Soldier

If anyone needs to be a soldier everyone needs to be a soldier

-

Egal Bohen
2007

Your Life

In your life

Is a light
-
Shining
In a dark place

In your life

Is the dance
That
Mocks the stone

In your life

Is carried
Triumph
Over tragedy

In your life

Is the spirit
That you own

In your life

Rests the trust
Of
All
Humanity

In your life

You will help

To lead it
Home

-

Egal Bohen

-
This poem is dedicated to all those brave spirits across the world who are struggling against male domination & fighting religious discrimination against women

Sacrifice

Sacrifice
-

Is

another

word

For

Learning

-

Egal Bohen

2007

Every Breath

Every breath
That
We take
-
Moves us
Into
Our future

Every breath
We
Let out
-
Is our past
-
Left
Behind
-
Our lives
-
But
A
Moment
-
A moment
Of
Living
-
In the air
-
As we drink it
-
Imagined
-
In time

-

Egal Bohen

November 2007

You know it's good to Dream

Sunlight reflected
Golden beam
A dazzling orb
Floats
On the stream
Where sparkling riffles
Lead me through
A string of stars
That draw me to
A gate of living light
It seems….
-
You
Know
Its
Good
-
That we
Can dream

-

Egal Bohen

October 2007

Andrew

Although
Sometimes
Misunderstood
His love is true
Straight
From the wood
His mind a star
Sees only light
That darkness
From him
Flees the night
His words
Though oft’ at first ignored
By those who think
They know much more
Prove that his wisdom
Opens doors
So doubters
Doubting
Then
Withdraw
To give respect
Where it is due
To that
Indomitable
Soul
-
Andrew

-

Egal Bohen

Fear Management

Life
Is
A
Tightrope
-
An
Illusion
-
Suspended above
-
A pit
Of
Reality
-
To live it
-
You need the
Atributes
Of
A trapeze artist
-
Which
Are
-
To have a good sense of balance
-
And
-
Be able to manage your fears

-

Egal Bohen
October 2007

Sheets

Image

Sheets

Are but a luxury
We use to end
Our day
Took for granted
Silky soft
To sleep
They lead the way
Yet it was not
So long ago
We gathered in the hay
Made up our nests
In lofty trees
So living we could stay
So no surprise
For pillows soft
We have a price to pay
It is the thought
That some of us
On earth
Still have to lay

-

Egal Bohen

The Turning of the Earth

Image Credit



Every second
-
Our
Lives
Move
Forward
-
Suspended
Precariously
Between
-
The
Past

And

The
Future
-
Only ever existing
-
For the briefest moment
-
In the flow of Time
-
Where
-
As
With
All
Other
Things
-
Like the turning
Of
The Earth
-
They
Are
Destined
To
Become
-
Either
History
-
Or
Matters
Of
Pure
Speculation

-

Egal Bohen

Africa

Image Credit



Africa
 -
We saw the child
Upon the Earth
- 
We saw the look
Of
Nothing
In
It's
Eye
- 
We saw the mother
- 
Empty Plate
- 
We saw that look
A thousand times
Closeby
- 
Shed our tears
Shed our tears
- 
But
Let it happen
- 
Children
Don't
Deserve
To
Die
_
Egal Bohen

-

Darfur
(Then)

Now East Africa (2011)

Eyes Speak Truer Than Do Tongues

You know
-
That eyes speak truer
-
Than do tongues
- 
Once caught
-
A look
-
The
Truth
-
It will foretell
-
Bright
As
The
Sun
-
Egal Bohen

For no one can fix on me what is ugly

A Thought for the Day
-From
The Meditations
Of
Marcus Aurelius

-

Begin the morning by saying to yourself:

-

I shall meet with the busy-body
-
The ungrateful
-
The arrogant
-
The deceitful
-
The envious
-
And
The
Unsocial
-
All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance
-
Of
What is good
And
Evil
-
But I
-
Who have seen the nature of the good
-
That it is beautiful
-
And of the bad
-
That it is ugly
-
And the nature of him who does wrong
-
That it is
-
Akin to me
-
Not only of the same blood or seed
-
But that it participates in the same intelligence
-
And the same portion of the divinity
-
I can neither be injured by any of them

-

For no one can fix on me
-
What is ugly
-
Nor can I be angry
-
With my kinsman
-
Nor hate him
-
For we are made for co-operation
-
Like feet
Like hands
Like eyelids
-
Like the rows of the upper and lower teeth
-
To act against one another then
-
Is
Contrary to nature
-
And
It is acting against one another
-
To be vexed
-
And
To turn
Away

-




Marcus Aurelius Antonius Augustus

Roman Emperor

160 t0 180 AD

-

And Still So True

Parmenides saw

Parmenides
Image Courtesy livius.org

If you should talk
Of
Nothing
-
Then no thing
You
shall
See
-
For
Nothing
Is not this world
-
Nothing
Cannot
Be
-
Nothing
Has
But
No
Thing
-
No
Thing
There
To
See
-
No shape
-
No sound
-
No texture
-
No weight
-
No density
-

So if you can describe it
-
Then do so please for me
-
For it defies description
-
It
Has
None
-
You will see
-
And
Should
You
Think
-
An empty space
-
Is
A
Nothing
You may find
-
Just think
What is around it
-
Something
On
Your
Mind?
-
While things exist
In every form
-
From
Thoughts
-
To
What you see
-
There is no such thing
As nothing
-
Only
Spaces
That
Are
Free
-
For
As long as just one thing exists
-
A no thing
You won't find
-
Don't speak of it
As if it were
-
It
Cannot
Be
Defined
-
So
Do not doubt
That all things are
-
For
It
Is
Clear
-
To
See
-
That once there was
A some thing
-
Only every thing
Could be

_


Egal Bohen

Pity

Look into thyself
-
What is it you see
-
Is it pity you find
-
For
Another
-
Or
Thee?
-
If the latter
-
Your pity
-
Will be formed
In
Your mind
-
By
A measure of arrogance
-
Your choice
To be blind
-
For your life is a gift
-
Not for you
-
All
Alone
-
But for all of the beings
That find Earth
Their home
-
And
As life is a war
Which we all
Have to face
-
Thinking first
-
Of
Each
Other
-
Should
Be
Our
Saving grace

-

Egal Bohen

Violet

Photo courtesy John Somerville


Sweet violet

-
Sweet thief of stolen smells

-
Of what

This blushing shame
On thy account
Doth
Shakespeare
Tell

-

Egal Bohen

Photographer

His world an image
-
In his mind
-
He Sought
To
Capture
Parts
Of
Time
-
That passed
As
Ships
-
Into
His Bay
-
Preserving
-
So
That eyes might
Gaze
-
Symbolically
-
In
Future
Days
-
Upon
The
Passion
-
He
Portrayed
-

Egal Bohen

Knowing

POEM
_

Knowing
Is
One thing
-
Being
Another
-
Distraction
The
Reality
-
Illusion
It's
Brother

_

Egal Bohen

Two Worlds Observed

Photo Courtesy G Mahoney



In
-
Intense
-
Deepest
-
Metallic
-
Blue
-
Shimmer
-
The wings
-
Of
Damsel
Flies
-
Playing
-
In
-
Warm sunlight
-
On the brook
-
That talks itself
-
Through green sedges
-
Across
-
The
Open
Meadow
-
To
-
Slide
-
Silently
-
Into
-
The
Shaded wood
-
Where
-
The
-
Dragon Fly
-
Alone
-
Swift and yellow
-
Hawks
-
Relentlessly
-
Geometrically
-
Up and down
-
Its
-
Course
-
n and out
-
Of
-
Its
-
Shadows
-
Forever
-
Searching


-

(Two worlds)
(Observed )
(Today)
(In )
(Four)
(Dimensions)
-

Egal Bohen

Understanding

Until
You
Can
Understand
Others
-
You
Will
Never
Fully Understand
Yourself
-

Egal Bohen

Decision

When
You
Decide
-
Where
You
AreGoing
-
You
WillGet
There

-

Egal Bohen

To Where the Rainbows Rule Again

Denial
-
Comes
-
With
Many
Names
-
Anger
-
Fear
-
Our lives
To
Stain
-
As
Bravery
-
Our
Fleetness
Lames
-
Despondency
-
Truth
Doth
Arrange
-
So
Seems
It
Then
-
That
Gravity
-
Would
Sink
Us
-
In
It's
Deep
-
Dark
Sea
-
Not
So
-
Though
--
For
-
The
Light
-
Doth
Strain
-
To
Catch
Us
-
Lead
Us
-
Through
The
Pain
-
To
Where
-
The
Rainbows
Rule
-
Again

-

Egal Bohen

For Helen

Helen Mary
-
Seeks
The
Blue
-
Sea worn glass
-
Beside the pool
-
Where the tide lays
-
On the shore
-
By
Rocks
-
Small
Stones
-
Sea fairies store
-
Though
Green
Glass
Glistens
-
On white sand
-
By
Oceans
Sent
-
To touch her hand
-
Helen Mary
-
Faithful
-
True
-
Seeks only ever
-
Sea glass Blue

_

Egal Bohen

Cheat

The

Only

Person

-

You

Can

Ever

Cheat

-

Is

Yourself

-

Egal Bohen

People

People

-

Are just messed up animals

-

Egal Bohen

The Monkey and the Shrew

Photo: Courtesy of Greepeace

I was the Bull
-
The
Tiger
Too
-
I've been the Monkey
-
And
The
Shrew
-
I was an Elephant
-
Awhile
-
Once
-
A
Crocodile
-
Of
The Nile
-
A Lizard
-
I was sent to be
-
Before
-
A
Wolf
-
That
Wandered
Free
-
The Bear
-
 I was
Not long ago
-
And then
-
A
White Owl
-
In
The
Snow
-
A Whale
-
I've swum
The Seven Seas
-
Been
A bird
-
Amongst the trees
-
All animals
-
Are of one kind
-
All
Brothers
-
That
Includes
Mankind
-
Of course
They hear
-
What I have said
-
You see
-
Their spirits dwell 
-
Still in my head

-

Egal Bohen

This Heaven thing

This
Heaven
Thing

Is it a farce

A bit like that saying

That the grass

Is always greener

On the other side

Or is it
Just
A
Myth

To
Hide

From us the fact
That when we die

That is the end

The
Last
Goodbye

-

Egal Bohen

Feelings

The
Only
Real
Things

In our life

Are
Our
Feelings

-

Egal Bohen

Druid Stones

The stones stand
Like a circle of crones
Far out on the moor

Resembling witches
Short
Hunch backed
With cloaks down to the floor

As if a meeting
Once begun
Was frozen then in Time

They stand there
Silent

In the mist

In
Some
Fantastic
Mime

Forbidding and mysterious
Is one that towers above

One wonders
What it represents

Power?
Law?

Not
Love

No one knows
From whence they came

Nor what they stand there for

But pray their meeting

Now adjourned

Remains
So
Evermore

_

Egal Bohen

Thinking

Thinking
Is
A
Process
-Which enables
Us
ToSee
-
Unshackled
-Stark
-Reality
-From
Which
We all
Do flee
-
Can't
Recognize
Duality
-The thoughts
We
Have
ItSeems
Confuse
-Distress
-But
Nonetheless
-Are not
The
Same
As
Dream
-
Thoughts
Express
What we might
Be
-That
-Which we might
Do
-Where fits
The world
-Where fits
Our
Life
-Bright
Minds
-Shining
Through
-
The
Secret
Is
-Which
I
Have
Found
-
MyThoughts
-If
I
Would
See
Is not to fit them
Where I think
-Their meanings
-First
-Would
Be
-
For they are sometimes garbled
(As oft' they are in code)
-Thoughts
Take a little time it seems
To let
Their colours show
-
And thoughts
Are not the obvious
-We sometimes
Think they are
-They often carry meaning
-In a message
From
Afar
-
Just who you are
And
What you are
-If you are just like me
-Is something
You're not sure of
-But
Something
Flying
Free
-
Looking
For an answer
-Looking
Where to roam
-Seeking
Out your destiny
-To
Find a place
Called
Home
-
So
Thoughts
-Can be confusing
-
Feelings mixed
-The
Route
Unknown
-
Elusive
-
Misinterpreted
-
From
Wild
Places
Grown
-
Yet
Thoughts
Let us explore ourselves
-Discover
What is best
-Positively
-Form
Ideas
-Advance what's good
-Within our minds
-While
Quietly
At
Rest
-
The other hand
-When
Thoughts
Are
Strong
-Perhaps
They should
Just
Settle
-Long
Enough
-
To
Let them set
-Before
We test
Their metal
-
For having thoughts
Is one thing
-Believing them
The next
-Time
Can let the smoke clear
-While
Considering
What's best
-
But
Thinking
Is
Important
-
More time
Of
Ours should fill
-
Thinking
Got us where we are
-
Will take us further still
-
Now
Whether
We
Are
Thinking
Right
-
Well
Thats
Another hill
-
Another hill
That Man
Must climb

To fill his craving thirst
-For thinking around problems
-Imagining
The
Worst
-
We can be sure of one thing
Though
-For the future
That we search
-We will find time
-Wherever
We
Are
-
To
Think
About
It
-
First

-

Egal Bohen

Influence

Use
Your
Influence
On
The
World

-

Egal Bohen

The Poet

THE POET

I shall paint
For you
A
Vision

Within your mind
To
See

A
Vision
Full
Of
Colour
-
Understanding
-
Mystery

I shall paint
Your
Mind
A
Vision
-
In
Words
-
Then
Let it be
-
That every time
You read of it
-
Your
Spirit
May
Be
Free
-

Egal Bohen

Marazion

Marazion
In
The
Sunlight
-
Ochre
Lichen
-
On
Slate
Roofs
-
Saffron
Sands
-
With pebbles
Dusted
-
Fringe
The
Bay
-
The
Waves
Chase
To
-
Island
Mount
-
Carved
From
The
Granite
-
Set apart
-
In
Azure
Blue
-
Clouds
Of
Cotton
-
Passing
Over
-
Herring Gulls
-
Patrolling
Through
-
Up
The
Shore
-
The nets
Lie
Tangled
-
Mixed
With
Seaweed
-
In
A
Line
-
White
Horses
-
Beat
The
Beach
-
Elated
-
Here
I
Sit
-
The
Storm
Abated
-
Heaven
-
Is
-
Not
Hard
To find

-

Egal Bohen

Marazion Cornwall: www.marazion.net

Unicorn

Have you see the Unicorn?
He hides amidst a forest of words
Which make him hard to see

No
Not
Nothing
Is not
Cannot
Ever
Be

But he is there
At the edge of the wood
He sometimes comes to stand
To enlighten a world that does not see
The fabric of his land

See
See there
Beneath the tree
See his silver coat
That gleams without the sun
See his slender
Spiralled horn
That says
We are one

See how with head tossed back
His feet strike sparks from out the ground
See
With eyes of smouldering fire
Looks he around
This Unicorn
The symbol
Out of which ideas are born

Some say he is a myth
He cannot be
Alas as they pass by
They do not even see the tree
But they should never mock his fabled crown
His concept
Is the path
To where
True answers may be found

And should you think this talk is foolish and unsound
I shall not be offended
Feel free
To keep on looking at the ground

-

Egal Bohen

(For another Unicorn Poem see "The Poetry of Egal Bohen - Find the Unicorn"

A Cornish Path

A Cornish Path

Today I walked upon soft turf
Within a summers day
Where blue sky met blue sea
Midst pink green thrift
And travelled long a Cornish path
That wandered further than I thought
Steep climbs
First down
Then up I onward fought
To where I sat and watched
Wild seabirds
Wheel and cry
Beneath precipitous cliffs
O’er seas that rolled and crashed
On rocks
Thrown out like jagged fingers
Far beneath
Which
Like gigs
Did battle then with waves
For sport
To send white spume
To billow up
As sails
Set on a spar
Reminding me of ships
That sailed
The oceans
Wild and bleak
The taste of salt
A smell of tar
Then
Walking on
Enraptured deep
In these events
Eventually
I stopped
To catch my breath
And pausing
Watched
The sun
Sink slowly
In the West

Within
My spirit knew
That moment
Then
That even
Should I see
No more
No planet
Was
More beautiful
Than this
On which
We walk
Nor Man
More fortunate
To orbit
Such a star

-

Egal Bohen

Photo Ian Britton - Freefoto.com

Ocean is Met

Blocks of Cornish granite stone
- 
Exposed
-
Face brave the west wind’s home
-
To test the storm
-
Salt bleached
-
Well honed
-
Then lit to show their scars
-
Each
One
-
Picked  out in shadows of the evening sun
-
Mirrored Mica
-
Sparkling
Quartz
-
Pure
Diamond White
- 
At
Granite's
Heart
-
This sea wall stands defiant set
-
With
Confidence
-
In stone to state:
-
Ocean is met

_

Egal Bohen

The Sound of the Waves

The sound of the waves
-
Is the sound
Of
The Earth
-
As it talks
-
To
The
Moon
-
In
The
Waters
Of
Birth

_

Egal Bohen

Whale Song

Photo courtesy Greenpeace
Man
-
See where you are
-
Your existence owed to star
-
Ever since you come on scene
Everyone else
In bad dream
-
Who the hell
You think you are
-
Why you think
In your mind
-
All exist
For just mankind
-
Life
Form
Not unique to find
You know
-
Whale
In
Sea
Come
Long time ago
-
You just pup
-
So
-
Why you think you one of a kind
-
Don’t even know
How
Use your mind
-
All Earth
And in it
Not yours too
-
Me here
Much
Long
Before you
-
Still will be
When you’re gone through
-
You beginner
You very short lived
You not here long
-
Anyway
You never
Understand
Whale's
Song
-
Why each day you focus so narrow
With no purpose
Live out life
-
No look round
You dig and scrabble
Turn our planet
Into rubble
-
Fill the air
With smoke and trouble
-
No know Love
Just war and strife
-
That teach you nothing
-
You think that why you got life
-
Can’t you see
Life only function
Give insight
-
Get real
-
You got wrong
Big time
Man
-
Head in Sand
-
Need move up scale
Or
You never understand
Song of whale
-
Teacher set you test
That’s long
You need find
Where answers son
-
But be quick
Or
Soon all gone
-
So look in places answers found
-
No walk round
Just look at ground
-
Head in sand
-
Pathetic man
-
Dreaming what you got in hand
Breaking what not understand
-
Spoiling planet
For us lot
-
Man
You big blot
On landscape
-
Soon like dinosaur go
-
For
To all life
Earth belong
-
We all here
Before you long
-
This our home too
-
Head in Sand
Man
-
Understand
My
Song

-

Egal Bohen

GOD - I wonder what God thinks of us

I wonder
What Gods thinks of us
Who think
We are so far above
Our fellow animals
We eat
-
Anxious for
The
Taste
Or
Texture
Of
Their tender meat
-
Or
Animals we kill
For
Hate
-
Depending on their length
Or
Shape
-
I wonder
What God thinks of us
-
God
So merciful and great
To see their blood
Upon our plate
-
Are
We
So
Totally
Naive
To think that God
Would ever need
To make
A
Heaven
Just to please
Blood thirsty
Apes
That want to feed
-

Expert little choppers up

Of
Animals
Of
Every size

Even those
Of
Gentle heart
-
Even those
With soft brown eyes
-
In Heaven
They don’t have meat pies
You know
-
For there they are not well received
-
Nor kidneys grilled
Nor
Lamb chops fried
-
Because in Heaven
All
Survive
-
Its true
There
Animals may too reside
-

If they do
God may not like
For us
To cut their throats
At night
-
To eat
Their flesh
-
To gnaw
Their bones
-
For blood
It goes not well with white
-
I wonder
What God thinks of us
-
If I were God
I think
I’d rather trust
The
Animals

_

Egal Bohen

(Click the Title)

Secrets

Man
Will seek to hunt the mysteries of life
-
To search
Those quiet places far away from all the light
That may
In some part
Hold
Those
Answers
That have not been told
Of
Secret grails
-
The
Powers
Of
Times
Old
-
So
-On
Those
Sylvan trails
He stumbles down
Life
As though a stream
-Where
May be found
In some dark pool
Within
The
Deep
Wood dark
-Those answers
To
The
Questions
Burning
In his heart
-
Where
-That
At
Which he glances
-Whilst
In
The
Currents flow
-As
Waterfalls
And
Whirlpools
Spin him round
-To him
Is
As alluring
-As
Quarries scent
Unto
A
Hound
-
ATemptress
Painting images
Of
That
Which
Might be found
-
His gaze then fixed
On these desires
His mission
For great knowledge honed
Obsessed
And with no sense
Nor
Cause
To reason
Why
-He loses sight of real life
On Earth
Where
His reality
Abides
-
In ignorance
Of
This
Great
Living
Sphere
He
Dwells upon
-His eye set high
Always
Seeking
Something
More mysterious
Beyond
-He tramples onward
O'er
The greatest mystery of all
-His mind
-So
Powerful
-Unknown
-And
So
Is
Bound
Before his search
Is
Ended
SoTo
Fall
-
For
Not all things
Do need be
Understood
-Some mysteries
Are best left
In
The
Silver Wood
-Where
They
-
Like scent
-Which
To the air
By
Wind is blown
-Should stay
-
As
-MostSecrets
Yield
Desirability
Once
Known
_

Egal Bohen