Gallop, gallop thy white horses, O Sea,
Forever o’er thy boundless blue domain.
Carthage and Rome with galley and cav’lry
Fast sought the everlasting flame in vain
But to fall, blind of vision, in ev’ry land,
Leaving the torch of fame still in thy hand.
Nations, like seasons, hold their sway and die,
Dead leaves of history upon the shore
Of time, where naught endures for eternity
Save a mirage on the desert of yore,
A memory of past glory upon sand,
Whilst thou ever beat, O Sea, against the strand.
Knights, princes, countless kings to come, may all,
Like those before, display their battle fame,
Bards with songs of life and love enthrall,
Wise men their theories and theses frame,
But none, O Sea, for long will bear the brand
Beside thee, face to face or hand in hand.
All here to play, win or lose life’s game
Life is a shot fir’d, a fire kindled, snuff’d.
O destiny, O Despair, O the shame
That there should remain but the fallen dust
Of life’s caravans crossing the earth’s face
From naught into the nothingness of space.
Gallop, gallop thy white horses, O Sea:
Charging the rugged gray rocks of the shore;
Here thou wert and here thou shalt ever be
Steadfast till the end of time and e’er more.
A Stone Awaiting Change of Identity
A stone awaiting change of id’ntity
In the giant boulder mountains of time
Norn Mother tempered right my entity
By adding water and a breath to lime
There I was promised a lift to parad’se
By the Word of God in books I have read
Since I began to pray, fast and be nice
Feeding the hungry a share of my bread
Yet when I thought of Adam and the fruit
I wondered and pondered how could I rise
Could I have a space ticket from Beirut
To take off toward the azure promised skies
There upon I thought and preferred to wait
Destinies being the concern of fate
9/1997