Myths and Legends...

A fistful of Haiku, for only a few dollars more...

Sometimes, they're true

Fever

In dark December

I gave away my precious

A Sweet surrender

Count your sorrows

The book of sorrows’

Pages cannot be counted

Only persevered 

Platform Moon part 1

Lying on a platform

My history forgotten

In the ocean’s depths

Platform Moon part 2

I hear her whisper

In the sounds of the calm waves

A message for me

Platform Moon part 3

She is of the sea

The lonely sounds of the night

Will never meet her

Platform Moon part 4

Is she my saviour?

Or a light on a platform?

A dying man’s dream

Platform Moon part 5

How faint is her smile?

An enigma fully wrapped

In a dark riddle

Platform Moon part 6

Her dark mystery

Sits at the ocean’s bottom

Concealed by the moon

Platform Moon part 7

The sand in her hair

Glistens in the still ocean

And reveals the truth

Platform Moon part 8 (7 5 7)

I am of the highway and

We were meant to be

For she grew up in the sea

Fate

Wherever I go,

I go alone. With no one

A fate all my own

Cold Revenge

In life and in dreams

Never feel any anger

Only taste revenge

This is a series I wrote called the Legend of the Viking Prince for The Ties That Bind. It is reproduced here in semi Haiku form. 

Legend of the Viking Prince part 1

In Scandinavia

Millennia ago, lived

The Viking Prince John

Legend of the Viking Prince part 2

His great adventures

Spawned epic legends and tales

Across the wide world

Legend of the Viking Prince part 3 (7 5 5 7 5 7 5 7)

On a frozen battlefield,

John, sole survivor

Of a bloody war

Its purpose lost for all time

Met a Valkyrie

Messenger to the Norse gods

Sent as an escort

For the souls of dead heroes

Legend of the Viking Prince part 4

Quite impossibly

In due time, they fell in love

A forbidden love

Legend of the Viking Prince part 5

Odin, King of the Norse gods

Learned of their affair

And banned John from Valhalla

Legend of the Viking Prince part 6

John pleaded for grace

Begging to be with his love

Till Odin replied

Legend of the Viking Prince part 7

If John died a hero’s death

He and his true love

Would reunite for all time

Legend of the Viking Prince part 8

Odin was crafty

And before exiling John,

Gave him a cruel gift

Invulnerability

From all man’s weapons

Legend of the Viking Prince part 9

John soon realized

No earth weapon could slay him

He would never die

Legend of the Viking Prince part 10

He travelled boldly

Across a dark, troubled world

In search of his death

Legend of the Viking Prince part 11

In his fruitless search

He grew ever more distant

From humanity

Legend of the Viking Prince part 12

Eventually

Weary of the endless fight

For justice, and despairing

In his loneliness

He travelled far north

Beyond the reach of the world

And vanished from man’s knowledge

 I will always love Platform Moon. It was born of loneliness and heartache. I'll never be in such a place again, so I will never write anything like that again.

Yours to enjoy,

Lloyd Webber

Clouds above a cemetery

Another 20 means 20 less...

Can't even tell the time of day

Protector – Guest Haiku from Srivatsa Huruli

A mother's pure love
A new man with strength and will
Protector of Light

Ecclesiastes

There will come the day

When we will see and believe

All is vanity

Earthquake

We shall not be moved

Not even by a young child

Dying from no food

300

King Leonidas

And only three hundred men

Kill a bunch of brown guys

Smiling Portrait

Remember the days

When portraits showed toothy smiles

Those times are long gone

300 Nanos

King Ioannidis

And but three hundred nanos

Brought pain to my life

Death of a Car Salesman – Guest Haiku from Jonathan Hernandez

Velocity red!

Life: the American dream;

I am a failure.

Winter Fog

Dark fog owns my soul

The winter hourglass flows

Like rivers below

The following is a series I call Tales of the Gods. Its best read as a whole so once the Haiku series is over, I’ll post it as a note. The entire tale and the missing details will remain with me.

The Dogs of War (Prelude to Tales of The Gods)

War is a fire
set in forests made of men
who burn for nothing.

Tales of the Gods Part 1

Millennia past

In the era before time

There lived the old gods

Tales of the Gods part 2

These gods of long ago

Ruled for eons, but in time

The old gods did die

Tales of the Gods part 3

The death of the old

Led invariably to

The birth of the new

Tales of the Gods Part 4

There came Ragnarok

And a split between the gods

A cataclysm

Tales of the Gods Part 5

High gods lived in bliss,

And Low Gods in agony –

Ruled by pure terror

Tales of the Gods Part 6

Their very natures

Made war inevitable

Such a bloody day!

Tales of the Gods Part 7

For eternity

War raged unabated

Good versus evil

Fall of the Gods

War and all it brought

Were a raging inferno –

The gods were no more

Rise and Fall of the New Gods

Hubris was to blame

But then came the rise of Man

Who loved war far more –

Their end: even more tragic

Epilogue of the Gods

Such is the cruel fate

Of either mankind or gods

If war perseveres

Revolutions (5 7 7)

The world keeps spinning

Yet I remain tethered

To the things I try to lose

Yes, they're yours,

Lloyd Webber

The lighthouse beckons...

20 more, a few less to go...

A harbinger of doom

Never Fail

I will never fail

Failing you, I fail myself

I will not fail you

Secrets and Lies

This dam of secrets,

Will burst like overripe fruit;

All will tumble out

    Worst Enemy

The sad, awful truth

We are our own worst enemies

Without knowing it

Song of Songs

Let me sing a song;

A lyrical rhapsody

Of your true beauty

  Lighthouse and Ships

She is a perfect drug

Her sweet lips are a lighthouse

And his are a ship

Trap

Ensnared in a trap

A trap quite like no other

Can no one free me?

Word Cloud

We hide timidly

Behind clouds of thick words that

Say far more than we can

Hand in Glove

Fold your arms slowly

I don’t want you to hold me

You’ll fit like a glove

Unglued

Stuck tight forever

And she’ll never come unglued

From my deep, dark mind

Crazy Tuesday

She don’t know why and

She never had a reason

But she’ll make you cry

   Who am I?

The man with the plan

My parents named me warrior

They call me Verbal

      Rouge

The skyline is bright

And the streets call out our names

To paint the town red

 Gamma Ray

Never fear summer

Even when the heat wave hits

Like a Gamma Ray

          Database Corrupted (7 5 7)

Dreams: A window to the soul

A truth revealed, my

Database is corrupted

Rules of the game

Five syllables first,
seven in second stanza,
back to five again

   Paradox

Listen to silence

As it drowns out your voice

Life’s great paradox

  Might

Which is mightiest?

Sharp sword, even sharper pen?

Or a nagging wife?

  Pass the popcorn

The troubles of life

A never ending movie

Alas! No popcorn

       Shadows

The passing shadows

That blanket my eyes were

Made for you to stare

Dante

Raging infernos

In which mankind is consumed

Who will save our souls?

I wish I could always, be yours,

Lloyd Webber

Searching for Valhalla...

Across the Rainbow Bridge

A few more...As Spring rolled around. My misanthropy is out in full force, though some gems like 'Road to Destiny' redeemed me somewhat.

The Truth

Hold fast to the truth

Fear not man’s machinations

Your reward will come

Man and Beast

Courage, friendship, love,

Lift us above simple beasts

And make us human

Courage and Conviction

We must embrace love

Why do we sleep with our hate?

Change is not too late

Road to Destiny

Fate is the driver,

Hope is the destination,

And love is the road

Concrete Jungle

Paradise is gone

Replaced with wild abandon

By concrete Jungles

Billions

We are too many

We pollute and steal and kill

We are too many

Blank Space (5 5 5)

Blissful solitude

The blank white paper

Life of a writer

Far From Home

A nomadic soul

The open world his comfort

Nostalgia his home

Poisoned Fruit

Knowing drives us mad;

Yet still our quixotic quest,

For boundless knowledge

Fly Away Kite

The kite string unwinds
faster than my hands can catch
my dreams fly away        

      

Inflict Love

Ours is to shed light.
Passions etch our dreaming skies,
as we inflict love. 

1984

We are still at war
why can't I remember when
we were still at peace?

Ocean View

Temptation will float
in an ocean of boredom
seeking souls as shores.

Topsy-Turvy

Dark times have fallen

When traitors are called heroes

And heroes traitors

The Afternoon View

Lean back and enjoy

The view from the afternoon

On an autumn day

Cry From the Grave

The tortured souls of

Sleepless souls cry from the grave

For respite from death

Poison Pill

Now I realize

The poison pill slyly slipped

In my life’s wine glass

Valhalla

And so it begins

The search for my Valhalla

What will the end be?

Duplicates

Why learn from the past?

Much easier to repeat

Your greatest mistakes

The End of the Beginning (5 7 7)

In time and in tide,

The days draw to a swift close

For my poetry and prose

As always, 

Forever yours,

Lloyd Webber