Poems by James J Murray

O little swift alight by me, tell me what you see?
While flying high up in the sky unhindered wild and free
To us below, who may not know you fly both night and day
With rapid speed without impede yet always far away
With blazing pace I seen you chase and catch a shooting star
Then watched you swoon beneath the moon while gazing from afar
But can you fly beyond the sky to spy on heaven's gate?
Oh pray, do tell if many fell while gathered there in wait
So if some day your wit may stray if only for a while
To see you land upon my hand would surely make me smile

I heard her ask "Who are you then
Are you the how the where and when;
Are you the well of all my tears
Who took the one who held me dear;
Are you the one I mulled about
The one to flout my hope and doubt;
Are you my ever present terror
Who vies and waits my fatal error;
Are you the one the infants dread
Who lurks beneath their posted bed;
Are you the fount of no tomorrow
Who carves a path for all our sorrow?"


"It seems to me you know me well
These little things on which you dwell;
If so the how's a broken bough?
You know the where I’ve seen you there;
A singing wren will tell you when
Then fly away to sing again"

Bestir in me an ocean birth where starfish twinkle bright in mirth
                    And crooner whales who fancy chance invite the mermaids out to dance
Where seahorses number in their scores will pull my coral carriage fore
                    And maiden sea-nymphs take my hand and set me on a coral stand
Thus when in place they'll ring its knell to which the oceans churn and swell
                    And thrust me forth in tidal currents that sweep the globe in winding torrents
To where up on some rugged coast I'll disembark and thank my hosts.