one_almost_might.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>One Almost Might by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>One Almost Might/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Wouldn’t you say,br /> Wouldn’t you say: one day,br /> With a little more time or a little more patience, one mightbr /> Disentangle for separate, […]
nursery_rhyme_for_a_twenty_first_birthday.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Nursery Rhyme For A Twenty-First Birthday by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Nursery Rhyme For A Twenty-First Birthday/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>You cannot see the walls that divide your handbr /> From his or hers or mine when you think you […]
Not Love Perhaps
This is not Love perhaps – Love that lays down Its life, that many waters cannot quench, nor the floods drown, – But something written in lighter ink, said in a lower tone; Something perhaps especially our own: A need at times to be together and talk – And then the finding we […]
night_piece.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Night Piece by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Night Piece/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Climb, claim your shelf-room, farbr /> Packed from inquisitive moonbr /> And cold contagious stars./p> p>Lean out, but look no longer,br /> No further, than to stirbr /> […]
never.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Never by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Never/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Suddenly, desperatelybr /> I thought, “No, neverbr /> In millions of minutesbr /> Can I for one secondbr /> Calm-leaving my own selfbr /> Like clothes on a chair-backbr /> […]
music.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Music by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Music/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>This shape without space,br /> This pattern without stuff,br /> This stream without dimensionbr /> Surrounds us, flows through us,br /> But leaves no mark./p> p>This message without meaning,br /> […]
meeting.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Meeting by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Meeting/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Dogs take new friends abruptly and by smell,br /> Cats’ meetings are neat, tactual, caressive.br /> Monkeys exchange their fleas before they speak.br /> Snakes, no doubt, coil by coil […]
last_word_to_childhood.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Last Word To Childhood by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Last Word To Childhood/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Ice-cold fear has slowly decreasedbr /> As my bones have grown, my height increased.br /> Though I shiver in snow of dreams, I shall […]
june_sick_room.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>June Sick Room by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>June Sick Room/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>The birds’ shrill flutingbr /> Beats on the pink blind,br /> Pierces the pink blindbr /> At whose edge fumble the sun’sbr /> Fingers till one […]
houses.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Houses by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Houses/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>People who are afraid of themselvesbr /> Multiply themselves into familiesbr /> And so divide themselvesbr /> And so become less afraid./p> p>People who might have to go outbr /> […]
flight_of_stairs.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Flight Of Stairs by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Flight Of Stairs/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Stairs fly as straight as hawks;br /> Or else in spirals, curve out of curve, pausingbr /> At a ledge to poise their wings before relaunching.br […]
epitaph_on_a_disturber_of_his_times.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Epitaph On A Disturber Of His Times by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Epitaph On A Disturber Of His Times/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>We expected the violin’s finger on the upturned nerve;br /> Its importunate cry, too laxly curved:br /> And […]
empty_room.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Empty Room by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Empty Room/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>The clock disserts on punctuation, syntax.br /> The clock’s voice, thin and dry, asserts, repeats.br /> The clock insists: a lecturer demonstrating,br /> Loudly, with finger raised, when […]
earthfast.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Earthfast by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Earthfast/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Architects plant their imagination, weld their poems on rock,br /> Clamp them to the skidding rim of the world and anchor them down to its core;br /> Leave more than […]
don_juan.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Don Juan by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Don Juan/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Under the lips and limbs, the embraces, faces,br /> Under the sharp circumference, the brightness,br /> Under the fence of shadows,br /> Is something I am seeking;br /> […]
discovery.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Discovery by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Discovery/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>When you are slightly drunkbr /> Things are so close, so friendly.br /> The road asks to be walked upon,br /> The road rewards you for walkingbr /> With firm […]
day_dream.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Day Dream by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Day Dream/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>One day people will touch and talk perhapsbr /> easily,br /> And loving be natural as breathing and warm asbr /> sunlight,br /> And people will untie themselves, […]
cocoon_for_a_skeleton.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Cocoon For A Skeleton by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Cocoon For A Skeleton/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Clothes: to composebr /> The furtive, lonebr /> Pillar of bonebr /> To some repose./p> p>To let hands shirkbr /> Utterance behindbr /> A […]
cinema_screen.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Cinema Screen by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Cinema Screen/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Light’s patterns freeze:br /> Frost on our faces.br /> Light’s pollen siftsbr /> Through the lids of our eyes …/p> p>Light sinks and rustsbr /> In water; is […]
chaplin.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Chaplin by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Chaplin/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>The sun, a heavy spider, spins in the thirsty sky.br /> The wind hides under cactus leaves, in doorway corners. Only the wry/p> p>Small shadow accompanies Hamlet-Petrouchka’s march; the slightbr […]
Cats by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond
Cats by Arthur Seymour John Tessimond Cats no less liquid than their shadows Offer no angles to the wind. They slip, diminished, neat through loopholes Less than themselves; will not be pinned To rules or routes for journeys; counter Attack with non-resistance; twist Enticing through the curving fingers And leave an angered empty fist. […]
black_on_black.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Black On Black by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Black On Black/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Serrations of chimneysbr /> Stone-black perforatebr /> Velvet-black dark.br /> A tree coils in core of darkness.br /> My swingingbr /> Handsbr /> Incise the night.br […]
black_morning_lovesong.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Black Morning Lovesong by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Black Morning Lovesong/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>In love’s dances, in love’s dancesbr /> One retreats and one advances,br /> One grows warmer and one colder,br /> One more hesitant, one bolder.br /> […]
birch_tree.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Birch Tree by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Birch Tree/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>The birch tree in winterbr /> Leaning over the secret poolbr /> Is Narcissus in lovebr /> With the slight white branches,br /> The slim trunk,br /> In […]
betrayal.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Betrayal by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Betrayal/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>If a man says half himself in the light, adroitbr /> Way a tune shakes into equilibrium,br /> Or approximates to a note that never comes:/p> p>Says half himself in […]
bells_pool_and_sleep.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Bells, Pool And Sleep by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Bells, Pool And Sleep/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>Bells overbrim with soundbr /> And spread from cupolasbr /> Out through the shaking airbr /> Endless unbreaking circlesbr /> Cool and clear as […]
attack_on_the_ad_man.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Attack On The Ad-Man by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Attack On The Ad-Man/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>This trumpeter of nothingness, employedbr /> To keep our reason dull and null and void.br /> This man of wind and froth and flux […]
any_man_speaks.html
!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Any Man Speaks by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Any Man Speaks/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>I, after difficult entry through my mother’s bloodbr /> And stumbling childhood (hitting my head against the world);br /> I, intricate, easily unshipped, untracked, unaligned;br /> […]
Eveleen’s Bower by Thomas Moore
Oh! weep for the hour, When to Eveleen’s bower, The Lord of the Valley with false vows came; The moon hid her light, From the heavens that night, And wept behind her clouds o’er the maiden’s shame. The clouds pass’d soon From the chaste cold moon, And heaven smiled again with her vestal flame; But […]
Erin! The Tear and the Smile in Thine Eyes by Thomas Moore
Erin! the tear and the smile in thine eyes Blend like the rainbow that hangs in thy skies, Shining through sorrow’s stream, Saddening through pleasure’s beam, Thy suns with doubtful gleam, Weep while they rise. Erin, thy silent tear never shall cease, Erin, thy languid smile ne’er shall increase, Till, like the rainbow’s light, Thy […]
Erin, Oh Erin by Thomas Moore
Like the bright lamp, that shone in Kildare’s holy fane, And burn’d through long ages of darkness and storm, Is the heart that sorrows have frown’d on in vain, Whose spirit outlives them, unfading and warm. Erin, oh Erin, thus bright through the tears Of a long night of bondage, thy spirit appears. The nations […]
Enigma by Thomas Moore
Come riddle-me-ree, come riddle-me-ree, And tell me, what my name may be. I am nearly one hundred and thirty years old, And therefore no chicken, as you may suppose; — Though a dwarf in my youth (as my nurses have told), I have, ev’ry year since, been outgrowing my clothes; Till, at last, such a […]
Echo by Thomas Moore
How sweet the answer Echo makes To music at night, When, roused by lute or horn, she wakes, And far away, o’er lawns and lakes, Goes answering light. Yet Love hath echoes truer far, And far more sweet, Than e’er beneath the moonlight’s star, Of horn or lute, or soft guitar, The songs repeat. ‘Tis […]
Drink To Her by Thomas Moore
Drink to her who long Hath waked the poet’s sigh, The girl who gave to song What gold could never buy. Oh! woman’s heart was made For minstrel hands alone; By other fingers play’d, It yields not half the tone. Then here’s to her who long Hath waked the poet’s sigh, The girl who gave […]
Drink of This Cup by Thomas Moore
Drink of this cup; — you’ll find there’s a spell in Its every drop ‘gainst the ills of mortality; Talk of the cordial that sparkled for Helen; Her cup was a fiction, but this is reality. Would you forget the dark world we are in Just taste of the bubble that gleams on the top […]
Did Not by Thomas Moore
‘Twas a new feeling; something more Than we had dared to own before, Which then we hid not; We saw it in each other’s eye, And wished, in every half-breathed sigh, To speak, but did not. She felt my lips’ impassioned touch; ‘Twas the first time I dared so much, And yet she chid not; […]
Dialogue Between a Sovereign and a One-Pound Note by Thomas Moore
Said a Sov’reign to a Note, In the pocket of my coat, Where they met in a neat purse of leather, “How happens it, I prithee, That though I’m wedded with thee, Fair Pound, we can never live together? Like your sex, fond of change, With silver you can range, And of lots of young […]
Desmond’s Song by Thomas Moore
By the Feal’s wave benighted, No star in the skies, To thy door by Love lighted, I first saw those eyes. Some voice whisper’d o’er me, As the threshold I cross’d, There was ruin before me, If I loved, I was lost. Love came, and brought sorrow Too soon in his train; Yet so sweet, […]
Dear Harp of my Country by Thomas Moore
Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee, The cold chain of Silence had hung o’er thee long. When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee, And gave all thy chords to light, freedom, and song. The warm lay of love and the light note of gladness Have waken’d thy fondest, thy […]
Cotton and Corn by Thomas Moore
Said Cotton to Corn, t’other day, As they met and exchang’d salute– (Squire Corn in his carriage so gay, Poor Cotton, half famish’d on foot): “Great Squire, if it isn’t uncivil To hint at starvation before you, Look down on a poor hungry devil, And give him some bread, I implore you!” Quoth Corn, then, […]