Gardens Of Babylon 2023

UNIVERSAL - A poem by Mike Waterson

 

That's my heartbeat there 

Or the pulse of the universe

After all we are infinite and matter

And this imperfect life could be much worse.

 

Faces in profile looming like ghouls at play

Would be sinister if they weren't so glum

The mysteries of the ancients in mud and clay

I am not obliged to be frightened of them

 

Faith has it's place but I know love is more than

shapes on a page, phrases and metaphor

My craft has the power to mould, define and transform

Your cross is my hashtag, my woven dream-catcher

 

Vincent and Paul in their yellow house clash

Sunflowers and stars around them crash

They were creating a conflicted legacy

The endless argument lives on in me

 

With chains and ropes wrapped round the frame

anchor down, The ship, dead in the water

But you cannot manacle me with sea, salt and shame

 I rise from the waves, like Poseidon's daughter.

 

This is the sound of the universe within and around me

This is paint on canvas, the shapes and colours of life's symphony.