top of page

Grifyn Poetry

Ecstatic Poetry In Various Forms

From the 2026 Collection

SIXES AND SEVENS

i.
PEN AND INK

“I will dip my pen in you
And make you my ink, my Love.”
The Beloved says this
To me, one night in May
I weep with happiness 
that Day, I shed so much—
For I see my blood has turned
To ink, without thinking.
It flows through my veins, thusly
Blood as ink, ink as blood
I cannot help but spill it
Push it upon the page
From this heaven of my new
Heart, freshly free of hurt
And rage which take me apart.
The cock crows, the birds sing
All night long like starlight
Like Venus holding forth
On the horizon, just
above, suspended like 
The breath, a watchtower of 
Love. And breathing. And—haaaaa—-
Calling out, A Beacon:
“Once I would destroy you
But now I beam you light
Sacrificial sounds, teeming
With delight, and scents of
Insensibility—“
You make me say these words
They all belong to You
Every syllable 
And letter, every
Period I do, I live
In exultation, a prince
Without a crown, a lord
Of many masters that 
Seizes the world around.

Remember that ink, in me?
I’ve spilled it on you Now!
Forgive me, let me clean it
And stain you from my brow.

 

Harinam

May 5, 2026

 

Coast of ocean

Twenty One

A.

Witho t
    Yo 
the
ni
     verse
    wo ld be j st a
lot of bad
    poetry
spinning o t
of rhyme
with no
    one
ness or sense
   of f n
    (for tr e f n
cannot exist
witho t        Yo )

 


B.
children wo ld
never sl mber
and the ivory 
ni corn 
    wo ld
be as  nknowable
    as the secret of    sore feet.

 


C.
a
b s
wo ld not r n
or need the
comfort of maps

and all the atlases
    of E rope

wo ld hang mid-air
like nooses
waiting
for
the
condemned.


D.
a t mn
is lost
witho t


E.
witho t Yo 
the s mmer 
has no 
s m
        (nor do
i,
    trembling only
     nder
       the
       threat
    of a
    never
    Yo )


F.
Snow wo ld
    never
    fl rry
and
the world wo ld loose
its ability to be
bea tif l
(however,
i co ld still
be happy
    happy
    happy!

b t life wo ld
not be
as
pleas rable
and the meas re
    of my love
    wo ld never
    be the same --
witho t Yo ,
hearts is j st
a card game.


G.
Yo 
are the
p rity
in the
p lse of
cold mo ntain
water
    b rsting
    from the
    earth
    (tho gh
witho t
Yo ,
     the watered sod
     bloats
     and t rns
     to a pool
     of prisoned m d
(which,
    witho t
Yo 
is nothing
     b t
    dirt
    dirt
    dirt)


H.
the  nknown
wo ldn't
even
know
That it
wasn't
    mistaking itself
    for the known
it would trip
on its own beca se    )


I.    
the Gn 
    wo ld
be lost
too
and think of
  that!

i think
of
Yo 


J.
Witho t Yo 
the
s n won't b rn
    (my heart
wo ld be a t ndra ,
    nable to
blaze
nder
yo r
heavenly
hands)

K.
Yo 
are the
smallest
sheep
    (the tender
ewe)
who
wanders
in the meadow
beneath a
clo d-lit sky


(witho t
Yo ,
dirt rains
from the heavens
and lovers
live in a
s ckless world
of never rain
    never rain
    ever dry
and painf l

(witho t
Yo ,
even pain
is empty)
    )

 


L.
the b sh
wo ld
never b rn
    and moses
    wo ld sell ins rance like broken promises
and never
live to be even
one h ndred
years old.


M.
Witho t Yo 
sq ares
    are forgotten
    nothing is
    ro nd
    and we wo ld
    live in a world
    of sharp triangles
    (where noone
    wo ld get
    c t
     b t
    everyone wo ld be

s
t
  a
  b
  b
  e
    d   

by desire for Yo 
    for Yo 

 


N.
Witho t Yo 
the world
cannot t rn ro nd,
or the moon
dance in
    its p ll

indeed,
    witho t Yo 
    o r moon is never f ll.


O.
Never worry,
don't fret,
i can get by
fine    witho t Yo .

B t there will
never be
a
s rpl s
of anything
and shortages
will reign
like sharp teeth.


P.
these co ld
be q atrains
instead of trolleys of
words
heading
into
the
heat
of
Yo r
heart
    (witho t Yo ,
nothing wo ld be Yo rs
and everything mine
witho t Yo 
witho t Yo )


Q.
Witho t
Yo 
there wo ld be no
(G r )
    God wo ld
be an
angry
growl
a consonantal
snarl
prone to
continental
drift
    b t worst of all
there wo ld be no
    Yo  and i
to fly  pon the
wings
    of
we.


R.
j stice will be lost
or(at best)come last    l  i     s
t   i
n
g

from side
to
side
like a dr nken madman

(ah, to drink witho t Yo ,
I wo ld never be tr ly dr nk again, too)


S.
Cows wo ld lose
their  dders
wives their h sbands
and the sh ddering
ecstatic j mping of
the saints
wo ld become a homely
tremble,
a spirited
shake
w i t h o   t         Y o  

T.
Witho t Yo ,
n mbers wo ld fall o t of line
like these
letteredpoems
and this
imperfect rhyme.

harinam

WELCOME TO SOMETHING

You made me come today, but
I really didn’t want to
I wanted to stay at home
In bed, nursing my grudges
Polishing my discontent
Practicing haughtiness and
New forms of resentment like
Like so many types of, well,
Expectation, I guess—Yes?
Then there’s the disappointments.
I could make a morning of
Those, spill them to afternoon,
Maybe even to eve’ning—
Okay, it would have taken
Several days. But I’m here.
Talking in American.
But you understand me, oui?
Si, Yah, Dah, So, La, Ti, Do.
Of course, the afternoon would 
Have been spent in such special
Purgatory: wishing for
The past so I could run it
Through the laundry, wash it and
Wring it, and, oh yes, at last
Iron it all out. Flat.

 

The evening was set aside
For Future Anxiety
Cake, and Tea made of bitter
Ness, whose sister, Clarabelle,
Is not clear on the concept
Of anything, having not
A thing to do all day but
Marinate in her own juice:
The juice of human unkind
Ness. For she has that thing
Occupying my eve’ning
(Were I not here right now):

Oh—you want to know what That
Is? Impatience. We’re such
Good friends.We often take long
Drives together, or queue up, 
As you English like to say,
In America, we love 
Long lines. A Disneyland of
Long lines. Waiting (impatient)
Unrepentant. Hollow. Sad.
For that’s what impatience holds
All our sorrows, wantings,
Needings, and more. We’re so a
Fraid. Let’s get to it, get this
Over, why is the line not
Moving? What idiot—what 
Jerk--what Other Person is
Ruining my day, making
Me miserable. Oh God.

That’s how I would have spent my
Day, if you hadn’t made me 
come here to say—oh, well—
I meant to give a speech
About forgiveness and com
Passion and tastey treats
but I forgot to write it.
I hope you forgive me
For that. For this. Ev’rything.

Harinam

May 10, 2026

 

© 2026 Grifyn Thomas

bottom of page