Amos Gideon Greig

The Time Machine

It begins almost motherly,

a return to the warmth of the womb,

a central point on the journey to oblivion,

time travel is a lie an uncaring trick of time.

Slowly through rheumatic eyes the present,

fades away, sound, cold, future,

all these are frozen,

waiting release..

The first signs of possibility,

appear bubbles in the stream,

each a window, a doorway,

into the past,

Here a child did not fall out of bed,

their sudden awakening saving the lives

of those dwelling within.

The Time Machine is a lie.

Rather than showing the past,

each portal leads to a distortion,

a prison for the unwary,

Here he went to university;

sought his dream as an artist,

there is a tightness now,

sudden desire to breathe,

The Time Machine will not allow it.

The traveller realizes,

the trap they are caught in,

Focused so tightly on the

journey they did not notice the;

failing strength in limbs,

there is an urgency now,

a burning now time seeks,

to consume them.

A sound, a voice, a mothers distant

cry, the present has almost faded to black,

Hairy thews pluck the traveller from,

the machine breathe life back into;

fragile body too weak for time travel,

too weak to be left unsupervised,

in the local pool the boy opens his

eyes and cries.                  `

The Wilding Path

I see the hidden spheres which over lap our own,

not all of the time but there are moments,

of crystal clarity/

                         in the rain/

                                                 a sudden ray of sun.

There are places where the doors are open ,

the tiniest whisper of a forgotten past,

previously/ I stood near one,

The whispering wood to many this overgrown,

tree choked with vines is a part of nature,

I have seen beneath the veil/  to a stone wall

An old mill my hands traced the stone work,

in the deepest shadows where man isn't welcome,

The silence was deafening/

                                                 I opened my mind to,

Vistas past.

 A hard working miller busy grinding

corn as children played in the waterhole,

women busy drying clothes laughing at their antics.

I stepped back into the warmth of the day

the chill seeping from my bones,

I look down and see the waterhole now filled with -

sediment natures cruel touch has scoured it away

slowly overgrown as the angry waters surged past,

I walked onwards reflecting/

                                                I played here as a child.

My path crumbles before me/

 seemingly the ground smashed by an angry god

huge rents make it difficult

to cross.

I came to a tributary a place where I once waited for seven hours.

 lost as a child frightened tears and snot smeared my face in the dark/

I waded across the stream passed the lying rocks.

Skipping across bleached stones the bones of mountains past,

I slowly approach the coldest of places,

The chill settling in I can feel your uncaring gaze/

                                                                                    lingering

                        hungrily/

            your/

                                    feminine form/

trapped in the stones which  formed  a perfect  circle around you.

Our/

            eyes meet/

                                    I was but  a child then/

                                                                                    you pointed the way back

for a price.

A single/         

                        tear/

                                    a promise/

                                                            to return

Did my mind play tricks?

did you really  move to

stare?

wood  rubbing  against  wood/

                                                the cackling of a hag?

the ivy flowed like a/

mane of unkempt hair down your back.

A single ray of sunlight breaks the silence/

                                                            Bird song/

                                                                        like children's laughter

soared out the moment passed,

I see you for what you are a tree twisted by a quirk of fate,

to a child's eye/

                        a feminine form/

                                                languidly stretched towards the sky

pleading, placating.

I turn and walk away from the cackling tree,

I hear a peal of feminine laughter and run home

away from that accursed tree.

Dark's Parasite

Your dark birth has long been prophesied,

My dark parasite needed yet twisted

Far  beyond your original purpose.

You have shared this flesh since infancy,

Your dark touch has left its mark,

Ravaged my body stained my soul.

Sadly your parasitic presence is

Needed, serves a primary function,

A function carried out grudgingly.

 

That touch a constant reminder,

Flares, the rage cripples,

Draws blood, steals breath.

Entropy approaches our parting

Inevitable I wait for that day:

Torn, your functionality important.

 

A caged beast you punish:

Your host lashes out blindly,

Rage and pain all consuming.

I am consumed, clutch

Just below the ribcage,

Your prison,

 

God but there are days

I find myself asking,

Why life's parasite? Why birth?

Amos Greig is a recent graduate from Queen's where he studied English and Ancient History. He has studied at the John Hewitt Summer School in 2001 and James Simmons Summer House. Amos has designed covers for Lapwing Publications, designed their logo , provided portraits for James Simmons, Desmond O'Grady, Sabine Wichert, Padraic Faicc and created children's murals. Amos has had work published in Poetry in Motion's The Poet's place, Speech Therapy, Papergirl Belfast and Solstice Poetry. He is currently editor of a literary and arts magazine called A New Ulster. His first book of poetry called Lord's of the hill is with a publisher pending publication.