The Phoenix
For Jo
They speak of the Phoenix with feathers of fire
Which scintillates forth from its funeral pyre,
Reborn into radiance, relaunched into light,
From its prism of pain into heavens of flight.
They speak of its plumage of purple and gold,
Of its nimbus that no earthly heartache can hold,
But forget that it flies with the taste on its tongue
Of the ashes of worlds that will never be sung.
Yes, they speak of its birth into sunbursts of sky,
Into spheres of new hope where to live is to fly,
But forget that each wingbeat is born of the flame
That made living and dying taste almost the same.
How it soars to escape the implacable flame
That makes living and dying taste almost the same.
A graduate of King’s College, Cambridge, UK, Jonathan holds an honours degree in English language and literature. A poet, short-story writer, essayist and songwriter, Jonathan has over 80 individual publications to his name above and beyond his corporate output. His recent publications include The Colour of Love (Acumen Publications, 2011) and Exposure (Falcon Editions, 2012). Jonathan’s 2006 CD The Road in Our Feet, recorded together with classical guitarist Roland Gallery, is available on iTunes.
Jonathan is fluent in German and French, and translates from both languages.
