien emotion
          On some future plan.
          Love, an exciting game
          To be fought and won
          Possession and dominance
          Considered part of the fun.

          Individualistic traits
          With a survival force
          Impair the intelligence
          Of a cosmic source.
          Forever preoccupied
          From experiencing the present
          Egos afraid to die
          To live a free moment.

-----------------------------------


                             A Face

          Staring intently
          At a shapely face,
          Radiance emanates
          From the human race.

          Filling one's mind
          With cheerful laughter,
          Delightful innocence
          Not sought after.

          Abruptly, a rage emerges
          From deep within the heart
          Cleverly contriving
          To tear it apart.
         
          With its vile hatred
          And ugly violence
          Reasons enough
          For love's absence.

          How quickly life can grow
          Wretched and unbearable;
          How hastily one becomes
          Psychologically unstable.

          Beauty flees
          From whence it came.
          Although, the lovely face
          Remains the same.
                
-------------------------------------------

                   
                          Two Worlds         

          Have you ever been
          To a wildlife zoo?
          Seen the animals
          Pacing 'round you?
          Unhappy feelings
          On many faces
          Eyes looking the same
          In far off places
          A mad sadness
          From nothing to do
          Nowhere else to go
          Locked in a fixed view.

          Have you ever been
          To a city too?
          Seen the people
          Rushing 'round you?
          Unhappy feelings?
          On many faces
          Eyes looking the same
          In far off places
          A sad madness
          Of something to do
          Somewhere else to go
          Locked in a fixed view.

          Two worlds divided
          But not separate;
          One's slowly dying,
          The other with it.


-------------------------------------------





                           The Letter

          Anxiously, one holds a letter
          On a sad, confusing day    
          A warm, timely message
          From someplace far away.

          Like a precious jewel
          One grasps it tightly
          Anticipating it's words
          Shining so brightly.         

          So delicately folded
          Daintily into two halves
          And handsomely written
          On paper, between blue staves.
               
          Expressing facts
          Rarely ever said
          Erasing one's burdens
          As it's gratefully read.

          Filling one's heart
          With hope for better,
          Affection and fondness
          For the honesty of its writer.

          Eagerly, one studies it, 
          Again and again
          Learning anew each time,
          Of one's sorrow and pain.

----------------------------------------------------
         


                            The Child

          Frenzied mother begging,
          On a dark, rainy day,
          "Come on home babe,
          The war will stay."
          Jealous father screaming,
          Frightening in a way,
          "Fight the enemies child,
          Make the bastards pay!"

          Once a gentle infant,
          A curiously growing seed,
          Was constantly punished,
          With words, looks and deeds.
          Until, wanting so much to please,
          Being dependent for it's needs,
          Did anything it was asked,
          Especially when everyone agreed.

          Losing it's inquiring nature
          To believe a popular stand,
          Like protecting god and family,
          Politics, and the homeland.
          Accepting another's authority,
          Never questioning to understand,
          Causing the death of others,
          Using its childlike hand.

          So off to the war it went,
          Becoming lost and confused,
          Still the child kept on fighting,
          So as not to lose.
          But, when the carnage is over,
          And the war is called bad news,
          The leaders will change their plans,
          Renewing doctrines and views.

          Coming home finally,
          Scared, broken minds,
          Some will wake up at nights,
          All alone, only to find,
          A past everyone swore,
          They have all left behind,
          Yet preparing the children,
          For the next front line.

          Can hatred and violence,
          Ever be justified?
          As fear and greed,
          Are aggressively denied?
          Burying their heads in guilt,
          The survivors silently cries,
          Wishing they were the ones,
          Who had so innocently died.  


-------------------------------------------


                          Sorrow's Cry

               Sorrow shrieks out aloud
               Lamenting to humanity,
               Desperately urging us 
               To regard seriously,
               Our short, welcome stay
               In glorious actuality.
         
               Becoming strangely quiet
               Some clearly recognize,
               While listening for a moment,
               Distress woeful voice,
               Then, the chatter starts again -
               Thinking there's no choice,
               In self evading despair.
               Conceding to self ruin.              

               With blocked ears,
               To the painful din around,
               The others have grown deaf,
               To grief's ancient sound.
               Hearing nothing, except
               One's own thunderous tongue.
              
               Never taking sadness's hint,
               To explore one's unending strife,
               Nor even appreciating
               The immense tranquillity,
               Of all existence in life;
               Or giving one's attention,
               To the absolute silence
               Of thought's inevitable demise.

               But, lurking quietly
               Beneath the confident boom,
               Suffering's rueful song
               Whispering a forlorn tune,
               Heartily thrives on.
               Singing out it's gloom.              

               Lying patiently awaiting
               A spark of insecurity,
               To penetrate our false harmony.
               Screaming out disturbance,
               So cleverly forgotten
               In clamorous avoidance.
               Forcing one to listen
               To one's own confusion.              

               Sadly, sorrow's urgent appeal
               To one's misguided humanity,
               Is wrongly perceived
               As individual self pity,          
               Endured for an instant
               Then hushed up quietly.             
    
               Drowned out by thought's chime
               Sorrow continues undaunted,
               A echo of mankind's folly,
               Ignored and misinterpreted
               Reminding us of the futility
               Of hiding behind selfish lives
               A feeling not to be avoided
               In appreciating one's universality.


----------------------------------------




               All Fool's Day - Jiddu Krishnamurti
                                            
               He was born
               In eighteen ninety five
               In a poor
               And depraved state
               Until one day
               Naked, on a beach
               He was chosen
               To be god.

               A god
               Who was alive
               Who taught the world
               Not to hate
               And not to have faith
               This was no ordinary god.

               For he choose
               To dissipate
               His organization
               His kingdom
               He questioned everything
               Knowledge, thought
               And wisdom.

               Nineteen eighty six
               Was the year he died
               But he never lied
               Seldom cried
               Sought truth
               And spoke of a mystery
               Beyond the capacities
               Of the mind.

               Never gave easy answers
               Just suggestions
               And guidelines
               His life was never
               Illusionary
               Constant watchfulness
               Of reality
               Made him ever aware
               Of what is.

               Observing himself
               In the mirror
               Of relationship
               Teaching, that each of us
               Is the world
               The observer,
               Is the observed.


---------------------------------------------------------

                        Can One Be Love?

               Standing
               In the corner of a room
               Thinking
               Of something to say
               Imagining
               The two of you
               Lying
               In the same old way.

               Is it not true
               How pleasure's never enough?
               Never far away,
               Can one be love?

               Sometimes, one dreams
               Of the other
               Lying
               With another
               For an eternity
               One would be tormented
               Fearing images
               Invented by jealousy.

               Whenever alone
               Wanting the two of you
               Feeling bored
               Learning nothing new
               It's the same
               Being together
               Wanting a change
               That will last forever.

               If we're not happy
               Then, are we blue?
               Must we make an effort
               To be true?
               It's so hard
               To stop trying
               Nothing is easier
               Than just lying.

               Alone and blinded
               That's you and me
               As self centered eyes
               Cannot see              
               Can our relationship
               Act as a mirror
               To see our own lives
               A little clearer?
               Realizing
               In the absence of self
               There's the other              

               Is it not true
               How pain follows pleasure?
               Never far away,
               Can one be love?

-------------------------------------



                          This New Day

               How do we feel
               On this new day?

               Are we real
               Or are we fakes?
               Is our lives
               A big mistake?
               Can we see
               Our ego is untrue?
               The world's not turning
               Solely for me or you.

               How can we continue
               In false pretense,
               Whilst knowing
               Our lives makes no sense?
               Are we aware
               Of life passing by,
               Mocking our fears
               Laughing our cries?

               Are we honestly interested
               In ending this constant strain?
               Feeling it's affliction
               Never once again.
               Is it possible
               To be completely free?
               The answer lies in ourselves
               For each of us to see.

               To find out what it means
               To be confused,
               What happens when living
               Becomes an old excuse,
               To sail our minds
               On a stormy sea,
               Caught in the shores
               Of our own misery.


---------------------------------------------




                       The Ego Wants More

               What are we afraid of?
               There is no use in hiding,
               We are all frightened
               Of our ego's dying.
               Too fearful indeed
               To glimpse our denying.

               Is it so forbidding
               The fact of the ego not being?
               Looking at it for an instant
               The ego in us is disagreeing.
               Still, the ego wants more,
               It doesn't care for learning
               And that makes it a bore.

               Beyond all the memories
               Of our continuous thinking,
               Life's exquisite joy
               Cannot be experienced.
               For the ego is inventing
               Itself as an experiencer,
               Who's busily experiencing.
               Thinking, but not seeing.

               Remaining in our past
               The ego feeds its self obsession,
               Ignoring that it's opinions
               And treasured conclusions,
               Are quite unnecessary
               Except from earning a living.
               Yet, our ego wants more
               It doesn't bother with dying
               And, that is living's door.


-------------------------------------------------


                        A Moment Of Love

               Full moon shining,
               Starry eyed crying,
               For a moment of love.

               Naked branches swaying,
               Gentle winds caressing,
               With a moment of love.

               Silent night whispering,
               Sounds of life sharing,
               A moment of love.

               Oh sweet terrestrial child
               Let's dance together for awhile
               Let's burn brightly for love
               Burn, burn as we die.

               Dead thoughts wandering,
               Living humans dying,
               For a moment of love.

               Inattention reveals nothing,
               Attention means learning,
               Of a moment of love.


------------------------------------------------

                              Deny

          Confused
          Reeling from strain
          Feeling like we all do
          When depression is with us again.
         
          With a passionate indulgence
          In a rage of our dreams
          We're like intimate strangers
          Clinging to perceived space.

          Sometimes, tiring of escapes
          Realizing, they are all the same
          Leaving one dissatisfied
          Still bored and unchanged.

          Thought after thought
          Leaving us praying for sleep
          The brain never at rest
          Our hearts never in peace.

          Let's deny our ambitions
          And our search for pleasure
          For we're like a database
          Looking for prestige.
         
          Let's renounce our fears
          And also our greed
          Let's deny all that's false
          Then maybe we'll be freed.


---------------------------------------------------


                   A Flock Of Parrots Flew By
  
               The sun's rays
               Ignites the clouds instantly
               A marriage of white vapors
               In glowing cliffs of rivers
               Flowingly

               Over a tropical palm
               Tall spike poised majestically
               Long rustling branches
               Swaying in the cool breeze
               Playfully        
             
               As a dead limb hangs
               Brown and unsightly
               Alone in the shadows
               Leafless and tired
               Motionlessly
              
               Not unlike you and me
               Attached devotedly
               Relating to images of each other             
               Dead memories holding on
               Precariously 
         
               A flock of parrots flew by
               Unperturbed by society
               Social and secure
               Gliding through the clouds
               Cheerfully      

               In nature's paradise
               Giving itself excitedly
               Fragile in it's welcome
               Sharing beauty, fresh and complete
               Freely                               


--------------------------------------------------
                           Friendship

               You ate together and drank
                    From the same cup
               Reveled and talked frank
                    Until morning's light up
               Never addressing the question
                    "What's the point?"

               You fantasized and pretended
                    Infantile desires
               Condemned and criticized
                    People lower and higher
               Never understanding the habit
                    "Where's the joint?"

               You tried to banish truth
                    From your daily lives
               Running forever from boredom
                    In your own selves
               Never observing the obsession
                    "Which memory to anoint?"



---------------------------------------------------------

                          Video Dreamer

          Sitting up, stimulated
          Watching videos in bed,
          Deeply yearning inside
          One's body and head.
          Staying up fervently
          And playing all night,
          Make believing video dates
          Are feeling so right.

          Abusing one's mind
          With wanton desires,
          Flashing, colorful images
          Stroking one's fires.
          Until, one could not feel
          Any more impassioned,
          Having seen so much
          Of the tube's attraction.
         
          Even after the excitement
          Is over and spent,
          Continuing on looking
          Being pleasure bent.
          Employing the television
          With it's sensual song
          Watching electronic images
          For far too long.

          Trying harder
          To get nearer this far
          Having magnetic affairs
          With celebrated stars
          Carrying on and on
          Without a moment's pause
          Entertainment becoming
          One's life long cause.

-----------------------------------


                        The Difficulties

               Let us inquire
               Into the difficulties
               Of living one's life in sorrow.
               Let us question
               The difficulties
               Of already knowing tomorrow.

               Let's not worry
               As to who so ever cares,
               It is really our problem
               If we're concerned about theirs.
               Let's not be bothered
               By anyone who sneers,
               For that's also a problem
               Of our desires and fears.
              
               Let's observe our minds
               And not waste its energy,
               For ours is a difficult task
               To face an inner adversary -
               An ego that is it's own ally
               Frightened and very lonely.
               Yet, in awareness of this ego
               We can be free of it's difficulty.

---------------------------------------------



                            Ugliness

               So hideously ugly
               When we are emotional,
               It is more accepting
               Shared with friends,
               Euphoric almost
               With god or country.
                             
               Fear, anxiety
               Hatred and violence.
               Prejudice, bigotry
               Pride and avarice.

               Like human tidal waves
               On the open sea,
               Mankind, in stormy chaos
               Crashes into each other.
               Indifferent to stop
               Shared destruction,
               Regardless of the outcome,
               Reasserting superiority.

               Grotesquely increasing
               Our pointless existence                               


---------------------------------------------


                            Caumsett

High on a steep ridge
alone in the woods
tall trees beckon upwards
silent limbs extending gracefully

A flutter of dead leaves
wave in the cold winter air
birds call out in alarm
warning of the intruder

In perfect formation
a flock of geese signaled
timeless change and movement
inter-connecting the land

Amid the majestic trees
I stood frozen in chaos
lost in direction, endlessly
searching for where I was headed

The geese flew on knowingly
leaving me to ponder
the relevance of existence
the meaning of destiny

Looking on jealously,
I paused in awareness
of an external reality
in a setting of uncertainty

Discovering a thrill for living
in acceptance of the unknown
standing on the tree lined path
my spirit flew higher and higher

Now the geese' flight was closer
to my own inward migration
revealing hidden connections
between myself and the land.

---------------------------------------



                     The Illusion of Reality

          Step into the room smiling
          As if happy to be there
          "Hello", "How are you?"
          You're accepted here

          Step into bed lying
          Speaking as one to a friend
          Listening to the other
          How closely? It depends

          Step into society agreeing
          Sharing the fantasy of beliefs
          Helping each other to uncover
          Meaning for our time left

          Step into yourself accepting
          One's true being of nothing
          Aware of the ego's illusion          
          One's assumption of something

--------------------------------------------



                          The Encounter

               Springing out
               from yellowed grass
               dark, slender, striking
               a dramatic feature
               enveloped in mist

               Silent
               poised in repose
               fully aware of the other
               slipping into nothingness
               into creation

               Oh, beloved
               your universal presence
               gives comfort
               as the light fades
               when darkness comes
               we'll be lost
               yet, embraced in resistance             
               in our non-existence


---------------------------------------------



                           Importance

               What is this strange being
               a giant trunk with no limbs?
               Tell me ancient friend
               what is this curiosity?
               Why does it not grow
               is it so beleaguered?

               The poor being is dead,
               I warn you young friend,
               because of its attachments;
               Its numerous connections                                  
               form a suffocating grip,
               draining off all energy.

               Its importance is deceptive
               for its life is a horror,
               be wary of the attraction
               or the same fate you'll suffer.

---------------------------------------------------------


                           blue skies    

          blue skies reach infinitely
          across expanse of human endeavor
          beneath the thick asphalt
          of polluted man-made cities
          fragile life bravely emerges
          testament of nature's energy

          bi-pedal creatures scamper about
          aglow in fleeting conquest
          too busy to notice life
          timeless origin at their feet
          pre-occupied in surviving
          a self-created madness.

          above the human squalor
          lofty grandeur drift aimlessly
          saturated by evening colors
          beauty unseen by humanity

--------------------------------------------------------


            The Night

     Tap-tap went the rain
     as the struggle progressed.
     Blood dripped as they screamed;
     Lovers embraced in agony
     bleeding for each other, from each other...

     A flash of lighting interrupted the night
     racing hearts in fright, wonder...

    "Where is the answer,
     the one that eludes me?
     How many chances are there?
     I'm running out of time!"

    "I will walk the miles
     travel through the storms,
     crawl even when weak and tired."

     Slowly, hearts embraced the night,
     enraptured in its comfort 
     at peace with the stormy mind.
               
     Lighting flashes in the window
     thunder beats at the door
     of the walls of selfishness.

     Suddenly, aware of the moment
     thoughts paused for awhile,
     listening carefully to the night
     holding hands with a smile.
    
     The storm would soon end
     for its flame had lit a path
     in the fog of self-centered egos.

--------------------------------------------------------


                             Insects

                    should I crush this insect
                    buzzing in my ear?

                    a disease carrier
                    or victim of irrational fear?

                    who's life is more precious
                    if killing makes living worthless?


--------------------------------------------------


                              Sanity


                    evening time in the park

                    the sun shading us from darkness

                    in a ragged line they walked

                    causalities of imagination

                    mental dregs of socialization

                    innocent minds in seclusion

----------------------------------------------------------

                             Poverty
                   

                    lying on well-paved streets

                    discarded carpet of civilization

                    reminder of a primitive past

                    existing still in modern hearts


--------------------------------------------------------



                              Waves

                    turbulent tides of desire

                    creating whirlpools of emotions

                    in an endless sea of pleasure

                    pride, greed and jealously

                    wave after wave of wants

                    surges through the helpless mind

                    fueling egotistical drive

                    isolating serenity

                    oh, will it ever subside

                    else, when will it explode?


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                       Rocks in the Stream


                    narrow thoughts
                    pointlessly flowing

                    gaining momentum
                    in a stream of consciousness

                    drowning life's silence
                    in memory's raging tides

                    rocks in the stream
                    affirming individuality

                    illusions of a thinker
                    molded by humanity's past

                    is it the rocks that make waves
                    or the stream of thinking?

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                         Why do you cry?

                    darling,
                    why do you cry?

                    do you cry for love?
                    do you cry for freedom?

                    do you cry for the one
                      who cries for you?

                    prisoners
                    in our own lives
                   
                    hiding
                    in another's disguise

                    dying
                    in our daily compromise

                    darling,
                    why do you cry?