The Point of Embarkation

 

Close your eyes 

On Sun and Moon, 

And drift through vales 

Of shadowy gloom. . . 

Forget each care as you descend 

And all the troubles that attend 

Upon the tumult of the day. . . 

Let all that wearies, slip away! 

And settle, gently, into the deep 

Recesses of enfolding sleep. . . 

 

To sleep is to journey in a wooden boat 

Wrapped close, within a hooded cloak, 

With a lantern set upon the prow, 

With poppy flower, touched to the brow, 

As watched, through heavy-lidded eye, 

The shadowed banks slip slowly by, 

And all that's known by light of day 

Recedes, grows dim, then fades away, 

While without tiller, without an oar,  

You are carried toward an unknown shore. . . 

 

From beneath the willow trees 

Where waters lap amongst the reeds, 

A winding path climbs through the dark 

And up that pathway, you depart 

As fleeting thoughts, dim memories, 

Like night-bird songs drift on the breeze. . . 

With lantern shining in your hand, 

You make way through a shadow-land 

To stand, at last, in wind-blown cloak 

Before a door of iron-bound oak. . . 

 

A formless shade, at first, it seems, 

Guards the gateway to your tower of dreams   

With obscuring veil, it hides the way. . . 

Will you pass, or be turned away? 

If you remain outside the door 

There’s unconsciousness, and nothing more; 

A morning comes, a day begins, 

Much where the one before did end, 

And all rich treasures night would give 

Remain unknown, a day half-lived. . . 

 

(a work still very much in progress)

 

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© 2001, Gregory S. Hargrave (Yopo)

 

(This page is being composed in Black Chancery True Type font.  My apologies if it looks a bit plain to those not having downloaded it yet.  In my humble opinion, Black Chancery is one of the more elegant decorative fonts going, and is certainly deserving of much wider usage on the internet.  One of the many sites where Black Chancery can be downloaded is HERE.)