Excerpt for In Absinthia by Vincent Moore, available in its entirety at Smashwords



In Absinthia

by

Vincent Moore





Copyright © 2011 Vincent Moore.
Smashwords Edition

Cover Design: SilverGenes Media.

Notice of Rights

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Notice of Liability

The author wishes to make it clear that any character named, described or otherwise referred to in any of the writings contained herein is purely fictional and does not represent any real person either living or dead.





Dedication

This collection of poetry is dedicated to all those writers who sit night after night, pen in hand, at the service of the muse.

Thank you to all my friends at HubPages who encouraged me with their friendship and kindness.





Contents:

A Butterfly Dream
Dreams of a Poet
The Pendulum Swings
Libertine at the Ole Pall Mall
Bring in the Clowns
The Black Rose
My Mask of Madness
My Window
The Departed
In Search Of Me
Exhausted Quill
Somewhere In Time
My Reflections
Beyond the Door
Nostradamus
These Fortress Walls
A Toast to Thee
An Old Man
Graveyard of Lost Souls
Key Bored



Back to Contents

A Butterfly Dream

I hear the rain dancing on my roof and know
it's time for me to lay my pen to rest
and walk the night streets of placid shades
of blue.

I wrap a trench around my soul
with my fedora resting tipped slightly
to the front to catch the rain that beats upon its brim
and lick a droplet to feel its wetness
on my tongue.

I step into the night to dream of capturing in flight,
the elusive blue butterfly of the rainforest
and let it work its magic healing power
on my wretched body
wracked
with pain and suffering.

Slowly, I walk the quiet streets so dimly lit
by lights of misty grey, feeling the warmth
of knowing who I am and what I was and now
prepare to welcome death as it approaches
my front door.

Stepping into a shelter, I pull a crumpled weed
from my vested pocket and find a match
to strike and light and suck the smoke
so deep as I cough it to my lungs and feel
relief for a pittance
in time.

Walking and thinking of the yesterdays
where two hearts beat as one, my Irish lass
of long ago danced with me in meadows
of sweet smelling musk touched by angels.
Trying to chase the eagle as it flew,
with our loins in heat we lost the chase
and lay ourselves down.

The dark casts shadows on the boardwalk
and the rain dances in the wind. While sliding
against a shivering moonlit night I see
my reflection in the rain as misery takes me
back to better days when writing was my life.
My hand slips, shaking into my trench to
palm the whiskey flask and bring it to my lips.
I swig the fire it provides to heat and take
away the chill from my bones,
wiping my lips with the back of my hand
while staring out to sea.

The lighthouse in the distance
with its beacon light so bright,
leads mighty ships to safety as they struggle
in the pounding reefs offshore.
Many a ship has found its grave
in the belly of the deep,
while sailors' songs can still be heard
through the crashing waves against the shore.
I know my life is ending now as I walk
through rains and storm towards my door
of paled
blue.



Back to Contents

Dreams of a Poet

The air is soft as yesteryear
upon my cracked and aged face,
where day is wearing late and dusk was so fine.
The brazen Raven haunts me
with his feathered black inviting wing,
soaring on the darkest wind
while perched under darkened moon.

Listen to the wind it whispers to me.

Half the world is on the wind of change.
If all we know of Heaven is its inviting gate
then all we need know is Hell's departure
where the good, bad and the worst meet resigned
beneath the raging darkened skies.

The wind shouts my love for thee
for the wild ride of the night
whilst I laugh aloud for love of you.
Beneath my feet lies Highland heather
abounding from hot housed dew.

Falling and rejoicing
in the stinging gales of thrills,
I leap from star to star until I see
its face, the wind in all its opulent
splendour.

I will sit in my proud tower
in my town awaiting death,
while swelling tide tells the wind
to tame or die, yet heave them to and fro
like drunken seagulls flying at will over
the blanket of stormy seas.

The journey of my soul listens
to the wind of change while I sit up
watching the rising sun and words
fall far below, swimming upon the devil's lake
of stench and sulphuric flame.
I welcome the wind, its sweet sound
and feel upon my soul.

Let it whisk me from my place and take me,
like a feather floats and glides along the path
to its eventual destination,
to a poet's desk under guided hand
to ink his last day and song of Heaven's praise
and meet his maker
down below.



Back to Contents

The Pendulum Swings

Behind the castle walls
in dungeon far below,
the cries and shrills
of tortured souls await
the pit
of pendulum’s steel.
They came as guests,
wined and dined
and fattened
for the kill,
not knowing
what awaited them -
execution
by the mighty swing
of pendulum's steel.


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