Poetry

Apocalypse 4

The doctor pointed at a path and gate.

The Gwenfro went along toward the sea.

The path along the shore led to the boat

From there, we would set sail, apparently

Without restrictions of a place or port

Without dry land, nation, community.

There, homeless men around a fire stood

Warming their hands, turning as I approached.

My master joined them by the open barrel

Black silhouettes around the tongues of fire

“These were the voice of God to the people;

These men are Amos, Enoch, Jeremiah

The prophets come first, and leave before trouble

Because they hear and carry divine law

And we are, too.” They did not say a word,

But moved with us with the call to get on board.

I think we were set loose in dissolution

Of land and safety, safe behind the wall

Of that old relic ship. I asked this question:

“Those men were ignorant, you, King of all,

Should interest them, men of their profession,

But they were blind,” and he said: “They saw well.

But you, do you think I’m stood by you alone?

Each sees me, intimately on his own.

“The way we came and that gate that you took

Is yours alone, like all the good and evil

Which you have done, and how you made your mark

Are all entirely private; like your navel

And the navel of the entire world framework

Reside in the same spot. And I am able

To be for you entirely and for them,

In Wales or in distant Jerusalem.

“Be calm, and resolute, and be content

I will look after you,” he turned to face

The way the water lead in its movement:

“On land again, all time will become space

We walk toward the end by our intent

Toward the start point of the human race

And further yet, us two, to the big bang

So called, from which time and creation spring.”

A compass tells a mariner where north is

Its needle points along the lines

Which head toward the top and central axis

Of this Earth. Make a compass by these means:

A finely shaped metallic strip, ferrous

Which magnetically grips on other irons,

Suspended on a point, inside a case,

Protected to move freely, behind glass.

To know where you are going, devise maps

Recording features of the coast and land.

You need a magnifying scope perhaps

To help the eye what lies at hand.

Glass can be formed and ground down into shapes

Which focus light and make the distance stand

Close by. Two lenses held close, back to back

Gather the image for the maps you make.

8 Study the sun at all times of the year

The highest that it reaches at a time

Can indicate the place on earth you are.

The angle of the sun should be the same

When latitude and when the calendar

Align. Thus, when you navigate from home

And don’t know how far north you hve made your way

Find out the date, and the sun’s high at midday.

Where you are east and west is difficult

Unless you have a clock. Again the sun

Can indicate midday for men in a boat.

The further west you go the time of noon

Will change, and that is how you navigate

Knowing the time as it is in London

And what the midday high is where you are.

Work out the difference using our star.

I lay down, Christ sat by me; I heard talk

Among the Hebrew prophets, recognised

Among those with us one Zlavoj Zizek,

The intellectual and communist.

I went to see, and saw that Houllebecq.

Zizek lisping, the other quiet, discussed

And spoke as follows: “All things were in place

For money, time was money, and business.

“No other motive pushed along those lands.

Their motto was, ‘Every thing is for sale’,

And, ‘Let’s go shopping’. This is where that ends.

Meaning and order, simple and ideal

Were nothing there, beyond the bag of coins.’

Thus Zizek shouted over the wind howl,

And both of them, the last gasp of the true

Were ferried onward in our dead doomed crew.

“Rest now and sleep,” my master said to me.

“Tomorrow at landfall we’ll be prepared

For seeing what you did not get to see

In lived experience, things that kill heart

But must be known and done. The heavenly

Which comes when we have gone back to the start

Needs pure intelligence and honesty

For which our pilgrimage makes you ready.”

At morning, when I woke, I could see coast

Like a peninsula at Greece or Athos

Where I had been in youth and at my cost.

The man steering the boat shouted out thus:

“When James and John wanted to rule with Christ

One on his left and one his right sat down, this,

What they would rule is right before us here

The kingdom of this world all dark and drear.”

He looked at me, and also at my lord.

“I thought that I alone could see your shape?”

I said, and he: “And that is still my word.”

“I see the Lord beside you in the light

Of energy of God flowing on board

The unforgettable and uncreate.

I am him who they called St Symeon

The New Theologian when I had done.

“Reviving the tradition of real prayer

Monastic, vital, taking heaven by violence

With inner meditation that despair

Had made men of my time bind up in actions

And made them lose their way,” he spoke and there

The land was all before us, all distractions

But there is time to tell the things I saw

This song is finished here, but there is more.