Three Poems
by Josef Lesser
through
the Eyes of a rainbow
The squire was wealthy even the rich envied his wealth, he owned the
best
horses an art collection worthy of the greatest museum gold diamonds
and people, yes he was served by an army of slaves bought at auction,
strong young men who tended his fields, horses pigs cows and mines,
girls who cooked cleaned sewed, and the pretty ones who shared his bed
only until he was satisfied, for the squire had no love for girl boy
or beast
only for wealth, his art collection was judged by a price tag, he never
saw
beauty not in paintings sculpture or nature, each time the setting sun
coloured the sky he saw only gold coins while the visit of a rainbow
reminded him to check his diamond mines and count the precious stones
secured inside a steel vault. Occasionally he would stop to arrange
for
one of the pretty girls to come to his room that night, the ugly women
he avoided and made sure they performed all the heavy tasks in his castle
scrubbing all the floors washing the windows polishing silver. The squire
allowed his slaves time for work and rest only no time for play, no
social
moments no music no pets. But one of the so called ‘ugly’
working women
kept hidden a pet cat named koko, a loyal siamese which she fed and
let it
sleep beneath her bed. One day the master found the cat and sentenced
the woman to receive a whipping, as he was shouting orders to hold her
down koko leapt up at his face clawed out both his blue eyes and ran
off
with them into the bushes. The master spent many months recovering
and when he returned to once again control his domain which he now
could not see he was more ruthless and mean than before. This continued
for some time until he heard of a doctor who performed eye transplants,
and with his money he could easily buy a set of compatible eyes which
he did and accepted the fact that they were brown and not blue like
his
own and his father before him. The operation was a complete success
only he was puzzled by the fact that he discovered the meaning and feeling
of beauty, for the first time he saw the colours of rainbows, gold in
sunsets
the depth of skill in his art collection and the grace of horses, but
most of
all the squire was surprised when he saw his slaves as fellow humans
and
no longer erected divisions between pretty and ugly. Whilst he had to
accept what he observed he couldn’t understand why, why he saw
floating
clouds majestic trees noticed for the first time dew on the rose and
even tears
staining the faces of his weary workers. Only the doctor understood
but would never disclose due to his oath, no he would never reveal those
eyes now seeing the world through the master were taken from the body
of koko’s owner who died, never having recovered from the whipping.
Even illusions can be cloned
She never complained screamed squirmed
didn’t bleed when he cut her in half
razor tungsten steel saw, teeth
from the jaws of a white pointer, illusion
from the tendons of manouvering eyes
manufactured in the sweatshops of the mind.
Maple oak and willow roots ground whaling ships,
harpoons boomerang to pin the hunters
upon the galley notice board,
who reads obituaries?
even illusions in print adjust the social dial.
Auditory echoes of oil soaked swans to the deaf
camel trader remain a mirage, but not the preacher
never shutting his sweatshop
chats to God on the park bench,
the ugly sister applies lip gloss
to the fairest of them all in the mirror
unaware frogs bearing gifts wait in line.
They cheer beneath the big top lusting for the cut,
she will be cloned for tomorrows performance
won’t bleed, to the virgin now a child can be born.
Once upon a time
We all possess once upon a time ------ mine;
once upon a time when the road was my world
a stranger stopped, an ancient man who shared
his lunch and story; once upon a time he said
my days of youth ran free where even birds
of stone whistled from iron trees and all was
make believe until one day I held all day a girl
who lay in my arms and told me her secret how
once upon a time when as a child she climbed
with her father the highest mountain and on his
shoulders she went even higher until her fingers
touched the velvet skin of clouds and her father
spoke of the green forest where once upon a time
his grandfather revealed the way to tame with
words the angry wolf and play hide and seek
with rabbits and his grandfather told him how
once upon a time when he was small his mother
taught him how to bake bread and tasty scones
and in the warm kitchen eating fresh bread with
butter and laughter she said once upon a time
when I was full of youth and princess dreams
I lay all day in the arms of a handsome boy who
kissed and rolled with me in a field of love until
the moon sent down a black stallion to take him
away, then later in sleep a roving gypsy came to
my room and read my fortune in the tarot cards;
one day the gypsy said a pretty girl with your face
and your blood will lie all day in the arms of a boy
then with the sun she will leave and never return.
Love stokes the fire of our solitude with coals mined
from the reminiscent hills of our once upon a time.