Dustin Lee (Sheppard) Harper
SILENCE,
WITH YOU, FOR
HOURS UNBROKEN,
ALL THESE WORDS UNSPOKEN
EMBRACING,
EACH TO EACH
YOUR WOLDS AND MINE
THOSE VISIONS THAT I CANNOT KEN...
UNTIL WE TOUCH
EMBRACING NIGHTS, NOW AS THEN
THESE GILDED MALEVOLENT CARRIAGES;
PAST-
AND GLANCES SO LIKE SHADOWS CAST-
STILL, THESE HOURS,
DO NOT DOUBT THE LABOURS
I HAVE UNDERTAKEN
TO STAY LIKE THIS WITH YOU.
TOO FAR ABACK HAS CARRIED ME
FOUND MYSELF AWASH
IN SOME WAKING DREAM WITH YOU.
WAS THERE, TOO.
THE CONSECRATION,
THE AGONY OF LAST ELATION
I SHOULD HAVE RUN.
I SHOULD HAVE RUN,
KNOWING WHAT I KNEW
BUT LABORED WORDS CANNOT CONTAIN
THE CONSEQUENCE, NOR HELING, PAIN
THIS INK-STAINED PAGE
CANNOT RELAY
THAT WHICH THE SOUL'S PASSED THRU.
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I BREATHED
PURE CORRUPTION AGAINST YOU;
YOUR SKIN?
YOU SHOULD BE MINE.
HOW MANY DRAUGHTS OF COLD AIR
COULD HAVE COERCED YOU
I HAVE LOVED,
EV'RY MOMENT. EV'RY SECOND-
SHOULD I BE WITH YOU,
YOUR VISION, REFUGE
YOUR SILENT FORTITUDE
HAS CRUSHED IN ME AND CRUSHED
ME,
ALL FEARS, ESCAPE FOREGONE-HENCE,
I KNOW THAT WHAT YOU BEAR TO ME,
AT THE MOMENT, SUPERFICIAL;
TREACHEROUS, SHOULD,
IN TIME,
BECOME,
BORNE FULL-
AS IS MINE,
THIS REDUNDANCE, THIS
SWEET LOVE OF LOVE...
WERE YOU MINE.
WERE YOU MINE.
WERE YOU MINE.
--MARCH, 1997.
I CANNOT RESENT YOUR
MAYBE NEWFOUND LIFE.
SO FORGIVE ME THIS TRESPASS
OF THOUGHT.
GIVEN.
I WOULD NOT TURN YOU OUT THIS TIME.
FOR NOW I KNOW YOU JUST FROM SIGHT
AND SOUND AND WOULD NOT BETRAY
I KNOW YOUR MISERY IS MINE.
OR HAD YOU NOT BECOME...
A GENTLER WAY.
A TURN AND SUDDEN LONGING
SO LIKE.
FORGIVE...
BUT NOT FORGET.
--1994
ITS SILKEN APPREHENSION,
A SUDDEN SINKING
IN YOUR GAZE,
A TRANSIT TO
THE PARADISE SO OFTEN LAID BEFORE ME,
THAT EDEN THAT I CANNOT HOLD.
THE DELIRIOUS QUESTION RACKS
MY MIND; YET FINDS ME
SILENT STILL--
DISSIPATE, RAGING,
REFLECTION'S FURY
TURNS OBSESSION
FORTHWITH, MORE TO
TORPOR, OR, MORE DISJOINT,
A KIND OF AMOR, DESULTORY ELECTRIC...
AS FANCY
TURNS NOT KINDLY NOW
TOWARD THE PAST;
INSTEAD, ABSORBS
THAT CHIMERA, "POTENTIAL"
OF DISTANT, DREAMING TIMES;
FINDS THERE MY HEART, AND YOU...
--FEBRUARY, 1997.
Where was I when I needed you most
crying over last night and it's envies' ghosts
There's this misconception, now, that I don't know
what's good for me and ti's got to go...
How do I ever forget where I am
What is there in me in a wicked stance
That makes me want to know just where I stand
It's a scary situation and a matter of time
just sitting integrating these same tired lines
Rotting away underneath these four walls
People talkin' to me telling what I recall
How do I ever forget where I am
What is there in me in a wicked stance
That makes me want to know just where I stand
So I'm selling my suitcase and I'm packing...