forgive my shirk

grant me oh the nameless

Name

unlimited forgiveness

and overwhelming grace

when i in my nasty arrogance

in foolish forgetfulness

while breaking and smashing

idols of clay, silver and gold

tearing into pieces

icons on printed-paper

or painted canvas

molded through extreme care

and drawn with patience so rare

employing artistic mind

with untiring hand

concurrently retain in the bosom

of my petty being

the silly pride of my race, learning

and other worthless achievement

in such way covetously

ridiculing the tribe, tradition

and other earnings

of my numerous neighbors

considering silently

my puny self, more important

than those who live

and toil around me

entertaining and persisting

in that surest shirk

the groundless superstition

that the sweetest sound

surely, is my own name

henry victor     18.01.1995

beyond the psalm twenty-nine

when the ideals of the Nazarene

evaporates in the crucible

of the empty episcopacy

filled to the brim with hypocrisy

then it slips into putting on

a magnificent clothing

enjoying the political influence

it can exert  and the tribal strength

assigning self-glory and power

speaking with arrogance

and thundering over those paid reverence

to the humble man from Nazareth!

there the episcopal voice

breaks the cedars

making Edmonton skip like a calf

and the new immigrant like an ox

young but wild

the brutal feminine voice

flashes forth flames of fire
bringing to knees

the Asian and the African wise men!

this vicious voice causes

also the withering of oaks, stripping

the forest bare and the temple pews empty

henry victor      07.01.2007

never an outcast

when in my speech your voice is not heard
or, my movements make your being invisible

or, my songs do not convey your melody
or, my lines express not your poetic utterance

still i fear not a rejection but i am assured of acceptance

from you; for your embrace is not due to my conformity
to your will, my walking to the beat of your drum
that i seldom hear; nor, for it, my will is strong to submit

but my nonconformity to those who laid hands

on my head and those who claimed to love
and belong to me by blood and name and tribe
reject me, pushing me to the edge as an outcast

18.07.2014