Mirror Poems

By Steven L. Griffing

The poems contained in this book were composed, primarily, in 1986 and 1987 when I was living in Columbus, Ohio and Los Angeles, California. In June of 1986, I moved from Columbus to Los Angeles, and embarked on one of the most profound writing experiences of my life.

I worked as a security guard in Los Angles from June of 1986 until October of 1991. My work had some influence on my poems from this time, but the main influences were the people and culture of southern California, the climate and geography of southern California, previous and present life experiences that I was having, an understanding of God and a search for the meaning in life, an interest in women, and a love for nature, which I still maintain today.

I was fairly low income, and surviving, almost, entirely on my own. Previously, and at about the same time (through the end of 1986), I was finishing off some major parts of my book on the golden section. Concurrently, and years later, I was writing up my essays on philosophy and life, which I did not finish until after I had returned to Columbus, Ohio, at the end of 1991.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 13, 2001
• ISBN: 9780759633919

Steven L. Griffing

I am a Caucasian male of age forty-four. I am single and have no children. My surviving parent is my mother, Penelope Scott Griffing. I was born in Canberra, Australia, A.C.T., however, since both of my parents were American citizens when I was born, I was born as an American citizen. My family moved to Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. when I was seven years old, so I have remained an American citizen all of my life. I have been working for the Columbus Public School District since February of 1998. In October of 2000, I started work as a full time tutor for Specific Learning Disabled students at a local Columbus Public Schools' high school. I attended Oberlin College from 1974 to 1979. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in mathematics. I attended California State University at Los Angeles in California from 1981 to 1983, where I received my first state teacher’s credential in mathematics. I was a member of the 3HO (Happy, Healthy, Holy) group from 1979 to 1983. 3HO was the branch of the Indian Sikh religion, established here in the United States by Yogi Bhajan in the 1960’s. My hobbies include reading books and magazines, going for walks, talking with friends, watching certain television shows and movies, and plants and gardening. My current memberships include The Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club. My other writings include The Golden Section: An Ancient Egyptian and Grecian Proportion, Mirror Paintings and Early Starts, and Essays on Philosophy and Physics, although no material from these works has been published, as yet. Some philosophical statements might include the following. God is beautiful. God is bright. And, God is big. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is bright. And, everyone can speak. All of Creation is a miracle. All of life is magic. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. God is in me, and I am in God. The universe is in me, and I am in the universe. Food, water, and air are in me, and I am in food, water, and air. I eat, I drink, I breathe, I live. The universe eats, the universe drinks, the universe breathes, the universe lives. On earth, we have the four elements of earth, wind, fire, and water.

Book preview

Copyright © 2001 by Steven L. Griffing.

All rights reserved.

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

ISBN: 978-0-7596-3392-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-0-7596-3391-9 (e)

1stBooks – rev.       01/26/2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: 01-06/1986

1. Mirror, Mirror

2. Big Fish

3. Sitting on a Mound of Dirt

4. What Will It Take?

5. The Plant

Chapter 2: 07-12/1986

6. Oh, Beautiful Lover

7. Winter Song, Winter Dance

8. We Will Build a Sacred Manger

9. Stand by Me

10. Beautiful Bird

11. Oh, Beautiful Bird

12. Your Beautiful Eyes

13. Incessant Love

14. Do Another Dance for Me

15. She’s Shady, Silent, and Gray

16. Look at Me, Now

17. Nightfall

18. Laughter in His Eyes

19. Be a Painter of My Dreams

20. Our Spiritual Sky

21. The Little Elf

22. In the Dark Part of Our Lives

23. He Looks at You

24. You are My Truest Love

25. One Soldier after Another

26. I Have a Black Heart

27. What Totem Pole, or Obelisk is This?

28. I Fly; I Cry; I Die Away

29. Little Bluebells on a Stem, I.

30. It’s a Little Orange Ball

31. I Send the Counselor Renovating

32. Little Bluebells on a Stem, II.

33. The Plaintiff Called a Little Bit Earlier

34. When the Few of Us Shall Lament in Peace

Chapter 3: 1987

35. I Have a Hard Life

36. Enclosed, Herein, These Withered Walls

37. Racing Cars

38. Inquiring Minds

39. Forsake Thee, and Forsooth

40. The Light of Lights

41. But, Once the Wind has Blown

42. Believe in Me, Obsolescence

43. At the Quiet End of Time

44. Boundless Seas, and Boundless Clowns

45. Unbridled Passion

46. Around and Around the Wheel Goes

47. I Stand before God

48. The Dark is Devastating

Chapter 4: 1988, 1990, & 1996

49. The Wolf

50. I Live in a Broken-Down Palace, II.

51. The Atomic Sun

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Poetry is the way of making logic out of the universe, of making reason out of sound, and a way of forming mathematics to understand the physical and astronomical ways of God. Poetry is meter and rhyme; it is the essence, or root of language.

Chapter 1

01-06/1986

Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall,

who is the fairest face of all?

What image do you see

in your glass?

How old are you,

and what face doth thou seest

when I lookest there?

What thoughts do you, secretly, hide

in the reflection

of your glass,

and will your image live

in eternity?

Big Fish

Big fish, big fish, I want to play a game with you.

I want to play in school.

I want to play at home,

and in the courtyard after school.

I even want to play in a pool.

Big fish, big fish, how are you?

What is your name,

and how old are you?

Are you a tuna, a perch, a trout, a salmon, or a shark?

And, will you play with me, even in the dark?

Will you play with me after school?

Big fish, big fish, do you speak my language, too?

At the bottom of the river here,

it can get very dark and murky, you know?

But, I don’t get dirty, anyhow.

I just swim and glide.

I just fin and dive.

I fish for fish, and other fish’s food,

like plankton, krill, and squid.

It gets mighty dark and murky

on the river’s muddy bottom,

and I don’t know if I will survive another year,

especially, under the frozen ice,

where my blood almost freezes to the bone, too:

like sap in a blade of grass,

or in the trunk of a tree,

during the winter chill.

Big fish, big fish,

will you play after school today?

Sitting on a Mound of Dirt

Sitting on a mound of dirt;

sitting on the ground.

Sitting on the top of the hill,

feeling so free.

Sitting on the top of the