reflecting on my climb

i climb higher

and higher

until i reach the top

full of lush and green

at the end

nothing but the tip

the branch is dried

and i fear!

filled with anxiety

and more uncertainty:

will it break?

will i survive the fall?

my wits falter

though i know a step down

i must go

to avoid the breaking point

it’s my making

and it’s my greed

that moved me there

and i chose

not the cold

nor a longer winter

smaller

and smaller branch

a diminishing place

a deserted village

climbing against the trend

an irrevocable drift

of an urban world

i now progress

into a wilderness

walking in wilderness is good

but living there

that i dread

i calm my thoughts

and tell my soul

you could always come below

but if it breaks

before the move i make

an outcome

i hate to see

hence

i close my eyes

henry victor      20.03.2007

my healing stones

bonnie, my friend, the native elder

offered my daughter

two palms and full of healing stones

now i play with, until my mind

overflows with, grace-filled healing!

these stones are not amethysts,

bloodstone or carnelian

neither are they red jasper,

white lace agate,

brown black purple white agate

the alias, coyomito agate

but simple stones of the simpleton

with red, pink, orange, and yellow

green, blue, indigo and violet

adding a few lime-green and blue-green

also silver-grey

brown, black, white, and gold

included among are some clear

but each one is powerful too

henry victor      08.03.2007

a colony of bats

masses, very quickly, surrounded me

to see what i would declare

now that i have a legal dispensation

a privilege

bestowed only on a foreigner

they nearly pushed me

though unintentionally

they made me drop

one by one

the big and small item

i carefully carried

into that pit

and as i bend down

to reach the bottom

picking cautiously my scattered stuff

the masses

almost buried me

standing up-side down

like a colony of bats in a cave

henry victor      03.02.2007

peace trail in the park

the trees in the park

invited me to walk

under their corridors

winds whispered secrets

fresh as freshly pulled carrots

for my feeble frame

pigeons and finches darted

up and down until i crafted

my poem beneath the trees

along the trail i heard songbirds pipe

i may with joy quickly elope

despite sorrow walking beside me

lilacs showered fragrance

lifting me into a tranquil trance

as i walked the park’s peace trail

henry victor      01.04.2007

furthest star

smelling, hearing

and continuously seeing

voices from beyond

also from deep within

my heart ponders

with the aid of my mind

the infuriating experience

a life more authentic

making my mortal soul

into a state of dreaming

thoughts of divine essence

and provocative dreams

nay! violent thunder clapping

making me a stormy storm

impregnating my tender being

also, with lightning

spontaneously gathering around

snarling, quarreling and discord

leading at the end,

to Golgotha, the empty scull

but hoping one day

though comprehended late

like the dim light

of the star that is furthest

my soul too

shall enlighten

the innocent children

at last

henry victor      13.02.1995

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

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