Poetry by Richard Manning
Narrative prosody on historical Western love,
personal & national, sequencing Earth,
Limbo, Purgatory, Heaven, Hell.
YHWH's LOVE POEMS : ABRAHAM TO WESTMORELAND
By Richard Manning
1. Expatriate Lovers
Cambridge, USA
May 28, 1994
Letter to a lover
Struggling with
Cultural Exchange
Shibuya
Tokyo
Tagawa-san, You asked,
What is there to love after
having seen too much,
perhaps,
of men's Deeds
once having believed
in his Creeds?
Eros' Serial lovers
From El's Earth to
- Shaddai's Limbo
- Adonai's Purgatory
- Jah's Heavens
Jehovah's Hells,
fictive havens, all
Agape cowards
badly nurturing
our insecurities
and immaturities,
myth's old cries
downward trickling
endless lies
in parody trite love words
recounting stories from history
narrow Western culture designs
ring Eros through the inner ear
strong sentiments, a purpose
in Civilization ignoring tragedies
committed against one's fellow
as those many tribes of dogma
feed chosen people confusions
myths destroying all inferiors
those below power, used at will,
and greed
Especially America, spoiled inheritor
step-child escaping European history
where ethos pursues accumulation
competition superiority success
where truth forgets, history ignores
people in holy plastic, burying
hallow icons, feeding nothing,
and heaven
such forgetfulness and ignorance
continues despite revelations
even great ones, or so we have noted
a few Poets and Philosophers
maybe that rarely honest Priest
or the vestige breed for revolution
a myth, about an honest Politician,
and mistrust
These 4 Ps failed to inseminate us
the cultural mind called the West
with values serving humanity
or a nature intimately enveloped
so P lies concentrate words
their Phallic ideas only designed
to penetrate, the lyrical ear,
and mother
not spiritual as would-be motive
some great novelists remember
occasionally, for a few who care,
and read
poems jotted as short stories
meant to rest and reverberate
strongly, purposeful humanity,
and end.
2. Miscellaneous Lovers
With real lovers
of sharing pleasures
of learning each other
of drinking cultures
unafraid of jealousies
unplanned unpromised
unmaterial unmodern
spontaneous serendipitous
smiling secure...
ergo, our future.
Or public lovers
you could send Mia your values
I could send Woody my weaknesses
they'd settle with juices of vivaldi & vines
in bedroom's quiet giving
rather than with the bile of christ & caesar
in bedlam's noisy taking
of lawyers and reporters they'd not be involved,
friends and artists in France we'd be resolved
For fantasy lovers
with a stirring face
moving like wind-swept lace :
man places well on th' breast
loving words, leaves them rest
'is worthy lips in 'er mind
so content with acts n' kind.
Oh, match spirit no less
divine with every caress :
woman keeps acts singing
touching soul, leaves feeling
open mind will give more
lovin' nature to the core.
Goddess beauty, earth lore.
Even anonymous lovers
who move in Eastern gentleness
through feeling their tenderness,
finding more of her inside
no exotic illusions reside.
There are similar outward forms
in far corners unlike these norms,
with whom I 've felt much rhyme
close savouring passing time.
No doubt we know this thing
those who merely wish t'cling.
This interest beset with passion
though not of manner in fashion,
Eros moves eas'ly excuses
poor years of male self uses.
Men seek a body to borrow
or chain spirit to a'long morrow,
theist psyche rapes lies fixed
'fraid human joys a d'vine mix.
Agape serves human courage well
glances stares smiles would tell,
if words verses songs d'verse
make paths short long converse.
Such freedom full and fair
no witness judges gods' glare.
Thusly fate might rightly be known
pleasant dreams ease to softly moan,
enhanced they onward pass
fresh breezes thru spring grass.
Nothing taken from existence
than beauty o' less resistance,
each step keeping our heart
touched n'tuned to our part
in nature's godly harmony
....our Art.
But poet lovers
have no plan
pursue no future
there's so much past
never taught
it's blinding
...weak lying teachers
instilling mistrust.
yet still contented
learning truth
love beguiles
keeps hope human
trusting nature's way
...death's face is known
'tis life's aesthetic.
3. Jesus' Lovers
The mystic evangelizing lover of Jesus
Jesus' Eastern colony Barabbas' vices taught
The earthy unpaganizing lover of Jesus
Jesus' Celtic acolytes prejudiced narrowly
The egotist adventuring lover of Jesus
Jesus' Brown heathens murdered imprisoned
The empire discovering lover of Jesus
Jesus' Latin progeny instilled oppression
The greedy imperializing lover of Jesus
Jesus' Black children enslaved dehumanized
The elite solemnizing lover of Jesus
Jesus' White brothers robbed and pillaged
The unnatural puritanizing lover of Jesus
Jesus' Sisters and Children raped degraded
The power capitalizing lover of Jesus
Jesus' Ignorant poor mercilessly exploited
The political ministering lover of Jesus
Jesus' Educated taught megalomania
The progress calvinizing lover of Jesus
Jesus' Technicians slavishly modernized
ALL proselytizing lovers
hypocrite lovers
salvation lovers
loving drones
dei-humanizing love
ADULTERERS ALL
CONDEMNING GODS.
4. Monotheistic Lovers
The Semite virgin's wet desert dream
impassioned a simple subtle Joseph
into seductive salutary betrothal,
ending vicious visions of scandal
by Eastern hero's angelic copulation.
A commanded wife's sensual stimulations
determined deities or devils ending exile
spreading hallucinating fratricide
savaging tribes by heaven's bloody call
with scimitar's Messianic march on Mecca.
Thus theistic legacies became a trilogy
exploiting ignorant fears of mother-earth
men brokering power by salvation threats
preach blind faith to bedazzle human love
from Genesis' misogynist lying,
to Ezekiel's senile menacing
evangelical demons call
apocalyptic extortion all,
you, Abraham's flocks of legacy
bow not to mythology
you, Barabbas' scheming progeny
pray not to hypocrisy
blame not celestial fantasy
you, Moral Cowards until eternity.
Wait! Stop! yelled Aquinas, demanding his answer,
But what of God as First Cause?
As effect, an horrendous history, replied Kant; philosophy
as empty non-sequitur.
In rich wood pulpit, dressed black, Rocca Secca then argued,
And of Cosmological Relations?
Immanuel said, As my Christian name, a conclusion by
Implication is not reality.
We control land, contents and men. Is not that the reality of
our Teleological Plan?
Like Faust selling soul, moral controls, though pretty verse,
Postulate only, make poor logic.
I converse with God! Ha! Ha! So there you have it! What of
our Ontological Reason?
The highest concept, ever imagined a Homer or Augustine,
does not itself prove God.
The theologian screamed : Excommunicated! Damned!
Unless Faith be sufficient.
The teacher asked, Do ideas prove esthetics? Or faith reason?
Or political correctness poetry?
5. Devil's Lovers
Stalin was a serious Seminarian
Hitler's nurturing was Catholic
Joseph slaughtered 30 million citizens
Adolph engineered 20 million humans...
give or take.... corpses ALL
How many divisions has the pope
How many murdered in 2000 years
Forget Allah's internecine jihads
Promised Land still time to count...
Abraham's progeny.... does ALL
Mao tse-tung's tax men & landlords
Ho Chi Minh's Catholics & dominos
Fidel Castro's mafia casinos & brothels
Allende's fruit & fishery companies...
US predictions.... bloodied ALL
So...let's forget much real history
genocide Crusades and many Inquisitions
Agnostics Manichaeans Docetists Bogomils
silly Puritans and loving Quaker friends...
So easy.... forgetting ALL.
Forget Jesus' record with Indians & Blacks
Forget His colonial conversion of pagans
Forget His heathens in Indochina China et.al.
Remember 100 million 20th century Christians...
Corpses.... murdered ALL.
Forget priests condemning wise men
and burning people speaking allegory
changing myths into sky-god scripture
burying Greek and Roman cultures too,
Milton's vision bright.
Who burned books into myths of purgatory
welding dark ages into hellish guilts
promising heaven by ritualized tricks
squelching smiles & laughs in hell,
Dante's penance seared.
Who taught us Erasmus' sardonic humor
Homer & Rabelais buffooning the gods
Cervantes & his students slashing myths:
"Knowledge is dangerous for your soul,
my son".
Forget heroic Lilith rejecting YHWH's dirt
forget Chaucer's and Boccaccio's lead
Eastern Pillow Book and Karma Sutra frowns
Joyce, Lawrence, Miller, even Kinsey ignored,
Bard's wisdom untaught.
Forget condemning woman to physical wiles
forget lives tortured serious this brief stage
made to fear anti-christs, whomever that be
radicals heretics pagans bedlam'ed or burned,
brokering sins.
Forget all that, just try remembering
Stuart Mill's Utilitarian loving people
Rational Nietzsche for a Shavian child...
as neo-macho Biblical Jews bloody land,
dogmatizing superstitions.
But never forget 100 millions, murdered
by Christians, ALL...
Salvationists + Materialists
Ignorant + Superstitious
Afraid + Paranoid
plus then the Violence
= A Progeny of Liars,
There you have it, Noam ignored,
by clock-watchers, ALL...
Reds excused genocide installing ideals
Nazis excused genocide expanding myths
We executed Nurenburg Order-Followers
We executed Tokyo demi-God-Followers
Dulles Rostow Taylor Lansdale begun it
Helms Colby Westy Kissenger Nobel 'ed it
Ike Kennedy Johnson Nixon godly ordered:
"Save those Gooks!", you Democracy-Followers
Never forget 6,000,000 Slaughtered
By Americans, All.
© Cambridge, 5/1994
r.t. manning
r.t. manning
