priestly prayer

God

make me not

a lazy sacrificial official

an avaricious dealer

in magic sayings

a conceited worthless orator

a wicked sly priest

or just a good stupid sheep

amongst a large herd

God

make me a human

strong minded

imaginative

level headed

sympathetic

a human

who knows his mind

and is not afraid

to speak it

henry victor      19.08.1980

roaming in eternity

he knows his strength

at least, he fears not

what he lacks

or, what little he has

with a thick skin

of the plains buffalo

he lives beyond a need

to strengthen his ego

or picking feathers for a cap

with an absent need to cover

his head from sun that burns

or cloud pouring  crocodile tears

neither does he need

any paper

online, or offline, to cover

his stinky arse, his poetic farts

wilderness of flourishing failures

a landscape, he much thrives

on, holding tight the horns

of the seasons roaming in eternity!

henry victor            27.10.2018

  

town is empty!

death is in the home, inside

or is it out on the road

i am, right now, confused

Wednesday cannot be so quiet

that too at 8.00 A.M!

i have this ghostly feeling

being unkind to my little girl

making her walk the ghost town

she detested so much

before picking enough courage

to finally fly away from my cage!

i myself would not linger

around a cemetery for so long

if i am not an undertaker

busying with burying pain

and counseling the grieving town

henry victor     26.09.2007

last act

dying with courage is the last act

i wait to complete, emptying the body

with all its craving and envy to enjoy

the ecstasy of no more misery

then i shall join the multitude

of my ancestors hitherto have departed

to the enviable mansion; happy

they are now with no more tears, nor pain

many men and women struggle to depart

this life with ease avariciously clinging

to this world with ache; emancipation

they see not in healing death

henry victor     29.10.2002

untested love

was there an error in my ear

or was she knocking on my door

when dusk has set in to empower

my hermitage and i freely cover

with silence my mind and heart

and lay my aging frame

those tired limbs to rest on bed

upheld by a simple iron frame

she insists now she has some old wine

some untested love that i should sip

before i retire, and she has more to offer

without taking away my chattels

© henry victor           29.01.2018

mediocre muse

risking as little as possible

his muse is his timid tortoise

moving very little from his house

providing shelter and security

sitting indoor with closed eyes

and plugged ears and tight lips

he fears the hearing of his own snoring

loosing, at the end, a joy of journeying

that would otherwise invite much applause

as received at the end of the mythical race

where Aesop awarded a gold to the tortoise

that thumped the over-confident hare! 

© henry victor     25.02.2006

death gives life

death, the destruction of the bee

at such a great height

leads not to the end

but yields to a new hive

from the new honey will ooze

boosting novel life!

defeat, destruction of victory

after patient endurance

leads not to the end

but yields a fresh muse

transforming thoughts

into lines, prompting peace

© henry victor     23.01.2004

deer in solitude

my life is in the solitude

like a deer wounded

and deserted

by the herd

and i live in this seclusion

rebelling

refusing to run like a coward

with the herd

my courage

made me pause

to stop and watch

my pursuer

making self

a vulnerable beast

to continue

wildly in this cave

abandoned previously

to be healed

or i am completely

dead

henry victor     05.01.2003

a courageous chase

i was scarcely seven! i remember

my father, a soldier, a thunder

chasing a burglar sneaking to thieve

chicken in middle of moon lit night

in that unlit rural village

the following morning others strutted

my father’s foolhardiness

as i chanted his courage

and when my daughter was seven

the same drama unfolded, demanding

my heroic act! but miles away

in this excessively lit hamlet

and i, a frightened chicken, woke my wife

to let the crook know occupants awake

to switch on security lights; others beamed

my wisdom as i cogitated my cowardliness

© henry victor     04.04.2003

nothing

i dreamt, last night, my fat holder

my purse; morning i heard the masses

calling it hope, the spring flower

to settle before my death my debt

since all i was firmly determined

this noon i opened my wallet

like tilling my ground, my garden

the summer fruits to harvest, only

to find the warden has hidden

all, leaving me with nothing

only the unpaid rising to drown

my mind, my dream, my everything

© henry victor        13.08.2017

   

my pause

i recess to reflect

but the pause summons no peace

to my somnolent spirit

songs i am yet to compose

threatens from my band to be cut

i struggle from within me to tease

a melodious music to go out

but all seems wedged

into an impasse

like a turtle pulled in all her feet

© henry victor     02.05.2003

hope: merge with the large

money, always, easily slipped

through my fingers

lands that i tried to own also slid

quickly from my hand

the bed i slept in the night

someone else secretly

occupied in the day

the juvenile bird i cuddled

in my bosom

to give warm comfort and a nest

flew away to build her own

my remains too, soon

the fire will consume

leaving, perhaps, my soul

to merge with that larger soul

that welcomingly smiles

from behind the veil

© henry victor

Tiger

Among all the animals I like tiger the best
She is ferocious
She is pretty
She is kind

In the forest the tiger is not the first in command
But she moves very swiftly
And perhaps she is the only animal
That can neither be tamed nor domesticated

Among all the animals I like tiger the best
She has the strength
She has the stripes
She has the will

In the forest the tiger is the most feared animal
For she pounces from afar
But never misses the target
For she has known that art from her childhood days

Among all the animals I like tiger the best
She is a symbol of self-determination
She is a symbol of resistance
She is a symbol of freedom

Henry Victor 29.07.1987