Tunnels cut through a mountain chain,
an unending chain,
a chain that binds;
that twists and turns on itself again,
delivering pain
and darkness that blinds.
At the end of each there is a hope,
a ray of light to which you grope.
When you reach it at tunnel’s end
the next begins as if to portend
the coming of others, unending nights.
The mouth of one the other bites.
As you slip into this endless void
you turn right back trying to avoid
the pitch of blackness and faster than fast,
your wheels turn and pistons thrust,
until the image of the turning wheel
first slows down and then stands still.
It starts again, but spinning back
taking you deeper into the black.
Your whole life becomes this blur,
past, present, future become a slur
and the yearn for eternal rest
becomes a fantasy, a dream at best.
Tunnels cut through a mountain chain,
an unending chain,
a chain that binds,
that twists and turns through another plain
through the living brain
of unsound minds.
I
Made
You
Black
And
You
Are
Beautiful
God
this is darkness looks like, a void
filled with blackness; everything's coiled
a scene, winking yet not annoyed
taking a step into a
grey gates towards world of the
things that never meant to be seen
across the night of an obscene
moonlight, revealing all the sin
once out of the spotlight, but
only if you focus at
black holes looming over above
the outer space containing love
for dead, providing a vast cove
holding what's meant to be gone
give graves for those once human
now an inanimate object
to those which goal's refuse reject
turned to a shooting star, erect
out of tall desperation
you're set out for a mission
perhaps remind the pain, through a
crater over your chest; a bay,
now fade, where you once used to play
along the sands of regret
you let it melt with your sweat
thinking writing of something sweet.
I’d simply like this freedom:
To love, in every season;
Am I just a heathen:
Someone who’s not worth believing?
Let her be my queen when,
There’s a purpose, not impeded;
And loving her, my reason,
‘Til I’m breathing,
Six feet in –
Quicksilver tendrils
inlaid rivulets flow through
the inky blackness
Another family gathering.
The place is packed with deep blue sadness.
For the passing of yet another friend.
Faces are strained to the edge of recognition.
Pretty bouquets garnish a garish metal basket.
A holy man tries to capture the spirit of a stranger
in a couple of passages.
Failing.
Like a game of she loves me, she loves me not,
death is stealing the family flowers one by one.
Next time we gather, there'll be one less
A puddle of infinite blackness.
I was drenched in black water,
Yet, it looked as though I were dried out.
I stood before a lighthouse,
Yet, remained unseen.
Gazing into the sea’s blackness,
The highest tides forever circled me.
My eyes could find no anchor,
As my dark hands sailed towards the farthest shore.
My home, too, was cloaked in shadow;
Something unseen, yet present, walked with me there.
The map and the wanderer within me never agreed.
Colours were but drifting sailors in my life’s vast sea.
Different souls sail different paths,
Tides come and go.
Memoirs float like driftwood.
Something vast yet fragile appears near the stones.
My grave is smaller than the stones,
Its epitaph; empty and black.
I performed on countless beaches,
Yet, nothing remains visible on this blackest shore.
mid darkness blackest
view embossed in brilliant depth
hued covenant light
~
caged environment
ruptures midnights fall surreal
dark bright light conceals
3/28/2025
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2025©
The Blackness And The Hard Labor Of The Housemaid
Store up the spasms of the low rims of busy suns
trudging work tills the upheaval of ragged soil
and what of shadow hours, sweat and hard toil
does indifferent soil its gasping unholy vomit spill
she folds the clothes and then she falls asleep.
Trudge the hours and crack the unwilling stones
as her shadow walks into bars of uneven ethereal mists
the dark red rouge smears in round about shy patterns
she wonders, where does brown dung of yesterday hide
She slaves as a worker, her tired muscles cramp
her mind drifts and then it accuses her of nothingness
today is for work, tomorrow the mice may play
her work is as ancient days a drifting into noon
she is bent as a scornful indifferent boothill
as she finally stops, yes stops, to dare to go to sleep.
Robert J. Lindley, Verse
June 2nd 1972
Note: My new girlfriend's mother is a housemaid. Works 6 days week about 12 hour a day/
In the dark of night, I see it rise
A shadowy figure, a deep disguise
A force that's strong, and bold, and true
It's blackness, spreading out anew
It blankets the earth in a shroud of dark
Enveloping all in its powerful mark
The stars themselves seem to dim and fade
As blackness takes over, in a grand parade
It's not a thing to fear, this darkness here
For in it lies the essence of all that's clear
The deep, rich blackness that fills the night
Is the very thing that gives us sight
For in the blackness, we see the stars
Twinkling bright, and near, and far
We see the moon, with its silvery glow
Reflecting the light that it does bestow
So let us not fear the blackness that reigns
For in it lies beauty, and wonder, and gains
Let us embrace the night, and all it brings
And marvel at the glory that blackness sings.
In the depths of night, when all is still,
The world is draped in a cloak of blackness.
No light pierces through the darkness,
No sound disturbs the peace.
Blackness is the canvas on which
The stars paint their glittering masterpiece,
A vast expanse of twinkling light
Against the endless void.
Blackness is the silence that descends
When day gives way to night,
The stillness that envelops us
As we rest and dream and find respite.
But blackness is also the shadow
That looms over us in fear,
The darkness that hides the unknown
And fills our hearts with dread.
Blackness is a paradox, a mystery,
A force both beautiful and terrifying,
And yet it is an essential part of life,
The yin to light's yang, the balance that sustains us.
So let us embrace the blackness,
For in it lies both beauty and truth,
And let us find comfort in the darkness,
For it is the canvas on which our dreams are painted.
bellowing stag
deepest blackness
a fox barks
MEDITATION HOUR
Love notes written on vellum
Music scores with smiles between lines
Written in symbols, circles or waves
When lids closed for an hour
I’m inside a strand of hair
A protein or atomic space
Neutrality speaks like
A pink lotus
teaches as my Muse
Its a cardamom pip
I disappear into its blackness
then the car door
Banged !!
At the hour
©ghairodanielspoetry2018
landscape the blackness
that covers skies polka dots
white burst of stars glistens
~
these are those brights sparks
sparkling planets so far out
these are the lights space
3/7/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022
At midnight black light rules
Seems as though daylight woes
Eliminator sprites
lighted
Seems as though daylight woes
Blackness stilled
lighted
Motions stalled can't see to walk
Blackness stilled
Eliminator sprites
Motion stalled
Can't see to walk
At midnight black light rules
1/11/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022
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