Ides of March

Languished in imperial robe,
with precious amethyst trimmed,
hands clap impatiently
for Nubian slave to pamper them
with plump Etruscan grapes,
blood-red wine,
figs and pomegranates

The two, in regal lavender attired,
lips now stained crimson,
reminisce as soldiers.
Proud victories in Gaul
and triumph over Pharsalus.

A rendezvous agreed
in Pompey's theatre,
one rises, gives salute,
prepares to leave

Unconsciously, his hand
slips toward his scabbard,
his thoughts to future glory;
nobility and riches
when the deed is done.

On his left temple
A single vein throbs,
Purple

P.J. Murphy
(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

Note: This was an entry for one of a series of Allpoetry.com contests with colour themes, this one being 'Purple' 

Julies Caesar was murdered on the 15th March (The Ides of March) by his friend Brutus and others. This piece depicts Brutus' final meeting with Caesar, sharing his friendship and wine, but with treachery and murder in his heart


 

5am Semi-conscious Burlesque

The Gladiator righteously professes my disdain
Episcopal aloof both sacriligeous and profane
With serpentine precision searing hollow in my brain
Sorrow is sublime, but uneventful

Valentino and his mistresses flamboyantly carouse
With Freudian abandon bring Narcissus to their house
While Cleopatra makes a move on Oedipus' spouse
Plato is suspicious and resentful

Geronimo commands his tribe to dance and pray for rain
Noah shrugs his shoulders and prepares the Ark again
Maupassant protests that he is really not insane
P.T. Barnum just makes sure he has his tent full.


https://pjmurphypoems.blogspot.com

Praefectus Iudaeorum

He troubles me, this Nazarene,
His humble words do not accord
with anarchy or insurrection
yet these others call him Lord.

He speaks no hate for Caesar's Rome,
Yet Jews would have me crucify
This man who's calm serenity
Does Judas' calumny belie

Were't not for the Sanhedrin's ire
My Prefecture would stay it's hand
and send this strange but gentle man
to exile in Judaic land

But yet they bay and thirst for blood
"He Blashphemeth", rabble cries
These Jews hold no respect for Rome
Their hatred for Him mystifies

I thought their anger would appease
Once I had sent Him to be scourged
But with His bloody body shown
"He must be crucified" they urged.

I think myself a humane man
I view their bloodlust with distaste
I wash my hands of local laws
But bitterly decry this waste ...

~ ~ ~

And now my days are numbered short
I wander, and my eyes grow dim
I pray to Pluto, as I should ...
And yet my thoughts are fixed on Him

~ ~ ~


This was written for an AllPoetry contest "Close Encounters with Jesus",  where the task was to write a rhyming poem in the first person from the perspective of someone who met Jesus, giving their feelings and reactions to the meeting, and to the situation. It won Silver for second placing.

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty       P.J. Murphy

In the sorrow of your smile
I wandered for a while
wistful, wishful, heart-concealed
in the bitter of your tear
I washed away my fear
flesh and spirit nakedly revealed

To the silver of your speech
I listen, as you teach
wisdom pouring from your honey-lip
in the comfort of your breast
I lay my soul to rest
as deep into oblivion I slip

From the golden of the dawn
is your sleeping beauty drawn
the soft perfection of the waking sun
in the amber of your eyes
I find, to my surprise
the joy and sorrow of the world are one

P.J. Murphy

Copyright ©2004 P.J. Murphy

Website: pjmurphypoems.blogspot.com

You Know Who I Am

Commanding the stage 

and the fine musicians 

bestowed with the honour 

of accenting your wisdom 

you spill your honeyed words 

into our eager consciousness s

erenely smiling like a holy man 

In your seventy-fifth year 

you sing your psalms and stories 

with the voice of a God 

but soothing now, no questions asked 

but an acceptance that there are no answers 

You were the crutch, t

he mainstay of my thoughtful youth 

a comforting validation 

that someone more austere than I 

could strip away veneer 

and see the sewers and the sunsets 

the sinner and the sainted 

and cosset them in blankets of words 

rendering them timeless 

Thank you, Leonard.

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Queen of Ghosts

Triumvirate Deity, exalted by Zeus,
Hekate Queen of Ghosts am I,
Goddess of moonlight and magick,
Protectress of the wilderness

In Phrygia and Lagina
devout acolytes pay homage yet;
the lost and the swollen pray
for safe deliverance; safe delivery

Favouring ever my faithful,
sorcerers and necromancers
beseech favour: howling hounds
herald my intercessions

Wary traveller lost, receives
Divine guidance at crossed road,
Titan torch throws illumination
to light the righteous path

Queen of the Night, traversing
that precipice betwixt the worlds;
nourished by obeisant offerings
lost souls I steer to Hades' haven

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moving finger writes...

( Containing a line from Theodore Roethke )

I have tried to write my life's story
dynamically, as it unfolds
from early childhood memories
Warm and cossetted, cold and scared
through aching adolescence
with hopes and dreams
First loves, lifelong friends
and shatterred illusions
then adult years, struggles and drudgery
joys of true love, new adventures
Unbounded miracles of fatherhood
with all of it's accompanying terrors

A work-in-progress, no rush to final chapter
I hope for many pages yet to flow
but "I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils"
No editorial control on these flowing lines
but pushed by unseen force to write this chronicle
with no eraser, no choice to reconstruct
events a Cosmic Author has prescribed
And as the graphite, piece by piece is broken
and the pencil pared to useless stub
I know the inevitable hour will come
A new pencil sharpened for a new page
Another narrative, another voyage

( Entered for a 'Stolen Lines' contest )

(c) P.J. Murphy, 2005

Ildeth of Sodom

She stands there yet
Ashen, immobilised
Sees only iridiscent flash
Feels still the blast of white-heat
Hears angel’s warning, echo
Unrelenting down the foggy years
Yearns for her family
Long departed
Sheds a salt tear

Unnoticed

P.J. Murphy
(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

( Ildeth, to the best of my knowledge and research, was the name of Lot's wife, who was turned to a 'pillar of salt' for turning to look back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, despite the Angel's warning )

Note: This was an entry for one of a series of Allpoetry.com contests with colour themes, this one being 'White'

Crimson Beau

Brick-red
with embarrassment
He stood at my door.
Holding flowers for my daughter
sweetmeats for her mother...
for me, only effusive politeness
( though I did appreciate
the superhuman efforts made
in this obviously unfamiliar territory ).

Herself, fashionably late
adding to his discomfort,
I, taking pity, opened musical conversation.
Patently surprising him
with my knowledge and appreciation
of Incubus, Greenday, Primus,
we arranged exchange of latest releases.
He, more comfortable now,
relaxed, healthy pallor
returning to his cheeks.

The Vision appeared,
conversation stemmed mid-flow.
Goodbyes and pleasantries hastily exchanged
as he escorted her to waiting carriage.

Brick-red with pride.

P.J. Murphy
(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

Note: This was an entry for one of a series of Allpoetry.com contests with colour themes, this one being 'Brick-Red'

Flamingo Surprise

Like fledgling flamingos they roll
blushing, giggling, playful.
Nearly-naked, clothes strewn anywhere
they play their new-lovers games.

Tawny limbs in impossible tangles,
rolling over obstacles unnoticed
as they traverse the coral seas
of the once pure woolen carpet -

- a salmon canvas for their abstract art.
Skins carnation blush as rush of blood
Flushes to populate the vessels of erogeneity
carmine lips nibble fleshy lobe

Laughter uncontrolled, unrestrained
a cacophony as pink bodies squirm and writhe
presently the laughing will subside
as Rosy Nature urges solemn lusty purpose

Lights go up
the freeze-frame shows
two flamingos
Tickled pink.

P.J. Murphy
(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

Note: This was an entry for one of a series of Allpoetry.com contests with colour themes, this one being 'Pink'

Cloud Nine Dilemma

My love she is a seraphim
immaculate, unblemished, pure -
visions of her alabaster skin
nourish like mother's milk.
A lamb in white wolf's clothing,
I howl at her pearly gates
for just one lightning glimpse of
that porcelain profile,
that champagne hair of sheerest silk,
that frosted ivory smile....

But she bids me not enter.

Do I charge these nacre gates
Crashing down her chalked pillars -
a White Knight astride his snowy steed
claiming his gleaming trophy?
Or remain forever frozen and forlorn
transparent, cowardly, defeated
Brandishing my flag
of Surrender?

P.J. Murphy (c) P.J. Murphy 2005 Note: This was an entry for one of a series of Allpoetry.com contests with colour themes, this one being 'White'

Easter childhood naivete

Memory of paschal purple.
Fat candle lit on lenten alter.
Pennies for St. Anthony's box
and light a candle for a soul.
Glow of piety tastes sweeter
than the sacrificed confections

Stations of the cross
feeling the pain of the thorns
on this poor scourged Man
The weight of the wood
bearing heavy on 9-year-old shoulders
as I fall for a third time

Confession in the drab mornings
early before school
Purge the dastardly sins.
Lies, deceit and disobedience,
selfishness and greed
He died for these,
for my transgressions

Palm strewn church entrance
"Hosanna in the highest..."
but I know how this will end
Why do they celebrate?
Wednesday's heinous betrayal
leading to that calamitous Friday

Kiss the feet on the cross
return to kneel and pray
Wait until the crowd has gone
Perhaps they'll find me dead here
my pure soul ascended straight to heaven
Like the story the nun's told

Easter Sunday - he has risen!
Triple mass - two stoic hours
No hurry home for Easter eggs
I know that my redeemer liveth
and sins are banished
and souls are cleansed

P.J. Murphy 
(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

Suffer little Children...

What would Jesus have to say ...

about a world where wealth is king
compassion a forgotten thing
where powermongers rant and lie
and somewhere else their victims die

Aids and Famine ravage lands..
they fill their avaricious hands
pay lip-service to the ones in need
while worshipping the fruits of greed

Their war-chests with no questions filled
ensure more innocents are killed
diseased young children gasp for breath
but money must be spent on death

Remember, God is on our side
forget about the ones who've died
... I know exactly what He'd say..

"It's all my fault
For not calling a halt
to that whole goddamn
Crucifixion"


Note: This was an entry ( http://allpoetry.com/Poem/1326215 ) for an AllPoetry.Com competition on the subject of AIDS/Third World poverty.

Please don't take the final lines as profanity, they are merely a personal vision of the frustration of a Son of God who might wonder why He gave up His life to save the world, only to look down now on a world which doesn't give-a-shit. There is a line in the Bible where Christ says "Suffer little children to come unto me....". I really don't think this is what he meant.

P.J. Murphy
(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

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In Vino Veritas

Funny thing is, I'd never even tasted it,
but Chartreuse was the first thing that came to mind,
looking up in my half-awakened state
at four or five yellow-green translucent beings
seeming to hover over the metallic table on which I lay.
Sounds ( presumably voices )
in a pitch I couldn't quite pin down -
vibrato, sometimes off the scale completely
but with a benign, not hostile tone.

My body numb, but not hospital-numb,
more a 'too much green liquor' floating sensation.
Futuristic diodes pointing fading honey-lime light
at various parts of my anatomy
indicated probing of some kind had taken place,
though I felt no pain or discomfort.
And their soothing Carthusian monk-chant
sounded like they were concerned, caring

... Anyways, there was an explosive firework sensation,
next thing I'm back in my car at the side of the road.
Dark as pitch, but somehow a tinge of luminous green
seeming to emanate from me, but fading.
Of course, no-one believed me, still don't,
so I don't talk about it anymore.

But since you asked, I had to explain
that I keep this bottle
for remembrance, not consumption.
Won't you have something else instead?
Creme-de-Menthe?  Benedictine?

(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

Note: This was an entry for one of a series of Allpoetry.com contests with colour themes, this one being 'Chartreuse'

The Sorest Loser (with apologies to Roget)

Betweeen the devil and the cobalt sea
I seem dismally to be.

Bawdy, ribald obscenities hide
disconsolate, melancholy thoughts.

Though I've cried
'till I'm gorgonzola in the face,
never in a sapphire moon
will you agree to take your place
as my "something borrowed" bride.

As your preference is to swoon
over those ultra marine and navy guys.

I gaze with peril into those
averted forget-me-not eyes
and sadly whisper
"...Beryl"

P.J. Murphy
(c) P.J. Murphy 2005

Note: This was a tongue-in-cheek entry for one of a series of AllPoetry.Com contests, where the themes were colours ( this one being Blue ) www.guitarsongs.info

Time Space Continuum

In another town, another country
She sits, cross-legged on the parquet
Smiling as she reads an email from her son
on the laptop he bought for her birthday

Presently she'll go out to the porch,
read a book, put her earphones on
He wonders if she still likes Steinbeck
or plays Cohen, maybe Doctor John

In a corner of her memory
do they still walk that raindrenched pier?
In a corner of her heart is there a flame,
In a corner of her eye a budding tear?

For that frozen moment when the Gods
Capricious, callous and perverse
Decree a storm of words, a thunderbolt
Thus sundering the universe

He doesn't know her mail address
Her son's called Ben, or is it Steve?
He could look her number up, I guess
But what the hell would that achieve?

Slice of life from another time
Before the new world would begin
Are her memories still shrinkwrapped
Or grown stale and powder-thin?

In another parallel existence
Are their hands and destinies entwined
In some futuristic astral plane
Is her soul with his aligned?

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