New Directions
If I hold my
In front of me...
Just so
It covers up the moon.
I can move
From block to block
Clearheaded, unafraid.
I haven't charted out
The action in advance.
Premeditation
Is the surest enemy
I know
Slow
I move my hand away
Uncovering the Moon.
slower still
Small thoughts widen,
And stretch out in my head
The moon draws nearer
Frightened now
And running
Chased block to block
By that white Moon
I strike out for yesterday
Sure that if my feet
Run far and fast enough
I'll never reach tomorrow.
-Rod McKuen
Moth
Awakening
This morning
After the first night of being loved
I heard a disillusioned moth
Flapping at the window glass
Trying to reach the morning sunlight
And the sun
Long fingers of it
Came through the window
Picking out the dust
In special corners
In the predawn hours
Lying together
All arms and legs and breathing
With the rain not so far away
And morning coming too soon
I hoped to never see the sun again
And now
Your face and the sun
Have made this room
With only ceiling sky
And avenues of sunlit dust
Beautiful.
-Rod McKuen
For S.C
I do not know
What is more beautiful
Than your tangled black hair
On a white pillow
I have thought about it
All afternoon
And decided not even the butterflies
Or children or the blossoms
In the hills above the beach
Can compare
If I had money
I would not buy a comb
Or a red ribbon
to decorate it
Instead I might charter worlds
So you could walk in them
And everyone could see your
hair
-Rod McKuen
The Lonely Things
The silent rain that falls,
The medowlark
The winter wind that calls the lovers
From the park
The sad and bitter song December sings
These are the lonely things
The sun behind the clouds
The starless night
When you're alone in the crowds
The need for sudden flight
The empty loneliness that parting brings
These are the lonely things
A taste of love too soon gone wrong
The sand mistaken heart that heard
The sirens song
And sang along
The waves that drum the shore at morning light
The friends that come no more to
Try and make things right
The hopes that fly too soon as though on wings
These are the lonley things.
-Rod McKuen