Hymn Poem by Jeff Hobbs

"And besides, the wench is dead."

As a new dawn fades
The fool moves closer
To the eternal
In just twenty-four hours
Both heart and soul
Live through decades.

We walked up dingy steps
To a broken door
Which couldn't be unlocked.
It was a rainy night
A windy night
A night for tears drowned
In a cheap wine
As we lay there
Her eyes looked back
At the wall behind her head.
Not a word spoken -
Except the brief moment
When she told me her
Hamster drank orange juice.
I looked down
Into those eyes, not bored,
Not scared but they looked
Back to the wall.
My eyes wandered -
Two dark brown circles
Staring upward, moving slightly.
Two people lost in isolation.
Later,
Later…
We talked about fixing doors,
Where does one buy doors?

Three blue fish in an ocean of dreams,
Flowers of many colours
Memories of old.

Now the emptiness of isolation
Deep is calling to deep
The hollowness seeks an emptiness to fill it.

"To find a friend who has these qualities
Who has, and gives
Those qualities upon which friendship lives.
How much it means that I say this to you -
Without these friendships - life, what couchemar! "

But before her
There was another telephone conversation
As if it were a sign
Or a warning
Warning:Final recording because of Christ.
And your fingerprints are still on it,

Run, balloon, run
Run!
Someone took my balloon,
Pure, smooth, red.
Someone took that beautiful
Plastic
The magic balloon
And left a mark on it -
It never popped
But it will never be the same.

Her eyes looked back.

I visited the beach tonight
A golden path led across the water
From where we had the fire
On Friday night
To the moon.
A cool wind pushed at my back
And I was tempted
To walk across the bay
To another world
But I turned
And walked
Into the wind
Back up the hill
"Just wait
my foot's in the fire."
We both laughed.

We laughed.
I remember her laughs…
Those occasional small moments
When the world sparkled
Around her little laughs.
They were friendship's Passover,
The moment of promise
Of hope
Reality summed up in a
Meaningless gesture.

"Once upon a time
there were three little sisters"
The dormouse began
In a great hurry;
"and their names were
Elsie,
Lacie,
And Tillie;
And they lived at the bottom of a well -"
"What did they live on? "

The room
The whole moment
Seemed unreal.
Everything was veneer -
The lush cover
On the solid, hard bed.
All that was real
Was her concern.
She had to feed her children,
And pay the babysitter,
She hated pretending
The young ones pretended
She hated pretending…
A means to an end -
An end

"This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end.
It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me.
The end of laughter
And soft lights
The end of nights we
Tried to die.
This is the end."

The nights -
The nights I lived,
The nights I tried to die.
Driving down that hill
Watching the arrow hit
One hundred and fifty-five -
Hearing the rain
Roar with the engine
Watching each pole
Flash by
None of them taking me -
The wheel always straight.

Praying to become one more
Of the atrocity exhibition -
Bloodied faces,
Torn limbs,
Broken bones
Pierced shattered dreams.
Lungs choking
On the liquid of life
Ripped hearts
Pumping pathetically.
Here are the young men
But where have they been?

Her eyes looked back…

There are no false promises
When I hold them close.
No hopes, no dreams
No caring
No hurt.

I have lived a fool's dream
Do bear with me!
As I boast of my foolishness.
I have lived a fool's dream.

Captured…
Raindrops of acid hope
Pouring though hollow pipes
To drains of rust
Wating…
The drops fall from each frond
Chilling a frozen memory
Beaches become running waves.
Memories…
Stubborn smirks of hidden self
The closest stranger stabs
A broken wall of rubble.
Water…
Source of sorrowful dreams
Washer of wasted sin
Ecstasy of darkened moonpaths
Friendship…
A hollow deceiver
Dancing on broken smiles
Hidden in self decay, denial.
Wonder…
My battered Christ risen
Birth through death again
A concrete seed, miracle.

"If I must boast
I will boast of the things
That show my weakness."

Driving, mylife spent
Driving.
Soon my hope turned to clay
I remember down near the footy ground
Sitting in the car
Light shining softly through the bushes.
I waited for Temptation
But even clay gave no answer.

Wonder…
My battered Christ risen
"I believe nothing can happen
that will outweigh the supreme advantage
of knowing
Jesus Christ my Lord.
for him I have accepted the loss
of everything
and look on everything
as so much rubbish
if only I can have Christ."

The glory of the words:
"Peace be with you."
The comfort
Of knowing
Christ is risen
He is near
- all else is rubbish.
Sitting in the back row
As a baby was baptised
We are all baptised in Christ.
I sat, frustrated, tired, sad
And I prayed for peace,
For the power to forgive.
"Arise and eat
else the journey will be too great for you."
So I left
And she drove past.
I forgot that peace
For a while.

Love…
Rejoices in the truth
Even if the truth hurts.
Love…
Excuses
For none have my eyes
Love…
Trusts
Even when an open heart is often crushed
Love…
Hopes
For my battered Christ died to rise
Love…
Endures
For it is the emotion of fools.

Do bear with me
- we shall enter a colony of new hope
Humility shall shine forth
The giving love
"It is in giving
that we receive
it is in pardoning
that we are pardond
it is in dying
that we are born again."

Her eyes looked back…

It dreamt a dream of amazing reality;
My heart floated softly before my face
Pumping slowly
Rhythmically
With a mind which was not mine
But belonged to its own movement.
The dream lasted through day and night
Through soft music and harsh jarring notes
And it was my dream.
What use did it have without sharing?
I tried but no other mind could
Comprehend its sights
Most rejected it as nonsense
Only one person cared enough
To try and understand
The symbol of my imagination.
She died.

Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again
Amen.

(May 29 & 30,1986) r