I see the North Star in the deep black sky...

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I see the North Star in the deep black sky
And I go to the mountains guided by
Its light -- I shall quarry those great ancient
Sentinels for their stone, carve them, patient,
Play mason, cover them with blood, no faults --
I will build my staircase, no rests, no halts
Ascend to yonder void -- you may watch me
O Moon, you may watch me toil, and then see
Me suffer, but know that  I need only
Starlight and your moonbeams, dew and holy
Night air are my manna -- watch me lay waste
To the land, behold, O Moon, my long chase
To the Heavens -- and I will reach my goal:
The North Star, and it will swallow me whole

Before time began...

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Before time began, the Creator in his grand
Design, eons ahead, thought of you, and he planned
This specimen of Man: "I will make him handsome
And tall, give him a forelock for charm, smile winsome
And sweet, give him brains along with brawn -- he will be
Smart and strong, intelligent and thoughtful, and he
Will dream of the moon and sun while he walks the ground --
I will give him Apollo's image, dark hair crowned
With wreaths of ambition as with arrows and bow
He chases down rare thoughts to make real -- I bestow
Him with vigorous arms and chest and back to bear
Endeavors only he can attain -- nearly there:
To perfect him for her, his beauty's beholder,
I shall scatter some freckles across each shoulder."

Mermaid Yearnings

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Four months before I turned nineteen,
I swore I’d fall in love.
With hook and line I’d catch a fish,
And bring him up above.

So then I dreamt of marlins, sharks,
Swift sturgeons and the sort,
But Neptune sent me lavishly,
A mermaid from his court.

He blessed me thus and summoned forth,
This Nereid of song,
With nacre tail and foam-blue hair,
And magic rare and strong.

To lovelorn me she sang and sang,
Emerging from the sea,
With star-filled eyes and salted lips,
She said, “Now follow me.”

She lured me, pulled me, dragged me down,
Into the endless blue:
Thalassic doom of mortal me,
I knew this to be true.

Though beguiled by this lovely nymph,
I feared her tender kiss,
For I can grow no fins, no gills:
I’d die in her abyss.

Thus linger long and I will drown,
Know not their mysteries,
Perish, not see their ocean deep,
Nor join their reveries.