The 1944 Education Act

Leaves blowing
in a wind
that has no origin
(and no destination) .

Shadows falling
on an ancient wall
(fall and fade) .

Still the children
watch the shadows fall.
And learn and learn
and learn
to name them all
(before they fade) .

Hands
reaching fingertips
towards a distant,
uncomprehending moon;

[...] Read more

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

A Shell

A SHELL
a big shell
on a warm sand shelf
building long and strong
out at last kept out.

TIME to decide
what's inside
for inside meditation
for contemplation.
Any answers?

A SKULL
a big skull
with a warm snug self
building long and strong
to keep out out.

EYE, ear and brain
drag it all in again,

[...] Read more

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Beautiful People

Super-talented children
play on the eternal beach,
building castles and cities
and civilisations and worlds,
anything, everything they want;
and try to keep all and each
out of everyone else’s reach.

Dancing around hand in hand,
they themselves are powdered sand.

The sun shines down
burning them brown.
The sea rolls in
ironing everything
smooth and flat and thin.

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Fountain

The fountain
reaches upwards into space
and, finding nothing
to sustain it there,
falls back into its proper place.

And in this endless
rise and fall,
we see the start and finish
of us all.

Time flies
through summer and through wintry skies;
measures elephants and butterflies,
marks where this is born and that one dies.
See the world dissolve and fade before your dying eyes!

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Furze and Bracken

The furze and bracken
is browned and a little battered.
The Michaelmas daisies
and brambles shine in the September sun.
A Painted Lady slowly
opens and closes its wings.

Every moment
is a fork in the road
and every fork
is always the same,
the choice between right and wrong.

And wrong is always
arrogating to oneself
things which do not belong.
And right
is always
following the Light.

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Going Out There Is No Other

Going out there is no other
coming back there is no trace
though one journey on forever
still the mind is its own place.

Still erecting fences facing
(still incorporating doors)
still vast nothingness embracing
(and declining ‘mine’ and ‘yours’) .

Still the sun in silent splendour
smiles its message through the Void
that each and every golden sunbeam
suffers where it has enjoyed.

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Long Snake, Short Ladder

Curled around that massive tree
old Satan waiteth patiently;
while up above the monkeys play
all their lifelong summer’s day.
Scrambling up and up they try,
to be the first to touch the sky.
At the very top, each finds
the sky still out of reach,
although not out of mind.
So with a final upward leap,
defying gravitational laws,
they tumble headlong, an untidy heap,
into old Satan’s yawning jaws!

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Gnomon

The shadow of the gnomon
slides at a steady rate.
Even if the dial is ancient,
the time itself is up to date.
Though the train sleeps in the station,
the sun just will not wait.

And the ever moving sun
and the clocks that tick and chime
are the chains we use to bind our minds
and imprison them in Time.

Time has no bird, no scythe,
no power over man or Fate.
Having wanted to be early,
we decide that we are late.

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Requiem: Armistice Day 1995

This year
the dead are blind
and do not seem to hear
our prayers.
Nor do they seem to mind
that we now own
what they once thought was theirs.

Here
they shed no tear
at all the pain
they left behind.

Now,
when they come again,
they only find
echoes of the long-ago,
and landscapes that they hardly know;
deserted buildings, unpeopled streets,
lonely corridors, empty rooms,

[...] Read more

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Requim: Armistice Day 1995

This year
the dead are blind
and do not seem to hear
our prayers.
Nor do they seem to mind
that we now own
what they once thought was theirs.

Here
they shed no tear
at all the pain
they left behind.

Now,
when they come again,
they only find
echoes of the long-ago,
and landscapes that they hardly know;
deserted buildings, unpeopled streets,
lonely corridors, empty rooms,

[...] Read more

poem by Brian Taylor
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!