Greg Orloff
Stats
Pastime trenz pruca
Hometown seattle, washington
job photographer
interests landscape, portrait, travel
Poem Titles
> WHERE ARE THE GODS?
> LIFE, A DECLARATION
> PARIS. A TRIBUTE
> WATERGATE FUNDING
WHERE ARE THE GODS?
Where are the Gods?
Remember when Jupiter was king?
Who worships Jupiter today?
Where are Baal and Isis?
Osiris and Molech
Cronus and Venus
Mars and Pluto
Vesta and Diana
And Marduk and Elum?
Gods of dignity
Gods worshipped and believed in
Gods omnipotent and immortal
Where are you? I weep.
________________________________
LIFE, A DECLARATION
Life is a mirror moved three times by
a transfer company -
I accept life - it is heartbreaking, bewildering,
confusing, amusing. I have watched my
ideals shrivel like an Autumn leaf in Vallombrosa
but, I believe in life - a white and iridescent
sea under the light of the moon - living to
a troubled old age - dreamers like me are
always troubled - 'dare and dare and
dare, forever dare.'
I have been a pagan all my life yet,
1 feel sorry for Christ, the Agitator -
out of twelve chosen friends, two
double-crossed him - the rest garbled his
words - be careful of fishermen.
I have "touched flowers and furs and
cheeks," and I have never met a man
who was not something of a hypocrite. As
I slip down the ladder I meet men
who admit it - that helps.
________________________________
PARIS. A TRIBUTE
Autumnal fragrances of life-
Balzac and Flaubert - nudes of Manet-
Innocent yearnings of Chopin gone-
Gone the glory of Degas and Villon-
What once was, is no more-
StiII the spirit of romance, if not
In Montmartre, if not in the Left Bank,
Still somewhere.
Somewhere in the eyes of a Parisien girl-
Somewhere in the heart of a Parisien man.
Nights ih Paris- nights of a thousand memories.
When all me world seemed like a babys first laugh-
Champs Elysees- elfin lamps shimmer
Like a million topaz tears-
Springtime in Paris of a thousand memories,
Garden of the Tuileries sleeping in the moonglow-
Sacre Coeur sentinelled against the springtime sky-
Ah, Paris in the Spring- the city park in business .
Paris is not a city- it is youth!
Youth never dies
Paris is ever Paris, a-throb with dreams,
A-dream with love, a-love
With triumphs lo be triumphed o'er,
Paris is there for someone, still young- still dreaming.
However old, however hardened-
Those who loved Paris never say goodbye to her.
For in their hearts sing her romance-
For in their hearts march on
The million memories of her gypsy days and nights.
________________________________
WATERGATE FUNDING
Apcgreen eyes watch us from
empty barstools.
furtive eyemoney jades gnash
their candy teeth.
Somewhere upstairs? Whistles shrill,
The fat flamingoes of somewhere
Blow their noses on toadstools
and elsewhere, no one cares much.
Why should they, blood is cheap,
Horizons are easily forgotten,
as irretrivable as a vanished emotion.
We all have our price,
We all have syphilis ideals,
God wears a gray flannel dickey,
Santa Claus has cancer,
Life goes on.
