Bryan Stokes
 The petals glistening, fresh with morning dew The leaves aglow with life so full and green The passing droplets up into the sun So far from cities, boast a healthy sheen Soak up the sun, sweet bud so blessed with life Enjoy the air so free of hate and strife Be blissful in your thinking, meadow born And thankful of your life so free of scorn The insects come to spread your blessed dust Across the mountains, then to distant plants That wait for that to them which is a must That for which your life you solely trust Your seeds are carried by the tossing wind And nested gently deep within the ground You sprout anew in places far away And grow in health, your life without a sound Little insect buzzing from flower to flower He has no concept of the crashing sea Nor of terrible, awesome unchecked power, He is only a simple, humming bee He buzzes happily with one true goal To find what bees refer to as their coal He'll hurry back, the hive awaits his prance Location lies within the secrets of his dance With haste he speeds, and flowers finds in bands A field untouched by tainting human hands A sample taken, to hive he flits with joy To tell his friends of new and wond'rous land The others watch, intently noting where Their dancer says the golden treasure lies They gather up the swarm and leave the lair Toward the field the hungry horde does fly The day's end comes, the hive it hums content Of their honey they each enjoy a gulp To sleep they go, their dreams are happy ones Their tummies filled with honey's scumptious pulp Deep forests on the sun loved mountain sides The shadowed glens of ferns and gurgling brooks Sharp scent of pine and shining mountain air No creature feels the need to run or hide Bear wandering through grass and rock and earth Looks up, and sees the sun upon its perch The glist'ning globe, that warms the gentle soils Travels the sky without the slightest toil "I wonder if I ever could get there," Thinks the amazed and contemplating bear "It seems it's not so really far away Perhaps I'd make it if I start today." But not today, for now his belly rumbles It cries to him for supplicating food He rises then and starts his daily search For honey tucked inside some growing wood Eventually he finds a single bee That seems as though it cannot really see It's just so small, it hardly seems alive But goes eventually back to the hive And hives mean honey, so the bear has learned And honey is a feast he dearly loves So off he goes to follow the insect Whose creation he feels he's justly earned He finds the hive, his hunger growing strong He grabs in, then removes his paw with cries The bees sting him, and buzz in angry song But welts are well worth the delicious prize The flower by the seaside grows alone Its leaves detect a certain haste about The still is vibrated by the strange drone Of a lone bee that comes because it's called The bear that follows bee is strangely tense Upon its haunches sits, and looks to sea To witness the arrival of the Prince The dolphins come, and fill the scene with glee The sun leaks through the darkening array Of clouds that form and tell the ending score Detectors of the thoughts of struggling Men They show results of the Decision Day Calling echoes off furthest jagged shore The pounding of the surf is heard no more The deeps conceal the sounds of life in air The dolphins course through sea without dispair They feel the call, their minds' determined haste The Citadel sends out the urgent call Creatures of sea and land prepare themselves Knowledge theirs, they go to the meeting hall The Gathering assembles with the Sight That humans lack, and there exists their plight The bipeds know not what they do so well The earth's destruction and descent to Hell Now creatures weep for what they once called Home Their burrows filled with poison gas's sting The rotting sewage making the sea foam The souls of slaughtered creatures cannot sing "Responsible" -- a word not often found In great frequence among the careless ones Their ignorance exceeds their blind progress They care not for the helpless sent to death And now the final deal has been struck The forces gather, deaf to those who cry Irrationality and numbing hate The pride of men exceeds the ashen sky The dolphins know, and wait the decision Hoping one last time for their lost fellows Their eyes with light of Understanding shine Absent from those of men who kill for show The dolphins know we tremble on the brink But let us choose our path, to Dark or Light They look upon the gathering storm clouds And know that man's his own most sickly blight They swim about, and play one final time Descending deep, the water gives them rest They lie now but to wait an awful wait And wonder if we'll pass this simple test Their heads bobbing above the rippling sea They squeak to each other and watch the clouds They hope that we will continue to be But first we must cast off our inky shroud |
| Performing edition by Dave LaDelfa | Last updated on 5 October 1997 |
Coming soon: Complete Critical Facsimile Edition,
including early drafts, blueline revisions, and apocrypha.