Cannabis Quatrains

 

 

 

 
I awoke... and divorced old lies and laws from my bed,
And espoused the flowers of the Indian Hemp instead.
That fickle mistress,  gold digger, tramp and whore-
That soothed my heart and fed my hungry questing head.
 
That precious herb that men set their hearts upon
May turn to ashes-- but her seed prospers; and anon,
Like snow flakes lighting on a hot desert sand dune
Lighting but a moment or two, and then... it is gone.
 
So, plant the herb that with logic absolute
A thousand laws and false doctrines refute;
That sweet and subtle alchemy, that in a puff--
Life's Leaden metal into gold it does transmute.
 
With Kindness the seed of paradise I did sow
By my will, my love, I sought to make it grow;
And this was all the harvest that I reaped--
I fell like the rain, and like a puff of smoke, I go.
 
And this delightful herb, that tight bud of green
Fills the old glass bong on which we lean.
Ah... lean upon it lightly! For who really knows
From what once lovely lips it has passed unseen.
 
Then an addict spoke with a drawn out sigh--
"My mouth from smoking has gone dry;
But fill me with those familiar dank Kush buds,
Then perhaps... I'll recover once I get high!"
 
Then another voice, through the smoke cries,
"These golden Jamaican buds will open your eyes!"
A whisper I hear... as I sit up, awake to partake.
"Fool! The herb once smoked... forever dies."
 
And indeed the herbs I have loved so long
have done my credit in this world much wrong:
I have smoked my glory in a shallow bowl,
And sold my reputation for a bud in a bong!
 
But as much as herbs have been my infidel,
And robbed me of my place of honor-- Well,
Often have I wondered what the dealers buy-
That is half so precious as the buds they sell.
 
The Hemp Goddess with buds my life did provide,
So smoke my body whence the life has died,
And lay me down, shrouded in the living leaf...
Deep within some secret green-bud garden side.