The Arising City

Arise New York, arise, as you know how to do,
You are a paragon, always been on your own,
Like the moon at the dusk, like the sun at the dawn,
You’re always moving on, after things you’ve been through,

Arise New York, arise, and shine like morning’s dew,
The thunder and fire could not stumble you down,
The terrible attacks could not crumble you down,
I know the reason why I fell in love with you,

Arise New York, arise, you’re the greatest witness,
The hundreds of stories that have grown from your womb,
The hundreds of stories that you’ll take to your tomb,

Arise New York, arise, defeating the darkness,
Defining density, defying gravity,
Deafening while noisy, rising New York City.

[a sonnet in alexandrines, about the ability of New York City to always rise up.]

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The Man In The Mirror

In the dead of night smiled the man in the mirror,
So I got up and saw the man in the mirror,

He grimly grinned because he felt given up on,
He looked a poor fellow, the man in the mirror,

For quite a long time now he’d felt the abandon,
Close its claws on his neck, the man in the mirror,

Leaving him hardly breathing and barely alive,
How could he face it, when, the man in the mirror,

In his nightmares, he wondered how he could survive,
How he could stand up now, the man in the mirror,

When he had felt his whole damn life as an outcast,
Rejected, neglected, the man in the mirror,

He was victim of an awful curse that was cast,
From the day he was born, the man in the mirror

The time I understood he felt like an alien,
Was when I recognized the man in the mirror,

So I told my sombre reflection, Aurélien,
Who could stand the look of the man in the mirror?

[a ghazal with nine couplets of alexandrines.]

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The Maverick Heart

It all began by a hot summer day,
All the butterflies were peopling the skies,
I could not but fall in love right away,
It would not last I did not realize,

All the butterflies were peopling the skies,
We took a boat and sailed the silent sea,
It would not last I did not realize,
You had a smile to drive a man crazy,

We took a boat and sailed the silent sea,
One night we heard the celestial thunder,
You had a smile to drive a man crazy,
So pretty it left my heart asunder,

One night we heard the celestial thunder,
Coming from the Heavens high up above,
So pretty it left my heart asunder,
Perhaps that I did not know how to love,

Coming from the Heavens high up above,
Came the calmer nights and the calmer days,
Perhaps that I did not know how to love,
This is true it has mysterious ways,

Came the calmer nights and the calmer days,
Hot as the sun were the waves of the sea,
This is true it has mysterious ways,
The heart always knows what you cannot see,

Hot as the sun were the waves of the sea,
Cold as the moon are my tears of despair,
The heart always knows what you cannot see,
And I went touch the darkness in its lair,

Cold as the moon are my tears of despair,
It’s true I should have known it from the start,
And I went touch the darkness in its lair,
Perhaps because I’ve got a maverick heart,

It’s true I should have known it from the start,
I could not but fall in love right away,
Perhaps because I’ve got a maverick heart,
It all began by a hot summer day.

[a pantoum with theme 1 shipwreck and theme 2 love, nine quatrains of decasyllables.]

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