Jump to a poem:
White Walls
I've been to Hell and Hell is just white walls-
I hate it here, but I will stay for you-
A labyrinthine pit of empty halls.
I will come back to Earth when Heaven calls
And hope that Hell will not be born in you.
I've been to Hell and Hell is just white walls.
When I come back to Earth and Heaven falls,
I pray to God that you will not accrue
A labyrinthine pit of empty halls.
I pray to God, for you, that Heaven stalls;
You do not want to go where I've gone through.
I've been to Hell and Hell is just white walls.
My prayer has failed, and onward Heaven crawls
Unto the time when Earth will lose you to
A labyrinthine pit of empty halls.
So I will stay and wander through these halls
Until a time when I can be with you.
I've been to Hell and Hell is just white walls,
A labyrinthine pit of empty halls.
This Earth that I will conquer could be yours.
Although as yet I have not conquered it,
I picture it will be but twenty scores
Of years until this land submits to me
At which time I will finally give my plea:
I want to live, no longer counterfeit.
That said, I don't know how to give to you
This Earth which stands inside the distant lands.
How can I give you lands that are askew?
I know that I'm awry and not yet free,
But will you ever deign to take my plea
To run to places where my planet stands?
Now twenty scores of years have come and passed.
The Earth I wished to conquer conquered me,
So I will go beyond this Earth and past
The other lands which hold my planet down
Until I find a planet with a crown
That it will share and help to set me free.
Now twenty scores again have come and passed.
The Earth that I have conquered set me free,
So let's go out to what we have amassed:
These lands of ours together make a place
Where you and me can travel all through space,
Rejoicing in the planets we will see.
Like tiles of a Greek mosaic, shattered but concise,
So are my thoughts at nighttime when I think of only you
And wander off toward sleep, although I wake up once or twice
And, dissipating, wonder if you're thinking of me too.
I stand upon a mountain top with fire at the base.
Above me is the black expanse of boundless, starry space.
Behind me lies an ocean not of water but of glass
Which borders on a deadly wilderness of poison gas.
Unto the right lies endless blue of diamonds shining bright,
While on the left is nothing but an orange and yellow light.
There's five ways down the mountainside and one way up to space
And I am on the verge of going down each path apace.
In Buddhadharma, Hell is made of ice.
One thousand flames that freeze advance at me
To show me that Amida will suffice,
And yet I cannot see my karma twice,
Regarding only karma's great decree:
“In Buddhadharma, Hell is made of ice.”
In Hell, the Crimson Lotus paradise,
The fissures of my flesh put out their plea
To show me that Amida will suffice,
Yet when the cold breaks in with no device,
I cannot see and only want to flee
(In Buddhadharma, Hell is made of ice),
But when my mind has broken in its vice
The ice will turn to water of the sea
To show me that Amida will suffice.
Although my passions linger and entice,
One thousand flames that freeze have made me see:
In Buddhadharma, Hell is made of ice
To show me that Amida will suffice.
I must ask you a question, but I wish to stop the clocks.
Anxiety's attacking me but I don't know if I-
Like men on mountains herding sheep and tending to their flocks-
Can live like this; I'd be remiss, to put life off and die,
For living like the men on mountains-living life alone-
Is not the way I wish to live or occupy my life.
I'd rather live my life without you if I'd ask a stone,
And that is how I fear you'd plead, fulfilling all my strife,
But I'll ask you this question since I cannot stop the clocks
And hope that, when you answer, it will be a firm caress,
And you can be the men on mountains; I will be the flocks,
But if your answer happens to be wry in its address,
I will move on to live my life and see another day
Where suns are shining, skies are blue, and sheep run out to play
I made another throne to be by mine,
But no one's in this realm to sit by me
For, when I made this realm to be my shrine,
I thought that, by myself, I would be free,
But Buddhas sitting side by side rejoice
When someone's found to fill the other throne.
Remaining in this realm would be my choice.
I'd live forever, but I'd be alone.
It's not enough to live forever, though,
And I would give eternity if I
Could only have a man to love and know,
Although that means that one day I will die.
Descending back to earth I'm finally free,
Although I've given up eternity.
The church that holds me here is falling down.
The choir left a thousand years ago
When bread and wine as one began to drown.
There’s no one left to light the candle’s flame
Or venerate those things the saints became.
A time ago the cracks began to show.
Today the walls are gravely falling down
As saints on high fall down to depths below.
Then, as the final saint falls down and dies,
I hear what must be Heaven’s wondrous cries
As angels praise the one they canonize.
He stands before me brighter than the sun.
Beyond the ruins of this church there lies
A land toward which our passage has begun.
The Universe in which I live is a mistake,
So burn it in the Second Death of Fire
That proves to me that Karma is a fake.
When God gave up the Ghost and Earth began to quake,
The Universe divided: Grace and Ire.
The Universe in which I live is a mistake,
For Grace and Ire each are choices I can make,
That is, if I am rid of My Desire
That proves to me that Karma is a fake.
So when the Beast arose from My Desire’s wake,
A single choice remained for me: enquire.
“The Universe in which I live is a mistake.”
In that way, Beast has shown me what is truly fake.
But then I heard the words of My Desire,
“That proves to me that Karma is a fake.”
Thus Beast became my friend at Morning’s Final Break,
Though, deep within My Mind I still conspire.
“The universe in which I live is a mistake
That proves to me that karma is a fake.”
And thus Ahura Mazda did contend
To come unto the side of Ahriman,
Thus hastening the time of evil’s end.
When Ahriman received the God of Light,
It pleased the world to see the end of night.
Today is still the rising of the dawn.
Ahura Mazda’s endless vows attend
And will not cease until the dusk is gone.
So come to me and we will please our God
By way of ending Ahriman’s facade
For even He has realized it is flawed.
No longer must there be a cause of fright.
If God can be together with a God,
Then man and man, together, forge delight.