Duncan Regehr

Duncan Regehr works in the literary, visual and performing arts. Among his published works, The Dragon’s Eye, Corvus Rex, Chrysalid, Scarecrow and Presence combine prose poetry and visual imagery. His paintings are found in collections and galleries worldwide. Also a classically trained actor, he performs and directs for stage, film, and television.

He is a Royal Canadian Artist, a recipient of the American Vision Award of Distinction in the Arts, and holds a Doctorate of Fine Arts, honoris causa from the University of Victoria.

The Real Robin Hood

Opening night I was drunk with you,

I played your mask with crooked smile,
wore your moustache under slanted fedora,
sang your eulogy in theatre of myth,

I faked you for an encore,
slipping friction of your killing fame,

Morning after, I stand distorted in steam,
bare before naked light,
inspecting evidence, greasepaint,
traces wiped from corners of eyes,

With blade upon cheek,
scrape wincing contour,
dream-shaping another cartoon,

Wag boy, (the real Robin Hood),
peers from behind his ‘mirror mirror’,
Twinkling, places finger to nose,
leaps, (ever the hero),
into place behind my eyes –

To govern, to rehearse,
enthroned for others’ fancies.

Of Another Self

February 17th, 1988

My dear Brendan,

Often word arrives unbidden,
as though invoked by another.
The following, from source well hidden,
imparts true voice of some other…

Some Magic

It is difficult to know and be the only one who knows,
Angels do not work alone,
Protecting their backs are dragons, the forgotten race,
Ancient reptiles visiting now only in childhood dreams.

It is difficult to know and be the only one who knows,
Gargoyles protecting temples of Jesus,
Who is but the latest Sun-king,
Are merely dragons’ men at arms
And don’t care an ort about temples.

It is difficult to know and be the only one who knows,
Often people speak to you without voice,
In ways only your essence can hear…

Necromancer’s eyes flashing through electricity once said,
“Watch me as years go by. I will bring magic.”
I watched and waited, being schooled in obedience,
For more of the message,
But the tempter, like the raven, did not expound.

It is difficult to know and be the only one who knows,
Why dark warrior chose Dragon’s Eye.
It was to say,

“You watched these years and
Paid dearly for the time. Drink now.
It is magic promised when I first spoke to you.”

It is difficult to know and be the only one who knows,
I expected the draught to taste otherwise,
More fruit, more nut, more anything but
My own blood.

It is difficult to know and be the only one who knows,
That whatever he thinks he was doing when he said
Words that would summon my soul,
He was breaking chains that held me flat.

It is difficult to know and be the only one who knows,
We each have a price to pay for the proffered chalice,
What stands before you now on wavering, untried limbs
Has no objection to the burden of this awareness.

Yours,
from one to another

From Presence
by Duncan Regehr
© 2018 Duncan Regehr
Published by Ekstasis Editions