<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/b>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/b> in ancient China, and said unto His Daughter:<\/p>\n \u201cI love you much, Beloved, heed what I say!<\/p>\n Know that before your birth I knew about thee,<\/p>\n that you have lived before and I have read<\/p>\n your work which in your last existence flourished,<\/p>\n and I, thy Padre, loved your terrible beauty,<\/p>\n the divinity concealed in your sorrowing spirit.<\/p>\n Knew also of your tragic end and how,<\/p>\n as a good Man sayeth to me, you went<\/p>\n down to the shades below, which made me weep,<\/p>\n My Love, tears that I would weep had my<\/p>\n own little child been lost. Heed what I say!<\/p>\n A little child thou art but you can read,<\/p>\n and when this book which earnt me fame I wrote<\/p>\n to celebrate my marriage vow, I said<\/p>\n these words to thee alone with all my heart,<\/p>\n though you forgotten were. In your spiritual<\/p>\n ear I whispered aery verse the lines<\/p>\n of which concealed my grief and secret love<\/p>\n and with my verse I tempted thee and made<\/p>\n with thee a pact that you my daughter shall<\/p>\n become and may one day rejoice as you<\/p>\n deserve, Thou beautiful, tragic, troubled spirit \u2014<\/p>\n the only poor devil I ever made a pact with \u2014<\/p>\n and never said unto a single soul<\/p>\n a single word within my bosom buried!<\/p>\n Know then, my little one, you\u2019re old and wise<\/p>\n enough to be your mother\u2019s Blessed Mother!<\/p>\n Let no one then teach you, my troubled Queen,<\/p>\n facts of your life which with my faltering verse<\/p>\n I have said unto you far better than<\/p>\n your teachers can.<\/p>\n \u00a0From years before Thy birth<\/p>\n \u00a0I felt for Thy misfortune sorrow intense<\/p>\n and painful, flesh torn from My flesh, without<\/p>\n relief from pain. I ask of Thee a favour:<\/p>\n feel for Thyself the pity and the sorrow<\/p>\n that I felt for Thee. Admire the beauty of<\/p>\n such overpowering, tragic pathos \u2014<\/p>\n but save Thy dear Soul: Salvation is<\/p>\n egoism as God wanteth, Damnation not.<\/p>\n Love and untold riches shall be Thy portion<\/p>\n for bearing with Me<\/strong> the most cruel insult.<\/p>\n I am reborn just as Thou art. Kirin \u2019s<\/p>\n Incarnation is Kirin \u2019s Reincarnation.<\/p>\n He and His Mother chose each other just<\/p>\n like Me and Thee. I was choked and knowing not<\/p>\n how best to say it! I am poor as Lazarus,<\/p>\n but Thy reward is the Honour of Thy dreams \u2014<\/p>\n a gift of beautiful imagination<\/p>\n to bring Thee Joy in Solitude, whenever<\/p>\n Thy Honour shall flash upon Thy inward eye \u2014<\/p>\n and being a Genius at school, as Padre was.<\/p>\n The time shall come when I shall make Thee rich:<\/p>\n for suffering with Me<\/strong> the cruel insult<\/p>\n You deserve the Jackpot!<\/p>\n \u00a0Beloved Daughter, know<\/p>\n \u00a0that I have chosen Thee out of a Book<\/p>\n just as the great Kirin did choose His Mother,<\/p>\n two poor devils who could not be consoled<\/p>\n without each other! Were they not all of them<\/p>\n little children once upon a time?<\/p>\n no guile? nor malice in their eyes? misled<\/p>\n by the World? by untold temptations scatter\u2019d?<\/p>\n by fast ones led away to endless ruin?<\/p>\n Thy brows with roses red forever crown\u2019d,<\/p>\n I declare herewith the Reincarnation of<\/p>\n poor souls in need a dogma of the Faith<\/p>\n which with My Sacred Heart inscribe on Thine,<\/p>\n high, divine Priestess of future Culture,<\/p>\n around Whose Honour all the Creeds of Earth<\/p>\n have been united in one common effort<\/p>\n to win Mercy for all Mankind, though lost<\/p>\n throughout the Centuries \u2014 born again Christians<\/p>\n as Buddhists teach and Hindus, and the great<\/p>\n Confucius, through a dogma of Rebirth<\/p>\n as majestic as of Resurrection!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n God loves dearly the faithful of old Religion<\/p>\n who live Its mourning and mortification<\/p>\n without making anyone insults too great to bear.<\/p>\n They did to Me, and I deserve truer Religion.<\/p>\n True Religion is pregnant with new Religion,<\/p>\n and new Religion calls all Mankind to Mercy \u2014<\/p>\n save a fiend to win Thyself God\u2019s Mercy!<\/p>\n Unless We have Compassion on the damned<\/p>\n nobody shall, and We may still be lost<\/p>\n and in despairing need for such a Miracle,<\/p>\n and no one heed Our hoarse, despairing cry,<\/p>\n and no one have Compassion on Us either.<\/p>\n To save Thy Soul save a poor devil, such as<\/p>\n Thou art; Thou art not Angel so privileged!<\/p>\n God may still abolish Hell forever. Instead<\/p>\n He may establish the Reincarnation of<\/p>\n poor souls in need as the alternative,<\/p>\n postpone the Judgment through a Faith like Plato\u2019s,<\/p>\n and charge, perhaps, the bill for many lives,<\/p>\n demanding pact and truth of countless lovers \u2014<\/p>\n just one more way of saying: \u201cPurgatory!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n To say once more that God is not a sadist!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do some Humans think they are? \u2014 to feel<\/p>\n so privileged, though they be not, as to make<\/p>\n some others demons just because their Padre,<\/p>\n because He loves them, gives them second birth,<\/p>\n because He wishes them a second chance?<\/p>\n Do not fear, gentle Daughter, I boast<\/p>\n a history just like Thine, and I accept<\/p>\n the Judgment with Thee in writing. Repent of all<\/p>\n the faults of Thy past Life. Real Glory<\/p>\n lieth in freedom from the cycle of<\/p>\n Rebirth. Pray for Salvation only. Pray<\/p>\n for Resurrection. Rebirth is but a Purgatory,<\/p>\n which God allows the worthy for real reasons only!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Only the wicked do not acknowledge Hell:<\/p>\n we must, if Truth, affirm its Truth! Rebirth<\/p>\n is but a viable alternative<\/p>\n for all poor Souls who need rehabilitation:<\/p>\n God is not a sadist! We all implore Him<\/p>\n to consider this well-made suggestion \u2026 that all<\/p>\n may be allowed to earn Salvation, proving<\/p>\n to God Himself how merciful they are!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n No living Man or Woman is owned by Demons.<\/p>\n Let all Mankind take turns, with works of Art,<\/p>\n and with their Love, to save poor souls in need,<\/p>\n and save them well, one fiend at a time!<\/p>\n Old Faith and New vaunt equal power to save you:<\/p>\n God respects entirely your freedom to Choose!<\/p>\n Call it Thy own pro-choice Philosophy \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n You have a right to choose the Child You bear,<\/em><\/p>\n but You must love and cure Her as I did,<\/em><\/p>\n or \u2018twill be worse twice over for that poor Devil!<\/em><\/p>\n Prescribe Your wish to God Himself in prayer,<\/em><\/p>\n allowing God to offer You the Choice!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Be good to Thy poor devil. Devils care<\/p>\n for works of Art. They shall prove sensitive<\/p>\n to Thy creations, concerned as these should be<\/p>\n with the harsh blow They suffer. Help Them bear<\/p>\n Their insult with a well-intended honour,<\/p>\n to save their face and show them that You care \u2014<\/p>\n and Thy reward shall be Salvation, Thine Own<\/p>\n and all You love, for all of Whom Thou shalt<\/p>\n win Mercy. Thou shalt become a beautiful<\/p>\n Artist, as Thy recompense for boasting heartfelt<\/p>\n Mercy, and shalt be paid with money made<\/p>\n of silver, gold, jewels and precious stones!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I have no evidence but intimations.<\/p>\n Throughout My sixty years, since early childhood,<\/p>\n My recollections brought Me but one Story.<\/p>\n I was a Poet in My native tongue,<\/p>\n most minor, though I took pride I was the first<\/p>\n to grace with verse My language. All My life<\/p>\n My Aunt encouraged Me, and I believed her<\/p>\n because I loved her \u2014 Conchita was her name.<\/p>\n But I lay dying and I told My Aunt:<\/p>\n \u201cSurely You will give Me the honour, when<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m gone, just as You did in Life!\u201d<\/em> She said:<\/p>\n \u201cDo you not know how musical, how complex<\/em><\/p>\n the foreigner\u2019s Art all is? What theories It<\/em><\/p>\n conceals between the lines? How can I give<\/em><\/p>\n the Honour to a Poet such as You?<\/em><\/p>\n John Anthony? You are too small for words!\u201d<\/em> It was<\/p>\n the Gospel Truth: John Anthony was most minor \u2014<\/p>\n but all she did was to revenge herself<\/p>\n and stoke Me in My dying minute! She should<\/p>\n have left Me up to God \u2014 Who doth not hate Me!<\/p>\n I did not die well and I lost My Soul,<\/p>\n galled and bedeviled in My dying Hour,<\/p>\n and told the Gospel Truth with wrong intent,<\/p>\n but still recall Kirin , gently talking<\/p>\n to Me in Hell: \u201cYou suffered a gross injustice,<\/em><\/p>\n John Anthony, and I shall give Thee birth again.<\/em><\/p>\n I shall make Thee a Poet famous with<\/em><\/p>\n the foreigner, writing in another tongue \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n a chance to save Thy Face and make the point<\/em><\/p>\n that Thou art capable, not as Auntie said!<\/em><\/p>\n protecting Thee from false compliments like hers!<\/em><\/p>\n Beware the Falsehood of parading as<\/em><\/p>\n great Artist if Thou be not the real thing!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Though I was born again, incarnate just<\/p>\n like God, though but a poor, defenceless Babe,<\/p>\n My memories all fled and wiped out clear,<\/p>\n by Recollection of past Life deserted \u2026<\/p>\n the Priests laughed up their sleeves at Me, saying:<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no other God but God, nor any<\/em><\/p>\n other true Religion except for Ours,<\/em><\/p>\n which states Reincarnation is not true,<\/em><\/p>\n and therefore We baptize this Child a fool,<\/em><\/p>\n and in top secrecy murdering his daemon,<\/em><\/p>\n and hold him up to scorn with aftertime<\/em><\/p>\n for claiming Reincarnation as his door to Fame!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Figlia<\/strong>, Kirin\u2019s Secret and His Beata Madre\u2019s<\/p>\n hath blossomed in Our Heart like a blossoming Flower.<\/p>\n My Cause and Thine is just as any Priest\u2019s:<\/p>\n a Man and a Woman deserve truer Religion \u2013<\/p>\n their true Religion is bust who with true Religion<\/p>\n can only bust us! Scoundrels who, neither Saints<\/p>\n nor Artists, neither here nor there, still love<\/p>\n to dominate and lay it down as if<\/p>\n they were Church Doctors \u2014 but their skull is thick<\/p>\n and heart not tender: their true Religion alone<\/p>\n is beyond criticism, and any other<\/p>\n enjoys no sense in which it is true also!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Figlia<\/strong>, I was healing \u2014 with Thee against<\/p>\n My Heart, but Thou wert snatched out of My arms!<\/p>\n Figlia<\/strong>, a Woman has no right to fight<\/p>\n the Man who loves Her for their mutual Honour:<\/p>\n either You love Your Man sincerely, and He<\/p>\n shall honour You, or You may be sent packing<\/p>\n where Kirin Himself in Your past Life did send You!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0Figlia<\/strong>, the pact We made was crystal clear:<\/p>\n Thy Padre went to Hell to bring Thee back<\/p>\n upon His shoulders, on condition only<\/p>\n that Thou wilt save Thy Soul. He doth not wish<\/p>\n to go to Hell for Thee again. Salvation<\/p>\n is in good taste, but not Damnation. If<\/p>\n Thou wilt not save Thy Soul, We shall both lose<\/p>\n the argument, a pact with Satan gone sour<\/p>\n and not Our way, and Thou shalt but incur<\/p>\n Thy sorrowing, heartbroken Father\u2019s deadly Wrath!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Know also, Thou tragic, sorrowing, troubled Spirit,<\/p>\n discussing facts of life is then for Thee<\/p>\n forbidden fruit, for in such trivial truths<\/p>\n much lying is and all things seem, and many<\/p>\n little ones like Thee have gone astray<\/p>\n by fast ones lost and slain, and been denied<\/p>\n the beautiful Sun, the terrible claire de la Lune,<\/em><\/p>\n and starlight shedding balm on secret Love,<\/p>\n by trivial truth incullionated. Forget it then,<\/p>\n My Beautiful! Touch not forbidden fruit!<\/p>\n Be happy with what you know and seek no more<\/p>\n save for the useful skills you learn at school;<\/p>\n and keep thy word same as thy Father did!<\/p>\n The eyes of little children, my Beloved:<\/p>\n the art-show there is all I wish to see \u2013<\/p>\n Lady Aphrodite born from the Ocean;<\/p>\n professor visiting del al di l\u00e0!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Drink of the good Honour which I have given,<\/p>\n My little one, whom I have given fame<\/p>\n for ever for the effect We both produced!<\/p>\n We were but two poor demons, but are not<\/p>\n the Bastard\u2019s property, to snap in two<\/p>\n with insults as He pleases, though He was never<\/p>\n Angel so privileged! True though it may be<\/p>\n I was a poor devil, confounded in My thoughts,<\/p>\n I prayed with You and felt Compassion, and prayed<\/p>\n for Your Salvation: I was never ever<\/p>\n the real Satan! You are such a poor devil \u2014<\/p>\n with a straight face, lecteur, which God Himself<\/p>\n gives All, that They may not be caught as long<\/p>\n as They admit! If anyone feels the need<\/p>\n to take revenge, let him pray to Saint Michael,<\/p>\n Whose privilege it is! Thy Padre wishes only<\/p>\n to give Thee Honour like the Queen of Heaven\u2019s,<\/p>\n unique and unrepeatable with God\u2019s Secret,<\/p>\n like Hers, but different from Hers. Strew on her<\/em><\/p>\n roses, roses, and never a spray of yew!<\/em><\/p>\n Woman I chose out of a Book: \u201csalve<\/em><\/p>\n alla Regina vestita con il Sole!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Thee and Thy Padre<\/strong> shall dine at Journey\u2019s End<\/p>\n with Kirin and with His Madre<\/strong>, with a just revengaunce<\/p>\n upon the prime foundation of Heaven and Hell.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 Joe M Ruggier<\/p>\n 26th February 1997 \u2013 26th September 2013<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 Joe M Ruggier<\/span><\/span><\/b>\u00a011th<\/sup> September 2000 <\/span><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n portrait of Joe Ruggier executed by Vancouverite visual artist Virginia Quental (born in Brazil)<\/b><\/p>\n Joe M. Ruggier was born in Malta in 1956 and has written and published poetry in both Maltese and English.\u00a0 He currently resides in Richmond, British Columbia, where he manages a small press, Multicultural Books.\u00a0 Multicultural Books publishes poetry, poetry leaflets, sound recordings, fiction and literary fiction.<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe Ruggier has sold over 20,000 books, many of them door-to-door, including over 10,000 books he wrote and published himself.\u00a0 There are over 5,700 copies in print of his book Out of Blue Nothing<\/i>.\u00a0 Information on Joe M. Ruggier’s books, cassettes and poetry journal:<\/strong><\/p>\n Intelligible Mystery<\/i> (1985)<\/strong> To order any of the above, please write or call first for availability and prices.\u00a0 Please make checks payable to Joe Ruggier.<\/strong><\/p>\n Multicultural Books Telephone:\u00a0 (604) 277-3864<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The HyperTexts<\/a><\/p>\n The Eclectic Muse <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Managing <\/b>Editor <\/p>\n The Eclectic Muse has published poets and writers from Canada, Malta, the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere. The Eclectic Muse publishes poetry and prose of various styles, but always reflects the passion of its Managing Editor, the acclaimed poet, essayist and critic Joe M. Ruggier. Mr. Ruggier’s passion is for poetry that sings and moves, for poetry that embraces rather than denies or defies the traditions of English poetry. If you believe as he does–that there is a revival of traditional poetry, and that the world is better place for it–we think you’ll find The Eclectic Muse well worth the price of a subscription.<\/span><\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n robin@artvilla.com<\/a><\/p>\n www.facebook.com\/PoetryLifeTimes<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"JR-Portrait\"](\"http:\/\/www.artvilla.com\/plt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/JR-Portrait.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n Out of Blue Nothing<\/i> (1985) ISBN 0-9694933-0-4<\/strong>
\n The Voice of the Millions<\/i> (1988)<\/strong>
\n In the Suburbs of Europe<\/i> (1991)<\/strong>
\n Moods for Lovers<\/i> (1993 ) Cassette<\/strong>
\n This Eternal Hubbub<\/i> (1995)<\/strong>
\n regrets hopes regards and prayers …<\/i> (1996)<\/strong>
\n Lady Vancouver<\/i> (1997)<\/strong>
\n A Richer Blessing<\/i> (1999 ) ISBN 0-9681948-3-4<\/strong>
\n The Poetry of George Borg Translated from the Maltese by Joe M. Ruggier<\/i> (2000)<\/strong>
\n The Eclectic Muse<\/i>, a poetry journal edited by Joe M. Ruggier<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSuite 307
\n6311 Gilbert Road
\nRichmond, B.C., Canada V7C 3V7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/b><\/span><\/span>Joe M. Ruggier
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>Board of Academic Consultants<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/span><\/span>Professor LeRoy D. Travis
\nS. Warren Stevenson (Professor Emeritus, UBC)<\/span>
\n<\/b><\/span>
\n“There are many mansions in Parnassus!”<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n