Silence of the Sirens

By Michael Tapia

A collection of 159 poems previously published in seven chapbooks. Chapbooks are no longer available. Diverse themes and subjects seen from various facets and sometimes moving into the surreal, such as “Promise of the Butterfly,” or “Floating Away”. Speaking of love, death, faith, history, struggling against those who want to oppress, the value of the individual and finding one’s place in the sun. Title poem establishes what is desired but cannot be attained. "Abraham's Secret", "Ishmael" and "Faith of Our Forefinger" were originally a trilogy, starting with the beginning of western faith and moving through a modern scene. ."Strange Fruit” is derived from the Billie Holiday song and continues the thread into a contemporary context. “We Used to Play” is autobiographical, growing up in a world where grown-ups are incidental.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Tapia
• Release date: Nov 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463783344

Michael Tapia

Born and raised in San Antonio Texas. Retired from the USAF as a Russian Cryptologic Linguist. Had tours primarily in Germany, with six years in Berlin, Germany. Graduated from University of Maryland overseas division, B.A, A.A., Community College of Air Force, A.S.

Book preview

 Silence of the Sirens

Copyright ©2018 by Michael Tapia

Registration Number CI-549258140

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.

This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

Publisher: Cicada Cadence Publishing

 For

Michael S. Tapia

Brief and pure hope, Always in my mind 

Table of Contents

Silence of the Sirens

Garden of Sand

Cicada Cadence

Raindrops Against Glass

Alchemy of the Soul

The Math of One

Being There

I Have Been A Monastery

Free to Dream

Tannenberg

Last Time

All of You

1945

Ancient Voices

Promise of the Butterfly

Rocking Boat

Night Call

Fanfare for the Common Man

Moving on To

Soul mated

Tomorrow We Will Fix Your Soul

Shadows of the Deep

Fin de siècle - Killing Time

Abraham’s Secret

Ishmael

Reflections of Sand at Night

Faith of Our Forefingers

After the Bomb

Gathering of Angels

New Particle Accelerator

Return of the Titans

A Walk in the Desert

High Ceilings

Still to Be

The Expanse of it All

House of God

The Passion

Floating Away

I Am Was

Lover

The Wave

Ashbury, Ashbury, We all Fall Down

An Exceptional Beauty

One Way to England

Pandora’s Pantry

Able to Breath

The Joshua Tree

A Scientific Fact

La Chasse aux Papillons

Paper Dreams

Warrior Proud

Patented Proof

Tempting Faith

The Road

Among the Young and Beautiful

Breaking Bread

Midnight Moments

The Meaning

A Soft Good-bye

Folie à Plusieurs

Fiesta Flambeau

Strange Fruit

Dapple of Shadows

Meeting the Queen

Breaking Old Habits

August Moods

Dancing Alone

Falling in Love

Elderly Love

Flea Market Carpet

I’m Sorry

Image on Canvas

Slithering Shadows

Talisman

The Railroad

The Beauty of the Back

The Fall of the Heroes

The Northland

Three Day Weekends

Turning the Key

Upon Misleading Roads

Vow of Poverty

Withdrawn but Not Retreating

Coiffure

White on White

Koi

Diablo

The Menagerie

Wanderlust

The Light

The Time of Day

Man of Her Dreams

Beggar’s Prayer

The Cabin in the Woods

A Public Hearing

A Summer Too Long

All is in Order

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Change in the Weather

Dead Poets

Fame’s Companions

Fleeting Melody

For a Rainy Day

Heaven on Earth

The Lions of March

Hide Away

Letting Go

Metaphor Teddy

Never a Rock Star

Now That We Know

Se Habla Español

Silent Plumage

Cupboard Connotation

The Survivor

We Used to Play

Where the Crocus Blooms

Toccata and Fugue

An Island in Winter

Tortilla Mama

Prelude for a Lover

Speak of Love

Just a Small Curse

Songs Before the Mist

Wings

Subtle Breathing

Sun Walkers

The Mornings to Be

The Shell Game

The Unopened Door

The Water, The Light

Expanding Light

To Be Released

Sounds Against Twilight

The Returning

Upon the Wind

A Heavenly Meeting

World of Extinction

When Lambda is Zero

Tutto Fellini

Faces

Come with Me My Love

Great Expectations

Making a Safer World

In Silent Expectation

Orpheus

Dreaming Details

Doing Lunch

Form

Pas de Deux

Leaving the Great Divide

Discreet Valor

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

No Need to Move

Blue Tango

Sandra in the Morning Light

The Fix Is In

Organic Birth

The Latest Edition

No Manatee Left Behind

The Storm

Leaving

Silence of the Sirens

Upon the distant island, surrounded by the shells of 

Ships wrecked upon the rocks,

Rocking to and fro,

Through my telescope

I see the sirens singing upon the rocks, 

Alluring and seductive,

Too distant to hear their song,

I think they know that I spy upon them,

As sometimes they stare in my direction

Full lips, enticing eyes, arms beckoning,

And though I want to hear their song,

To throw myself upon the rocks,

They flee, flying far above the sea when I approach

Saving me from myself.

I imagine a melody that will drive me mad,

Ecstatic emotions overwhelming all desires

Of self-preservation, emotions only a god could endure,

Emotions so violent a calmness will abide,

Desires devoid of thought,

I would gladly bask beside them

On the edge between life and death,

Luring others to their death,

Still I hear the silence

And seek the madness.

Garden of Sand

Through the temple of bones,

The desert wind passes.

A famine of the heart,

A famine of the mind,

Seeds that wither beneath the sand, 

Sail upon the sand.

Between the mounds of the undead,

It carries once powerful voices of the desert

Beyond eternal flames.

Are we not the Chosen?

Feel the words within our blood,

Turning, warming, feeding.

Did we not leave the garden

To thrive in the desert?

Were we not cleansed

In the river of sand?

From Palenque to Giza, 

Water lily to stone,

From Ur to Jerusalem,

Lion to cross.

A throbbing heart is offered

Upon a blood-stained altar, 

As the water lily cleanses

The flower shields.

Through the Valley of the Dead

A soothing sirocco sings,

Souls are but a whisper,

Stone but a slave.

Abargi hears the thunder through the valley

He feels the rumbling of the earth,

But Marduk sits upon the throne,

The lion’s roar is silenced beneath desert dunes.

The wall wails no longer;

The golden dome is tarnished beneath the fervent sun.

We wander through the desert, from the desert.

A poisoned stream we return to the barren sand.

The chimes of bones chant

Till the wind abandons us

Upon silent dunes

Beneath a cloudless sky.

 Cicada Cadence

I will only wait

For the leaves to fall

And for reflections to disappear;

I will only stop

To hear the wind stirring,

But when your eyes open

I shall be gone into the past;

When you mind awakens

I shall be shielded 

By the night.

Raindrops Against Glass

Somewhere in April,

Beneath a stained-glass sky,

We saw the first light of dawn:

            Transposing colors

       Merging in black rivulets

          Upon the fragmented sidewalk

We walked among the refuse,

Blown against curbs and buildings: 

      Raindrops

           From an interlude

              Clinging to glass reflections

I heard your voice 

      In a momentary whisper 

   Knowing home

      Was farther

            Than miles

                  Measured by lingering words

                       Caressed in darkness

You spoke of soft childhood memories,

Of running upon 

Blankets of larkspurs and daisies

As wispy clouds 

Drifted upon palettes of blue.

Counting the steps 

An uneven rhythm,

   Upon the gray segmented concrete,

We blended into tinged daylight colors

Somewhere in