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Photo © Jock McDonald
Poetry
Below are samples of Harrison's poetry. These poems are available on a CD, titled, Life, Love, and the Unity of Being, read by Richard Yonge, with music by Frederick Clarke and narrations by the author. The price of the CD is $14.95 USD. If you are interested in purchasing the CD, please e-mail the author by clicking here. Be sure to include "poetry CD" in the subject heading.
In addition to the printed poems below, by clicking on the following links, you may hear the Author reading Who I Am, (track 24 of the CD) as well as Looking at a Mountain In Canada, (Track 5 of the CD) read by Richard Yonge.
EX UNO PLURES
And with that last primordial spark
(Unknowable instant of infinite sun),
The worldly heart was born torn apart,
Hurled in pieces through eternal dark
To long, and to long, and to long, to be one.
Living's the skin of unplumbed dreams:
A slender surface borne from the deep,
Sounding the echoes of one heart beat,
And pulsing to birth from unclotted stains,
Ten billion lovers with numberless names.
What else is this I sense inside myself?
Shardy scents of a splintered whole,
Kindled to sense by all kindred Soul:
A fragrant white that pierces to sight,
A sweet mothy flight seeking the sun
--The essence of Being Itself.
The following headline appeared on the front page of the September 14, 1995 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle: "AUTOMATION, E-MAIL, ENCOURAGE ISOLATION --A LESS SOCIAL SOCIETY IS BECOMING SHY." The story summarized the findings of a university study about increasing social isolation, reading in part: "Growing numbers of those people standing silently in line at the ATM and pumping their own self service gas are probably victims of America's 'silent, anonymous epidemic":
A TALE OF LIFE IN AMERICA
or JOHN ALONE
John Alone awoke
To his radio clock
(Long after the sun arose
but his blinds were closed
And there was nothing else to wake him).
John Alone showered and dressed
And listened to the radio.
He heard how hard the traffic was, and so
John Alone took the subway car in silence
(no one talked to him).
John Alone waited at the ATM,
While others did their business;
And then when John Alone arrived
At his comfy cubicle
He read his ready E-Mail
And listened to his messages,
While upon the desk he heard
the whirring of his FAX.
And then
John Alone listened to the Recorded Message Option menu
So thoughtfully provided by his correspondent.
And
went he went to pay his overdue computer generated bill,
John Alone's Answering Machine spoke clearly to the callers
Who did not know the number of his beeper.
And after John had left his messages in return,
He turned to do his business,
Processing words as well he could.
His silent day's work done,
John Alone returned to his subway seat
and rode back home in silence.
John Alone found it hard to choose
Whether he should watch TV tonight
Or play computer bridge.
So he chewed upon the thought
And dined upon his microwave,
A special Cordon Bleu
Of filet in shallot gravy,
And fell asleep to dream
Of flesh and blood and maybe.
Then John Alone awoke
To his radio clock
(Long after the sun arose,
but his eyes were closed
And there was nothing else to wake him).
