"dona nobis pacem"

what is peace?

peace is as elusive as faith.

where will we find peace ... in an absence of anger?

perhaps if we ...

decline the opportunity to feel righteous rage,

allow ourselves to experience gratitude without boundaries.

find the time and desire to reach out, extend a helping hand,
offer our strength, our focus, ourselves.

fall in love with our earth in all her many forms and her
completeness.

realize that we are no better nor worse, no more
talented or useful than a single grain of sand or blade of
grass.

repudiate our selfish sense of superiority.

understand that we are nothing more than an equal part of the
whole.

respect the comforts and needs of others. protect the weak.
shelter the young and the elderly.

learn to listen rather than be heard.

practice love without ego.

find the wisdom to understand that i am nothing if i am not
everything.

remember that an enemy is only another aspect of the light
within us. refuse to see the darkness, search instead for
the goodness, the loving, pure life energy.

peace may be an impossible dream.

there is no more worthy quest.

expiry date

the gulls cry
mournful
in the weak morning light
as they ride the warm wind
which buffets and blows
like a wistful virgin
unsure of her destination
occasional raindrops spatter
the small side window
through which they watch
the young life which exists
beyond these sacred walls
as they surround in warmth
the village of the elders
where those so blessed
await their expiry date
in climate controlled comfort

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

poet play

rhyme and line
time to write
fodder, food
of my delight

words like bullets
ricochet
mind invested
poet play

come tomorrow
flees the muse
words once clear
now ring obtuse

empty poet
sans a word
lost and shaken
left unstirred


Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

the pursuit of happiness

if we should sit still
quiet and waiting
would it find us
or is it necessary
to charge around
seeking and demanding
the fulfilment of dreams
in pursuit of happiness

reach for happiness
and it will evade you
clasp it selfishly
it will disappear
like mist before the sun
happiness is a master
of the unexpected
connecting the unconnected

a thought, a word
a memory of yesterday
a hope for tomorrow
and we are there
emeshed in joyful anticipation
found amongst the simplest things
not when we are searching
but when we are not


Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

if i write

if i write these words
will you read them
will you hear with your heart
what they mean
will you know the pain
of this heart which aches
with the loss of your love
and our dreaming
will you feel the wrench
of deep regret
which dwells in the depths
of my soul
will you taste the salt
in the tears which well
in eyes which will always
seek  you
will you touch the screen
and then your heart
will i bind you with my words
or will you close your mind
your heart your soul
untouched by my heart pleading
will you turn away
with your heart now free
to love another
who is not me
yet i must write
this love lost song
i have no choice you see
too late i learned
the lesson that
you are the world to me

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

not red

the bus was late
eighteen fourteen the timetable said
i know better
i was there for six, waiting
for eighteen fourteen
until six twenty
when i flashed my bus pass
like a pro

i hate red
except for raspberry
who knew it had a p in it
me, i suppose
a long, long time ago
before i started
forgetting how to spell
simple everyday words

the rain jacket is raspberry
not red
she lent it to me
and i kept it
to keep me dry in a very wet summer
my feet clad in walking boots
guaranteed water proof
just in case

prepare for rain
and the sun will shine
eighteen forty five and i wait
at the somewhat less than salubrious
ayr bus terminal
at eighteen fifty five
which is as near as damnit to seven
i call her

she is on her way
just passed some church or chapel
i resign myself
i was born far from this place
the town and it's geography
continue to bemuse me
i hunch my shoulders
inside the raspberry jacket


Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

a logical lament

if only
i could massage it in
like body lotion
or spray it
on my straight from the shower
scrubbed and rubbed
soft towel dried
self
like dark temptation
guaranteed to keep me
sweet smelling
and endlessly attractive
for at least twelve hours
unfortunately
that is not the way
life works
logic is an acquired taste
requiring thought and effort
indeed even on going
logical application
and so
i am wont to remain
impetuous and impulsive
allowing no more
than an occasional
auction house nod
to logic and her minions
for there is no logic in love
love lives beyond those boundaries
rubbing shoulders with passion
and insanity


Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

remind me

remind me
of who i am and why i exist
explain why summer came
hot and full of promise
then left
without saying goodbye
now the wood fire relit
the logs burn like my dreams
crackling, burning fierce
destruction by flame

remind me
of who i should be today
for fragments of myself
drift out and upwards
broken from the whole
and i so fear
that i shall lose my core
left to wander in the unknowing
the twilight of the forlorn
never again whole

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

this moment

i will never qualify for sainthood
there is too much of the wild in me
too much wanting and wishing
accompanied by an unwillingness
to wait for any damn thing
i am so far from perfect
and yet in some way grateful
for the imperfections which define me
the world and her abundant bounty
will always beckon me, calling the wild
run hard, breathe deep and understand
that tomorrow is the unknown
today, this moment, is all i have

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

i want

i want to hold you in my arms
i want to breathe and breathe you in
i want to run my hungry fingers
over your delicious skin

i want to gaze into your eyes
until i know you'll never leave
i want to court you with my words
until i know that you believe

that our love is for forever
a timeless, endless dance
of passion and fidelity
of truth and sweet romance

i want to listen to your thoughts
until i know your mind
to search for all the treasures
you hold for me to find

i want to dance beneath the moon
amidst the evening haze
i want to say i love you
in a thousand different ways


Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

unending secrets

the white falls into spring
a cold embrace to greet
the hopeful new bud growth
i lean reckless from my window
listening to the silence
of snow which drifts so soft
i think of you and how you watch me
your eyes explore my every expression
as your mind questions the mystery
which is an unknown soul
hidden in the flesh of humanity
so simple to reach out and touch
the physical being of another
so impossible to understand
the unending secrets of the mind

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

broken

it feels broken
because it is
shattered, fragmented
it might be repaired
with care
and super glue
it might look good enough
to the uninformed eye, but
it would still feel broken
because it is

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

grey eyes

i asked you the colour of your eyes
grey you said and i wondered
for i had never before opened my heart
shared my mind and soul
i had never gazed with my heart's love
into the soul of another through eyes of grey
i had been so very respectful, reticent
wary even, reluctant to enter
the valley of abandonment and chaos
which awaits the searcher who dares
to seek unabashed the eye of the beloved
entrance to the valley of their soul
grey they were, your eyes
filled with love and questions
old in the knowledge of pain and betrayal
young in hope and anticipation
i searched your eyes and lost my heart

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

silence

you asked me for silence
and silent i'll be
so why would you call
just to irritate me?
you loved me and left me
we are finished and through
so what gives you the right
to tell me what to do
you don't wish to know
about new life or death
you told me quite clearly
in a voice out of breath
now all of a sudden
you think you have the right
to issue instructions
about what i may write
i write for myself
and i'll write what i please
when i ask your permission
that's the day hell will freeze
so take a deep breath
don't read what i write
you've done that before
with apparent delight
you say i am dead
and to you i may be
but i'm writing a tale
which is all about me
you once were my true love
the light of my life
i have no wish to hurt you
my once almost wife
if people should read
if i spoke about you
they would know that i loved
and respected you too
go on with your life
so much less complicated
than that with the poet
you always berated
you have a nice car
and a beautiful home
your cats are still with you
you won't be alone
erase from your memory
the wolf and the boy
go on with your life
seize the moment with joy
what i write does not matter
we live world's apart
if only we'd realized
that right from the start

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann

i'm as young

i'm as young

i guess i'm as young
as i let myself be
my heart's been sixteen 
since i knew you loved me


you laughed when i told you
how i race the closing door
two steps at a time
to get up to my floor


you smiled when i mentioned
i tripped in my haste
and ended up falling
embarrassed, red faced


honey, you said
scot's accent included
a six year old does that
you're slightly deluded


how old i am
is really no matter
i love life, i love you
i'm a crazy mad hatter


you make my heart thump
you make my face smile
your love is the magic
which makes life worth while


i thank you my darling
for bringing me pleasure
your smile and your laughter
are my special treasure


i give you my heart
and i give you my time
you gave me yours
i am giving you mine

Copyright © 2011 by Eryll Oellermann