LAUREL MARSTON
​
Indian Sun
By Laurel Marston
pen name Lesley Cee Jones
1986
It’s daybreak in the Swami ashram.
Followers gather, shadows scatter,
In the waking morning sun.
Hear the chant of holy mantra,
Chorus swelling – acts compelling,
In the early morning sun.
Day’s half done and children run
In the hot, hot, Indian sun.
Lights are flashing, cymbals clashing
In the heat of sweating sun.
Twilight lengthens, mantras strengthen
Those depleted for day’s labor.
Gurus marching, fire flames darting
Upward to the waning sun
As with an intent to kindle
Once again its flickering splendor.
Saints a-trancing, stand a-dancing
In the setting Indian sun.
Om, Om, Om!
​
Daybreak
By Laurel Marston
Loving dedicated to my parents Neita M. and Thomas Henry Marston
in appreciation of their sincere love and true devotion
Mom shrugs herself and blinks her droopy eyes
Open her shades and peeps towards the skies
Her gentle move alerts the fireflies
Who make a dart to escape the sundrenched skies
Then mom her quivering fingers now does raise
And like a magic wand they set ablaze
Apollo’s lamp that sputters in a daze
“Awake my lord!” she cries
“It’s time to rise
And set afire your beacon in Earth’s skies”
Apollo rises wearily at first –
Then suddenly, as with a mighty burst
He throws aside the gloomy shroud of night
And struts across the skies in blinding light
As Earth succumbs to Appollonian might
Night
By Lesley Cee Jones
(aka Laurel Marston)
​
Night draws her dusky curtains
And closes her shutters to the day.
The heavens swing their portals of light
Away from the earth.
The brilliance of day ages before our eyes
And fades gradually into nothingness
The shimmering stars dance and frolic
At their newfound liberty.
The whole galaxy of heaven beams with golden light,
Garbed in the wonder and glory of royal dress
Surpassing the grandest adornment of princess or kings.
The bosom of Mother Earth teams with millions of
Tiny creatures
Swarming and scurrying to becradle themselves
In nests decoy,
Huddling close together in sweet embrace
To seek refuge from the night.
Flowers shut their eyelids and find calm repose
In sweetest slumber.
Nutant buds hang carelessly on their
Slender stems unaware of the darkness.
Man gives up his quest for adventure
And lays him down to rest
Only nocturnal beast that stalk the night,
The wild, the wilderness, for sport and prey
Find pleasure in disregarding slumber
And revel in earth’s blackness.
Birds tuck their heads beneath their tiny wings
And take no thought of the morrow,
Silence and peace abounds in valley, moor and glen
Hush! It is Night!
Summer’s Love
By Laurel Marston
The chilling winds of autumn swiftly blow
And swirl the fallen leaves high in the air
The oak-tree unabashed stands gaunt and bare
And frivolous chipmunks scurry to and fro
Migrating geese sail southward row by row
While lovers gather woodland posies rare
To twine fair garlands for their windblown hair
It’s now a tell-tale grapevine let me know
That summer’s love was but a fleeting bliss
Reluctant I discern the blatant sign
The blustering winds won’t let me senses miss
When yellow pumpkins quit their wilting vine
I’ll hunger for fair summer’s short-lived kiss
And for its love-filled hours my heart will pine
Up With Self
By Laurel Marston
Wake up my soul and ope they sleepy eyes
Your day of grace has come
Look yon to rising sun!
A new wind fills the air –
Will you again in listless sleep
Fall back to lull in anguish deep?
Rise up my soul, grasp thy new bliss
T’will be another age ‘fore this
May dawn again- this time of hope
This opportunity – Why grope
In grief and errors pitch black night?
Rise up my soul! on with the fight!
The trump of truth blasts through the night
Your slumbering eyes ope to the light
The trumpet calls so loud and clear
‘Tis tingling in my inner ear
Hoist up the flag! Beat loud the drum!
To nobler deeds and actions come!
Come! Come away ere darkness falls
And droopy eyes to slumber calls
Accept the gift the great light brings
And lose in love your sufferings
Arise my soul! Come, come away
‘Tis break of day, come, come don’t stay!
Let’s leave the night, let’s leave the pain
Let’s dream the dreams we held in vain
The swelling sound of latter rains
Falls even now upon the plains
To bring the crops your heart desires
Come up my soul, leave dirt and mire
Come up my soul, your day is here
But will you list or will you care?
This day of hope, this new found dream
Your fathers would have wished they’d seen
If you delay and careless be,
the chance you miss
Eternity will bring again,
but when none knows
Today my soul cut loose your woes
Today my soul, thy hopes are rife
Up with thyself! Go forth! Live life!