rusty, mouldy, and faulty

your household cherishes rusty liturgy

irrelevant to daily days

giving no stimulation for struggle

to overthrow burden that cripple years

men and women who bear your son’s name

play with a mouldy mindset, dead doctrine

that has lost its power to guard your yard

from straying cattle destroying vegetation

children in your hall dance to faulty tune

until they are tired to meet death

and your banquet hallway is empty

being freed of all perishing wealth

henry victor   09.05.2003    

Note: Art work here is that of Justin Victor, my grandson when he was 5 years old: A Dinosaur (with a small brain)!

a distorted vision

my left hand moved

swiftly

to remove the log in my left eye

sitting there

obstructing my vision of the globe

leading to an erroneous measure

but my right traveled

more swift

to prevent the left arm

serving good

thwarting the removal of wood

to enhance my vision of planet

my left eye joined

spontaneously

the protest of right complaining saw dust

in neighbour’s

demanding my left hand joins right

to remove my neighbour’s speck

henry victor     23.09.2003

i write a poem

sometimes i quickly write a poem

when a dagger has pierced my heart

or a mercy has reached my soul

making it dance to rhythmic refrain

other times i struggle to pen a verse

when desire to discipline is high

or to my daughter exhibit my brain

making her evolve into a genius

on occasion i compose rhyming lines

when my ego is bloated too big

to remain small, humble and modest

making easy an empty expedition

henry victor     23.03.2003

the photograph

words and images reign

my thoughts

dictating disorder out

to establish the couch

for more sun shine

deep within my heart

during this regime

on the roadsides  

i see much rain

puddles, my poems

reflecting for eyes, ready

to see the neighbourhood

henry victor          16.12.2018

posting in ghost towns

i drive many hours

through ghost towns, abandoned

poetry groups, planting words

with pants and images

with wings to flutter

inside hearts like butterflies

decorating the walls

hosts have left behind

for guests passing

through zombie towns to post

their songs; but the brainless

seldom see music

leaving me to dance alone

with not even a single applause

testing my inner mettle

to roam the towns

bereft of taste and depth

of rational, observable substance

henry victor           11.12.2018

pitching your tent

 

pitching always your tent

where i have pitched mine

beside my neighbor’s

you remain my lord

you are my peace

from above

a light from heaven

with life like an ever-flowing river

to quench my thirst

you are that glorious whole

the most holy one

my feeble feet discover rest

in your place

you are the pioneer

that stone in the corner

by being my servant

serving me in my need

henry victor     02.02.2003

my impediment

underneath the starlit sky

my impediment

that fear of humans

i carry within my heart

is, suddenly,  revealed

despite the terror of animals

with nature

unexpectedly enraging

i have overcome

the trepidation of human colleagues

capable of falsifying

my intentions

inflating the innate inherent little evil

and butchering me with no tools

but by naming me with a name

carefully considered

an uttered contemplation

in a twisted heart

with a distorted reason

in it

i comprehend

my cross

my Golgotha!

henry victor     29.01.2003

return from the banquet hall

every time i walk into a banquet hall

joining a company of female

and male celebrating the gifts of life

i return with a heavy heart

and a load preventing my sleep

blocking also my speedy dream

superficiality like shallow water

in the river of civility

and hypocrisy, the dark backwater

of learned bunch

smart inside my heart

also affecting my wit

like the way my gut

suffers after i have eaten

tasty food wherein black pepper

powder is sprayed in excess

in diet served as banquet food

henry victor     22.12.2003

last request

since i have had my share

of pain, painful, and pleasing pleasure

i plead with you to take me

home now to be with you

like me wrapping my mat

after napping a whole night

in case you decide to delay

i do not ask for a relay

of pleasure and pain

but a quiet desk, and a pen

for the flow of my fable, my gory

to transform into a soothing story

henry victor     27.12.2003

names and titles

i have earned

the name of a noble many times

for my disapproving the big

stronger man bullying boy small

struggling stealthily, still growing

they permit me to retain
the title saint
despite my not disapproving
superpower invasion of Vietnam
Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan, again Iraq

names are given
and titles bestowed
only for action in my backyard
and my silence in affairs affecting
the living men and women in world

henry victor      14.04.2003

temples, cults and faith

many temples are erected

on graves of human intelligence

giving lip services to humane values

with no concern

for those subjugated

many cults hurt

the wretched poor

removing the very livelihood

of the small like cancerous cell

eating up all with no dirt

left at the corridor

many faiths elude reality well

providing a vision to exploit the little

appeasing conscience

the divine within

fooling self until the final reckoning

henry victor     11.04.2003

baffled by mercy

when i trust you

and put my hope hoping you

for me will make things work

with my field giving a plentiful harvest

and my cattle, numerously, multiply

you let me down badly

with your refusal

to open windows of heaven

for showers to fall on ground

instead

you open doors of pestilence

to strike my cattle

then i trusted you not

from you

nothing i expected

but you then

flood me with blessings, baffling

me with your unlimited mercy

henry victor     17.04.2003