Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

That Falling Feeling.

Ever had that awful falling feeling
Jolted awake and bathed in sweat
Out of body and near the ceiling
Swimming the room without a net

Look down tunnels at a distant light
Stay up late afraid of the night

'Tis a terrible thing - this living fear
Of the inevitable - growing near

I’ve dreamed a dream for many nights
that fills me full of fear
a subtle spell is woven well,
a wish that I hold dear.
It is but all within my grasp
and I reach further still
But sleep eludes as day intrudes
I wake, against my will.

War came bearing destruction
cutting down love and uprooting
hope
Words were deadly and aimed to kill

Pestillence came and with a touch
all that was beautiful withered
weakened into despair

Famine made sure the needed
touch of companionship
the needed ear of friendship
the needed loyalty to hold
together in war and pestillence
were missing in action
gone in depression and darkness

Death came riding last
cutting down the last few
bonds that held together
this crumbling life built
through adversity
through hardships that proved
love can survive almost
anything

And the horsemen have come robbing
me at last of you
I see you in the arms of War
without a backward glance
having forgotten
vows and covenants
against just such a loss
Death rides on waving
the spare threads of our life
worn thin by Pestillence
tattered by Famine

waving them in victory
at a dying yellow sky

The Final Cycle

This was posted in Jan in the Chapbook section but I think the subject matter makes it appropriate here - jrh

********

The Final Cycle

Cycles spire in an endless gyre,
As life renews like a phoenix’s fire,
Always the same,
But always changing.
________

Am I in need of new images, then,
To express the changes that I see,
And if I am, What might they be?
________

How about, the "Horsemen" smirking
Above the spinning Earth.
In truth, they’re flourishing more today,
Then in their prime.....

Or could it be that now’s their time.
________

War is rampant.
New Diseases abound.
Famine is everywhere.
Death follows them around.

Not images I’d choose to embrace,
Yet, this might be their time and place.
Could the END actually be coming?
________

Prophesies of many kinds
Have said so for a long long time.
Revelations, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, and more,
The time lines on the Pyramids, the legends of folklore.


And the signs are there......
_________

Depleted forests produce NO air.
________

Polluted seas CANNOT maintain
The bounty that they once sustained.
________

War never ceases,
Only moves around,
As men find new reasons
To cut each other down.

(Not to mention new ways to kill.....everyone)
________

Diseases are surfacing
For which we have no cures.
Medicines we trusted once
Are no longer sure,
And finding new solutions is
Much harder than before.
________

Icebergs melt., and oceans rise,
Crops die and famine starts.
New tectonics threaten
To tear the world apart.
________

If this be the final cycle,
Then, let it end in style,
Whether with bang or whimper,
For this ending’s for all time.

Copyright (c) Fall 2003 by James R. Hoye

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

'And they're off!'
Scything through fields
Of pedestrian dreams

Relentless their progress
Enroute to the Plain of Esdraelon
Save for the hours they spend

Riding their mares
Through my night

fear will creep
it sneaks behind
your eye's focus

lost priorities lie,
fool, your beliefs
are lost to hope

that last trick of sanity

the nightmare demon haunting me
is my unwitting infidelity
who is this man that I desire
whose kiss enflames with lusty fire
who walks with me in rain's cool air
runs tender fingers through my hair
strong hands so gently cup my cheek
and cause my swelling breasts to peak
who comes to me without invite
anonymous in dark of night
whose strange and yet familiar face
each visit retreats back a pace
when I would look more closely still
to see who steals my love, my will
what phantom this I sometimes find
within the shadows of my mind

Soon they approach, my brothers.
I hear the neighing of the pale.
Darkness tricks the mind to sleeping,
but in my dreams I am prepared.
Softly blood runs through my fingers
in a landscape of betrayal.
Soon they come, my willful brothers,
and together we will go the way
of knowledge born, transgressions saved
for this the judgment day.

Listen ~ hoofbeats
in the distance
drumming, thrumming,
coming our way
Beware
Prepare
Four steeds mounted
by terrifying riders
single-file, paced
with time between them
only to despair
Nightmare
specters with dread purpose
apocalyptic precursors
of far worse
purveyors of Conquest, War
Famine and...
we will pray for Death
before he arrives
No one gets out alive

Crash against eardrums,
hammers inside
rhyming with reasons
of murder and wrath.
Call to the fire -
breathing brimstone
and smoke coming out
where only passion should burn.
This here is madness,
close to the brim,
and even as we speak
the war cry only sleeps
subsurface while dreaming.

i will not flee
but stand for attack
the Angel of Hope
is at my back
the Angel of Love
waits by my side
while the fearsome four
mount up to ride

come on, ye demons
don't tarry long
my sword is sharp
my faith is strong
i do not fear
all will be well
Armageddon's end
sends you back to hell

For thus it is
to protect the hand
from an errant edge
twist spin and again
shine through windows of the soul
confuse the heart and mind.

And too—to write upon
an ancient art
carved point, groove and hollow
to cushion soft the liquid lines
pour forth a scarlet sea
from an ocean vein.

To serve, to protect
a turn of phrase, fear the word
from tongue's loosened grip
let it lie awash with meaning
drying slowly into darkness
as we stare into its heart.

a concerto
to see you through,
a divine coda to lift
you lightly
into a brighter night.
piano four hands
to assuage the madness
of money gone bad.
an elegy
spoken in strings
to sooth the dying.
even a falsetto,
if time permits,
to grip your heart
in soar.
these guns
you hear,
they are tempered
with a fourth,
a fifth
in legato care.
imagine the clef,
curlicue pretty,
taking you away
from all that burns,
six hundred & eighty notes
to carry you on your way.

The Cat Speaks

my cat whispered war
and it shattered
earth on dark hooves

she spoke famine
all fell and begged
for scraps

indifferently she purred pestilence
and disease casually
touched all he passed

drifting to sleep
she sighed death
and each in turn
were taken

A layer of glass
covered the blue
crystal water
while a child
waved from the flowery shore,
my child,
lost to traffic,
dead to this world,
alive somewhere
beyond me.

When we fall to armor lost
and the world forgets to trust,
then see him riding in our midst
and know he's calling us.

When the night is lasting longer
and paranoia's grip is getting stronger.
Cover your mouths as he rides on by,
burn the bodies without goodbye.

When the strong grow stronger yet
and the future has been set.
See him ride by bloated bellies
flashing feral teeth in joy.

When you face eternal slumber
know the days were always numbered.
Close your eyes as he rides on
and know the blame's your own.