Vixility's Saved Poems

In a garden of dreams, beneath a starlit sky,
Where whispers of love softly sigh,
There, amidst petals of rose and moonbeam gleams,
I found myself lost in the arms of dreams.

He, the sculptor of my heart's desire,
With eyes that sparkled like...

It’s said a rose by other name
Would still have fragrance fair.
The sign may change, but still the same
The substance still is there.

But time before all time began
And voidless was the void,
The word came forth, not yet made man,
And void...

dip
the tip of your toast
in egg yolk
and I watch
as it slides from your lip
and runs down your chin
onto your collar
leaving a sliver of bright yellow
on your white shirt and against
the dreary bleached sky
that blends with the snow,
...

Please take my mind to a quiet place
Where there is no pain no hurried pace
And let me rest there for a while
Before I travel my next mile.

And when I once again proceed
Please give me all the strength I need
To face whatever I might find
...

In the back of your closet,
far deeper than most
is an old haunted shoe with
the Tiniest Ghost.

The minuscule moans echo
from your tiny host.
Spiders and bugs whisper of
the Tiniest Ghost.

Ectoplasmic shoe laces,
cereal from Post,
all...

“Haughty Rose”

Of tall and stately stature
Regaled by kings and queens
She grows not free in pasture
But of cultured royal genes

Her fragrance rich, arousing
Her stem best left unclutched
Displayed for passers browsing —
She prefers to...

On a breathtaking sunset view
An idea came out of the blue
Sharp chills of that winter season
Brought unexplored new horizon

The warmth on that summer day
Awaken words in its usual play
Pen and paper on her hand
Remnants scattered on the...

The medics work hard to stop the bleeding
The girl's face is gray with pain
Beneath the bandages
That make a mummy of her

I hold her hand tightly
The thud of the rotor blades drown her moans
I look away

A car bomb shredded through the...

“But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.”
- Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell To Arms


And People Wandered Aimlessly

I dreamt I scaled a castle wall
and stood upon a...

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

 
Seventh-Inning S..t..r..e..t..c..h

Blah blah blah blah...

Reflections, conceptions,
Thoughts whirling around my head
Without anything to grasp on,
Resistant to writing them down;
Making them whole
Seeing them on the page.
Feelings of coming undone
Coming loose
Unsure
Avoiding the mirror,
Avoiding...

“Taranis, the Celtic Thunder-God”

- for all suffering
the wrath of Long Covid
and all debilities


Relentless, rolling thunder
rumbles in my brain
Apprehensively I lie in wait
for lightning and the rain

Before me stands Taranis,
...

She’s never finished.
She’s never done.
Tears ,cries, and alarms,
She asks for help, and no one hears it,
Dishes, laundry, and dinner.
Wiping ,washing, and cleaning,
Don’t forget work!
Keys, purse, phone,
She can’t be late for work.
Her...

From the desert
Of my empty soul
I have wept
An ocean
Of silent tears

As my heart
Torn apart
Aches
With pain
Indescribable, unknown

My heart
Fragile porcelain
Shattered pieces
Scattered
Am I forever lost?

I search
That...

Wandering without purpose
Is my useless purpose

Branches reaching towards me
With twisted arms welcoming
And blocking passage at the same time

Do branches speak the language
Of the world, my world, the fairy world
The languages I am yet...

What is: IT?

What is the antecedent to it ?
Or is there a better way to ask?
Let’s pluralize the question of it
To see if mind can conquer the task

Why is it ? How is it ?Where is it ?
When is it ?Who is it ?What is it ?
Would it ?...

Stars we are
for we shine our light
for how long as we can be.
To allow others to find their ways
who they meant to be.
Even if they hide their identities
when they don’t want to be seen.
Will help them to explore
their curiosities....

The chugging of the engine
As we take it round the bend
The driver blows the whistle
And we hear it at the end.

We meander through the stations
Collecting staffs along the way
And the steam trails out behind us
Oh it's such an awesome day!
...

Earth's vast bed, filled with bones and sins,
Swollen memories forever fade.
Books holding valued citizens,
A predetermined hall of fame.

I saw a white fire blaze
Across the night sky,
One for the good side?
Are there devils in the stars,
...

Butterfly and Rose

One morning deep in summer
a butterfly was birthed,
Of iridescent colors
it flit-fluttered in its mirth

Winding down a garden path
it rested on a rose,
That paled against its beauty
in bright sunlight, juxtaposed

...

When my life seemed to be at its worst, a neighbor said to me
Have you tried Christianity?
As I laughed out loud these words squeezed out
I don’t need to add something new
to make a mess out of it too

So she handed me a Bible and a...

You gave your whole life
to sun's sweltering heat,
as you plucked for hours
the foods that we'd eat.

Depleting more each day,
as you muscled-in your catch
that comforted your bosses
so they'll loosen hardship's latch.

You've become my...

The novelty has since worn off
What fickle, frail, and aimless feats
of distillated, senseless beats
have been evincing all ken doffed

If circumstance could grant the lease
of exemplary faculties
in lieu of glial casualties
there’s...

I wish I could plant a forest
where every tree is a memory
that we share.
mostly good and not bad.
then you and I
can live there
off the grid,
just us,
living amongst ourselves
and every moment
that made us...

It’s sad that wisdom comes along when we are so damn old.
The lessons that you’ll learn in life are worth much more than gold.
I prefer to treat my age as simply time that I have earned.
Some facts of life you'll come upon are painful when...

In the West Country deep, down a quiet narrow lane
A haggard white gate stood in shame
For its task was to guard a disgraceful event
That was due to take place on that day

Beyond the white gate was a brown muddy track
That led to an old dairy...

Imagine the glory of a love so mighty as
to inspire the hopeless to suffer the agony
of one more breath.

 
Mortally Wounded; A Soldier's Tale

He is bloody, fading and shattered,
Disabled, alone by himself --
His body's...

Time’s Comedic Architect


The vision in the mirror illustrates
reflections of an aging woman’s face
Gnarled lines enshrine
the many years embraced
But starlight in her eyes still radiates

The lips are pale and drawn a little thin
The...

pottery
fixed with gold, displays two sides
of a...

Teach me to cherish the end of all things
when breath grows shallow and eyes grow dim.

Lift fears to part skies that hide the heavens
if I am to be carried through stratospheres
into a midst of wisdom beyond comprehension.

What reigns...

Deleted...

Fear my gaze, accept me if you can
All the same to me
Those that have met me are forever silent
Those that have not, believe they are above me

Your powerlessness is not your fault
Profound or ignorant ? matters not
I do not wish to engage...

In my youth, I harboured blame,
Wishing you, my father, bore a different name.
Bullied and bruised, I cursed your every deed,
As fights with my mother made her heart bleed.
Stress consumed my days, even in merry times,
Christmas and birthdays...

Courage is Never a Roar

Courage is always unspoken,
though gallant the sounds that would soar.
For bravery travels in silence.
Its melody never a roar.

If Courage would cause a commotion,
announcing the battles it’s won,
the badge...

The boardwalk surfaces and the dock dries
Retreating to the creature's snout
the tired visitors land
Flocking to rest on that craggily face
Enjoying salty treats.

The rainbow petals yawn slowly
Creaking open, blinking on occasion
laden...

“This Light I Pray”

Strolling near the water’s edge,
toes cooled by sandy wet caress
I looked out on a painted sky,
that silenced my mind’s noisiness

Purples, pinks, and orange hues,
jeweled canvas did my eyes delight
And scent of ocean...

Number 7
By Robert T. Davenport

In the realm of numbers, a symbol stands tall,
A powerful digit, revered by all,
Number 7, a mystical guide,
With secrets and wisdom it does confide.

Seven wonders of the ancient world,
Seven colors in a...

The moon hath one dark evening shone
Upon thine sight as such to render
For that alas twas starlight prone
What night hath shown me of its splendor

Flaxen hair doth don to trace
Reflecting moonlight upon her face
Smile my pretty and I...

In a box
In the attic of my brain
Lain amongst the others
Covered, now, in dust and cobwebs
And where I go to find you
is not inside of there

The weathered mat at the door
does not welcome me
The curtains hide the empty walls
Clock chimes...

If I could be anything
I’d be my professor
‘s paperback copy of
Her favorite novel, torn
and tattered from use, and abuse

Bend my pages and
damage my...

I wish I could have been there when God created earth.
I wish I could have been there for Baby Jesus’ birth.
I wish I could have been there when they sailed the ocean blue.
I wish I could have been there to say goodbye to you.

Seldom...

grey clouds
intoxicate his brain
elusively locked
in personal distress
about another
too bad
it's not me
how nice it can be
being...

So he got the Cyclops to forge him a new zapper
The Electric Tennis Racket
The Catch-All Bug Annihilator
Dispense divine judgment in one fell sweep

*Hold down the button for full charge*
No need to aim or throw
A single haphazard swing
...

With shrines merely built
as a camouflage
for not revealing the causing acts,
the past masks in sanity misfits,
and future hardships lie...

The Silence of Time

Fifty years, five decades, half a century ago
We held hands, walked along the sand
Your smile and laughter, the sound of your voice
Filled my heart with such incredible joy
Those memories came back with photographs found...

Faith, Hope, Peace and Love.
August doctrine of the metaphysician.
A Pauline healer of the human soul.
In quest of divine love and salvation.

To leave no human being behind.
As an island entire unto himself.
But to have us all as continental...

There comes a time when statements turn to phrases
And phrases smooth to rhyme in rhythmic phases
Where your mind takes a seat as your heart takes the stand
Poetry comes in many forms when you finally understand

My mind is a circus tent, and...

Jumped from 62feet

SHATTERED with life

SHATTERED with metal illness

SHATTERED my heel

Still here

Still suffering

Still shattered with...

Never in my Name

What is it exactly that makes you feel this way
Is it something that your Daddy used to say?
Was it slowly, firmly planted, deep within your mind
‘These people, they are ‘different; not our kind’.
Did you listen to the...

She is somebody's daughter
but now she belongs to the streets,
where she dances with the traffic
begging for kindness.

The headlights shine on her
illuminating her hollow face,
ragged body and torn dirty
clothes.

I look at her and...

Silly me, falling for you,
Imagining it was mutual.
Love, unconditional, was all I offered.
Every ounce of it, you drank greedily.
Now with your thirst sated, you leave.
Casually. Carelessly. Cowardly.
Everywhere, the lingering echo of your...

I AM A LITTLE GIRL, AGED 42.. EMOTIONS MISUNDERSTOOD.. IN A WHIRL INSIDE I WAS DEAD ABUSER OF MY HUSBAND WHO SUFFERED SILENTLY AND ALONE IN HIS HEAD I AM ASHAMED I SHOULD HAVE BEEN NAMED CALLED OUT FOR WHAT i DID INSTEAD I HID DENIED LIED SHUT MY...

Deleted...

The Woman in the Moon

Once, I was Gibson's girl
round cheeked and rosy
placed in high altitude
as a lover's ecstasy.

At times blushing or laughing
I primped in the screened solitude
of an old-world charm.

I was the brilliant star
...

Abattoir

 
She sat with her back to the wall
cuddling a red rag doll,
her eyes gazing into some safe place.
Her right arm lay disembodied
some ten feet away.
Her mother, beautiful, olive skinned
had...

The news rolled through like a vacuum
As the rug yanked out from under me
Emptied my bones in a white washed tomb
When time stopped on Saturday

The idle clock mocks me, without turn
While I re-run the scene like a screenplay
Reliving a...

When snails shed their shyness
their homeless cousins timid still
Spiders invite themselves in for tea
their gifted lattice weave drapes the old TV

When the fog’s faces don’t illicit fear
Cheeks pressed up against the clear pane
harmless...

An exclamation from my brainstem
after I have slipped into slumber,
Calls my precepts of perception to:
Those sleep notions— those occasions of reassurance
and awakened, elapsed experiences
That seem to have my number
I’m back in those halls...

To the meadow's edge near the dense woods, we often came to play.
This day we trod with heavy hearts, no happiness, just dread.
Wheels caked with mud, we pushed and shoved the garden cart today.
The content was wrapped in a cotton shroud,...

When your heartbreaks,
it'll shatter
When your heartbreaks,
it'll scatter
It'll go pitter-patter
down to the pit of your stomach,
When your...

Unfallen leaves
keep asking question
would they see spring
if they...

Walking underneath
a golden canopy
of leaves

the wind swirls them above.
I feel like, I am
seeing a part of heaven.

Then, I watch my feet
crunching the leaves and the smell of autumn.
I breathe it...

Perfect. They said she’s perfect.
They said you were confused,
You're too immature.
And you wouldn’t be if you only were,
To walk and talk and act like her.
She’s perfect.
They said “Do better.”
But the problem is this,
What they think is...

No thing can stop you, no not one
after that you've won
the Holy Spirit will guide you
as God promised He would
why would you stop, why take a brake
keep going it's not a mistake
the Lord is with you, He'll see you through
the blessings of...

In all the love poems and great books

 That hold us with their truths

 There could never be a writer

 If they didn't have a muse

You spark my inspiration
And capture my desire
As I seek the lines and passages
that fill my heart with...

“The lunatic, the lover, the poet, are of imagination all compact.”
(Shakespeare)

The lunatic a sorcerer
enchants her own mind
‘twixt reality and dream
confutes the line

Love marks a heaven
on her lover’s brow
the calculus of Reason
...

Sitting high on a hill, looking out;
The world stands still all around.
Twinkling heavens call and shout;
Not a soul makes a sound.

Reaching out, a quiet word;
Though humming trees abound.
I find a free song - sing bird;
Not a thought, not...

“Lullaby of Many Moons”

One night I walked the foggy wood,
beneath a five moon cluster;
Observing it through leafy hood,
enchanted by its golden luster

Sleepy thicket, quiet and still
but for the tree frogs on the boughs;
The air was...

It’s a blustery evening that meets our man
As he rushes to catch his train
It’s been a fruitless and tiresome day at work
And it’s lashing down with rain

Drenched and disheveled, he tumbles aboard
And is met with a sea of frowns
“There’s as...

Each heart is called
To reconcile
Life’s hurts

I have dealt with mine
And
My path now lies
In
Here and now

I will not put my hand
To the plough
Of
Self Justification
And turn the ugly clods
Of
Past’s resentments

I will not...

A lot of people think villains are the enemy, but I disagree,
I think they are just living in their truth and trying to change history,
Now there are a few that sometimes do a little too much,
But a lot of villains are just following their own...

The Riddler riddles
The Rhymer speaks
But who will listen?

To the message
That they weave
Now faded by
The tapestry of time
A message once
So bright
Colours clear
But did we have?
The ears to...

Somedays it hits me all over again,
And I feel that familiar pain in my heart.
Although I try to run from reality,
I catch myself slipping back into the dark.

Trying to hide tears behind closed doors,
Since that is what I learned to do.
...

Past my clothes and makeup
beyond this painful smile
through these tired eyes
behind the cage around my heart

I am everything to no one,
a nobody to everyone
my body does not know peace
especially not in a two-piece

My love can barely be...

September.

We paint death as a pretty picture.
But what if life is good as it gets for some us?
We fell into a cycle of living for the world.
We idolize the things we can hold, those very things leave us grasping for air and the will be left...

A year seems long
To a child in school
Who dreams of summer
And a swimming pool
A year seems long
For a teen inept
Who dreams of times
When they accept
To catapult
Become adult
A year seems long
To become a wife
To marry joy
To...

Possession,
Unlike the genuine orgasma

  Of first love,
Is what you lop towards
Me
With,

  Your basket of hope-
Hope to possess me,
As if you could catch a scent on the wind,

  Or a lost ghost’s memories.

And I never...

As I lay and watch you sleep my princess
you look so peaceful laying there my dear
You just look so relaxed taking a nap.
I just could sit and watch you for hours.

You have brought such joy to my life Babygirl.
I love you in more ways than...

Sometimes I’m drunk
Sometimes I’m stoned
Sometimes I’m tired
Of being alone
Sometimes I’m up
Sometimes I’m down
Sometimes misguided
Just hangin’ around

Every day’s another day of choices
One more chance to grab what you can get
Nobody...

Fragments of whispering light blanket the black velvet back-drop,

Providing a jeweled sky holding other worlds one is wise not to deny,

The moon's warm glow a reminder of the mysterious secrets we yearn to know,

A sojourn from here to...

Light dances on the ceiling
as remnants of a feeling
stay locked up in my mind
Despite what my belief means
there’s an ambiance that convenes
upon places only I can find
And still clinging to these thoughts
while wondering over lingering lots...

wonder why loss is the greatest pain
why it drowns us in endless rain
the heart hurts, the crying we’re tired of
but it’s because we’ve loved with the truest love
it is the greatest thing we’ve ever come across
but it’s heavy price is the...

“Upon Slovenia’s Shore”

Stars rained upon
the Adriatic Sea
and twinkle-danced
for all of night to see
Beyond the sky
as far as I could tell
they took away
more quickly than they fell

At glow of dawn
a glorious shooting star
shed...

Insecure Mothers
Berating and chipping away at her daughters confidence.
A young child just trying to survive the storm of an insecure mother.
This navigation created resilience in this young daughter.
This young daughter’s strength will never...

Deleted...

History screams it's warning
Of consequences laid
When mortal flesh
Is golden cast
And
Graven image...

Her youth is a given.
His intentions, and efforts to woo her will be exacerbating, and driven.


She will be free of care.
That breezy nature will fade as he starts to steal all of her air.

She will feel spoiled, and blessed with...

In the deepest depths of night's embrace,
Aching heart, with sorrow's pace,
Yearns for solace, finds no rest,
In a world where love's been put to test.

With each beat, a throb of pain,
Memories haunt, driving insane,
The fierce of aching...

*Starts with a shot and a drink, to set the mood just right!

*Another shot, another drink followed by a bowl of weed & a cigarette thats the my routine at night!

*Wasted cause you dont wanna show emotions or any weakness!

*Numbing all the...

This was her greatest treasure
In which she found much pleasure.
A tattered book of prayers
Read faithfully throughout the years.
Sitting silently upon her bed,
This book of prayer she devoutly read.
Every morning and night religiously,
...

Cradle me Dear Goodness in your arms so strong
Till all my sins have past and I can do no wrong
Cradle me Dear Kindness in your arms so sweet
Till I speak only your words to everyone I meet
Cradle me, I ask, with blessings from above
So I may...

Our shadows are linked.
That means our darkness is bound.
I know your soul,
Broken before it was found.
It has been mine before it could be fixed
The river styx calls your name constantly...
It's deafening.
They want you back with the...

This time it was cold outside and we tread on a light sheet of snow
Bundled beyond recognition of form, only our hands and faces out
We paused for a comment face-to-face
And suddenly it was lips slightly parted, warm against the cold
It was...

To my baby that I never met
I just haven’t met you yet

I think about you everyday
I think, and cry
And think and pray

I picture you easily in my mind
Know that I’m not long behind

Missing you forever in this life
I’ll see you one day...

Chaos and time
form an alliance
of disruption.

The words follow
and arrange
and heal
and organize,
...

Embrace dawn's embrace, a sacred tryst anew,
To shape a life where echoes find their voice,
Beyond time's measured march, a dance that's true,
A sonnet spun from purpose, love, and choice.

From roach's fleeting span to worm's gentle grace,
We...

Shadows.

In the deep shadows of my mind, where my hurt resides and the darkness hides. I caravan to knock on the door of this pain.

With bold courage, I journey through past wounds that life has given me. I won't interfere with the fear I...

Your shadow dies twice.

 
First, when the sun sets at dusk.

Then, once you learn...

Who are you?
To take your place
By judgment’s seat
And vigil keep
When love, himself
No record keeps.

Who are you?
To captive hold
In heart’s
Bitter dungeon cold
Those who brought,
Your inner pain
When love for you
Has turned the...

Barbed wire fence


 

Metal baracade


 

Rusted over ageing iron


 

Sharp points like the tip of a knife


 

Stabbing into the nature that used to grow naturally


 

Stringy wire coils twist loop de loops.


 

Like a...

Sultry Sounds,
Shatter sleeping silence.
Sunshine slowly streams-
Seams of scattered sheet seas.
She’s standing, splendid, Singing,
Stolen slacked shirt,
Sausage skillets simmering-
Shimmering skin-
Sin secluded Somewhere.
Sitting, swirling...

Deep within Busch Wildlife, there’s a treasure chest buried 6 ft down,
And its contents are far more precious than any jewel encrusted crown.

No map is needed to discover this treasure chest’s location,
For there’s a giant piece of granite...

I don't feel like a person
I feel like a thing
You might not understand so I'll explain what I mean

I'm void of emotion
I don't seem to care
People around me are hurting
But I remain unaware

Empathy is what I lack,
I know this all to...

I watched from afar as his mother said goodbye;
The journey ahead was hers, not his.
He would rest in wonder and peace;
While she began her trudging;
Invisible weights chained at her feet.

I watched from afar as his mother withered in...

A Gift

you’ll see it in your mother’s eyes, hands, and voice
as she tends to your scraped knee or wounded pride

it sneaks up on you while you’re working, hiding
among the rows of letters on your keyboard

it is often triggered by a...

Was it me that day, not long ago?

My dead emptiness floated
with the reflection of the mirror
I looked back at my own dark brown eyes
a sad look
a sad face

My silence and my suffocating breath
wanted to tell me something
when all at...

Beyond the door, she reigns in silence
As I nurse the wounds of battles past
The air still thick with words of violence
She’s beckoned me to her court at last

With frigid stare and pointed the finger
Icy floors crack, under weight of...

I am walking down an old dirt road walled with trees towards my future. I see nothing ahead of me. I begin to wonder if there is something wrong as something tells me this is my future. I am scared of what this could possibly mean, so I turn around...

I thought I loved my Prince Paris
But my heart turned to brother Hector
Then after I witnessed Achille's strength
I suddenly felt a fresh nectar.

I am the face that launched a thousand ships
With only one life to give
I cannot account for...

Fear not, my love.
You are not forgotten.
Should fate destroy this fragile brain,
Still, memories of you remain
In every cell within this frame.
My body will remember.

Fear not, my love.
You are not forgotten.
Should time reduce my flesh...

I woke up crying today
and I'm not sure why.
Maybe it's the turning
of the seasons,
or the condensation of a year.
Or perhaps, there's just no reason
I think maybe
that's my greatest fear.

I feel not unlike
the waning autumn leaves
...

Like steel
Forged
In the fire
Of adversity
Remember
That
You are strong
You are strong...

A stone
Thrown
An impulsive, opportunity
Falling
Through deep silence
Touching
The "not forgotten"
Sending
Ripples of reconnection
Disturbing
The edges of the...

Fern and moss and lichens green,
Gilded in a sun bright beam,
Fairy gold and emeralds gleam,
Along the wooded way.

Twilight under brilliant blue,
Mortal cares in here are few,
Only one, I would that you,
Were with me here this day.

Out...

The ghost of the guard still haunts my mind
He warns and scorns then leaves me blind
The ghost of the guard will visit my dreams
And plug the void where creation streams

I once had a friend who helped me cope
He provided healing antidotes
...

A journey that began laced with pain,
She tried to rise above it time and again,
Little girl did all the things she was told,
Little girl died inside at 12 years old.

The fear in her turned into anger and hate,
Little girl lost her whole...

The moment you let people into your life - you exposed yourself to vulnerability
The worst part about betrayal - it doesn't come from your enemy
You put your whole trust into someone - you ended up being let down
Fake memories flooded your chest...

They say that men should never cry. It shows a weaker side.
Throughout my life, I’ve always found that tears are hard to hide.
There’s so much evil in this world, it makes me wonder why.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to cope. Tell me why I...

We Cry Together

Her shriek is raw, snapping all the world’s quiet
As dreams, unborn, tumble into the abyss of almost.
I don’t know this sound; an anguish that pierces my soul.
With what little strength I have, I grab her hand,
Weaving...

Should we seek fame and fortune
and lead mesmerizing lives,
all at once, all too often,
the fool's errand arrives.

Why yes, seems we're better served
finding our own heartbeat song,
with the same effort incurred,
we find where we...

I knew her as my sister,
I thought she was my friend,
thanks to her,
she puts this story to an end.

Like a fairy tale of what my sister

 was to me?...
Now she taught me of a sister

  who just wasn't meant to be.

She betrayed me in our...

Reality caught in this moment’s perception
Effectively staining the ego striving to protect
Fragility in nature, longing for acceptance within
Lessons creasing the lines weaving the tales
Eternally written, the laughter, pain and the witness
...

He drives into the light
While looking for the darkness.
Eyes wide,
What can he find?
What he’s looking for.
Because seek and you shall find.
You’ll find what you’re looking for,
But it won’t be what you’ve wanted

You misbehave,
Now...

Fare thee well my southern land
Home of old
Not much left of her
But memories of what once was

Vacant lots where chapels stood
Left barren and flat
Broken brick and glass
Are now their foundation

Bustling streets can be seen
In books...

- after The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner,
Randall Jarrell, 1945


  ----------

He is thirty-below at thirty-thousand feet
above the sepulchral sea just minutes
from the Brittany coast, hour from Augsburg,

...

The Pale Brightness

Morning frost
Sleeping lost
Crunching grass
Magpies pass
In the pale brightness

Singing breeze
Breathing trees
Healing meadow
Soothing shadow
In the pale brightness

Gathering cloud
Hanging proud
Textured view
...

There are the bits and pieces of us,
deep past the green parts of Jamaica Plains,
in the first apartment
on the second floor, like some carcass
of an unfortunate thing,
strung about haphazardly, splayed out
in your old storage closet,...

Sometimes a shorter poem speaks best...
on justice,
power,
and
...

Four Wives Tale

We dated for two months. She lived three streets down, on a cul de sac.

I have to admit I was quite fond of her receding hairline.
She sketched a full set of bangs with a Sharpie.

We dated for one month. She lived two...

For a long, long time
I wanted so badly
for someone to save me
from myself.
For a long, long, time
I prayed so hard
that someone would
sweep me off my feet,
steal me from my own mind.
For a long, long time
I believed
that I needed to be...

Whenever he went to Suffern along the Erie track,
he saw a poor old farmhouse, crumbling, broken, and black.
It touched his deep compassion to see it falling apart,
so, he wrote a poem about it, revealing his tender heart.

He was a man of...

Been up,
Went down,
Common ground
In you found.
Talking for hours,
Words vibrating
Through wires,
Until night expires.
Communicating
With sound,
Sharing a love
For music, profound.
Touched without
A hand,
Only lyrics,
From a band.
...

Wonder

It is late at night
As I look into a crystalline sky
And ponder upon my smallness

I realise the stars are
The music of the universe
I am but one note on the staff

And I am...

Fear
drowns us
the rising
depths consume us
But with patience we're resuscitated
Never stop swimming - a promise to keep
whether it is
shallow or
we're in
...

She continues on this journey with or without romance
The cards have already spoken so she takes another glance
At what has been taken and what she leaves behind
Nothing has improved has it all been wasted time
Could it be unspoken how she...

With a spin of the propeller
the engine crackles and sputters
the pilots uniform looks stellar
the blood red Fokker triplane shutters
as it lurches forward and starts to roll
it leans into the sky and flutters

Baron Von Richthofen is...

The wind in the crags made a high keening wail, like a banshee that calls to the dying,
As over the pass came the reavers of Bale, and above them the gorcrows came flying.
Ten score and three of the bravest of shiremen,
Stood in the path of their...

My soul should have been joyous yet I could only feel sorrow
Like how do I deserve the best tomorrow?
I left you all in your deepest pain
I wasn't there to support you when you endured growing pains
I lost myself in a sea of self hatred
Always...

The dawn breaks silently except for the squall and chirp of the birds who predict it’s awakening, of a new day. The breath of the night covers the grass in a dewy glistening carpet.

The darkness lifts slowly as if a blackout curtain being pulled...

When geese fly south, and skies turn grey
Echoes of children, who chose to stay
Outside, still taunt me.

Dinner bells ring, and church choirs sing
But that burnt-leaf smell still
Lingers... to haunt me.

I remember the year when I just wore...

“Tulip’s Kiss”


If tulip kisses
lips of spring
in dreams of warmth
that springtime brings
then when she blooms
with colors bright
will warm the chill
of darkest night

Cupped flower sits
upon a stem
that gently curves,
begins to...

Game’s always changing
You don’t always win
Pick up the pieces
And begin it again

You can look back
When you’re on the right track
At how far you’ve gone
And when you’ve had enough and the moment is up
You will overcome

‘Cause time will...

We are the poisoned youth.
We have spite in our blood
and our blood flows
like the anger in our minds.
Our heart palpates with the fear of our loved ones.
We are the poisonous youth.
We are the poisoned girls.
With pink in our hair
...

Hard craggy rocks soften with shine
The street tempts further a storied decline
Sledges wait ready to carry and cart
For this is the way here in these parts

Trees and cliffs encourage us down
Combined they adorn the village it’s crown
And...

I tried to save you but nearly drowned
The waves of your past crashed into me
Pulling me into rip tides of your suffering
With shipwrecks full of ghosts wanting company

I became one of the specters for awhile
Disappearing from my life and...

Come, up the railing
past the bird houses long since empty.
Through the front door
greeted softly
by the Christmas tree from 3 years back.
Next to it, along the wall
a beat up piano
found for cheap at a garage sale.

Through the dining...

It is the summer of the year.
The birds are singing, flowers are.
But my dear Love not with me here.
She's gone from earth; please, God, this hear!

So, I do walk the streets so sad.
A pain that swells my heart with hurt.
I am aching very...

Out Of Reach
I stand upon this lonely shore, and gaze across the sea,
Its waters far too deep and wide,
And not ship that will abide,
To carry me to thee.

I linger here, and pensive brood, and cold wind blows the while,
To chill...

The autumn glistens,
it glows around me.
I tap my foot
on the pavement
and use it as a beat to my words.

Leaves are falling,
rocking in their way.
They seem to be
sworn to serve the wind

This silence is a good chance for me
to tune in...

Gone are the days

when hope used to rise

with the early rays of the sun

the night seems to give shelter

from the cruel truths of the day

not a day passes without

the feeling of mounting despondency

and wishful thinking akin to a...

It’s just a little pill
that they say will fix your nerves;
An antipsychotic
- which will normalize your aim.

“We need you to fit in
and we need you to be tame.”
So take it every day
while the casuist observes.

They don’t have any proof
...

The pain from my heart drips into blood
Down this page where I write my soul into words
Relationships, pain, family, pain, work, pain, love, pain, stress, pain, anger pain
Turns too blood
Drips down the page where I write my troubling soul from...

To love the lady for whom my heart longs
Is easier to do than to have her.
Love does endure through the rights and the wrongs
And makes brighter the prospect, as it were.

‘Twas easy when juvenile days were here,
When love was so innocently...

The annual hecatomb begins.

Veins

  once full of life

  bleed into red

  into death.

Curled by cold

  their bodies

  fall through fall air.

Loss

  upon loss

  ushered into doom

  ...

Does the leaf know it’s being watched when it falls?
Gracefully drifting down,
gently, when it touches the water’s face.
A soft caress, gingerly stroking the pond’s cheek.
Connecting without disturbing the image,
preserving the visage of the...

By the rivers embankment the river rats awaken
Arid and parched they congregate

Their colourless charcoaled frames smudge and blend into the grubbing landscape.

Dank and filthy they sit by the bulrushes
in quiet desideratum drinking from...

March 4

Here it comes again
This wave of grief to pull me under
A scream from deep within my bones
Raw and loud, eclipsing thunder.

As darker storm clouds gather
I can’t even speak your name
You’re stuck and burning in my throat
I...

Double whopper, no mayo, no ketchup.
Heavy mustard, heavy pickle, no fries.
(I'm not that bad)

 
Two or three times a week, at least, I eat this meal.
Fat, decrepit, half blind, cane in hand.
They see me coming, it's damn near done.
No...

T’was an evil tempter proffering
This thing I should avoid.
Yet, again I took this offering
Excuses then, employed.

You see, my meal left lingering
Its alliaceous taste.
I couldn’t sit malingering
And acted thus in haste.

It conquered...

I once forsook the sun and moon, and sought the land of mist,
Enchanted twice by Hermes’ boon, and by the naiads kissed.
Across the opalescent sea, and o’re those mountains high,
Where dreamers dare not wander free, and Elohim won’t fly,
I found...

In the realm of hushed whispers and unspoken sighs,
Where language fades, and silence takes the skies,
Lies a world unseen, yet deeply felt,
Where absence and emptiness quietly melt.

For there is power in what remains unsaid,
In the gaps...

Train 11 Leaving Portland

Southbound
To LA
Passing rows of tents, graffiti,
Trash and litter where flowers and grass once lined the way
Broken glass, crushed cans and throwaway furniture that once improved a life
Personal belongings, bikes...

eyes
to undo her demise
proved all too much for Orpheus.
with Hadean depths engulfing
oneself,
eroding trust-
until, at last, the truth
of the matter:
that grief only wants to look
back....

Found

It’s late October at the lake
I’m the only one here
the only one swimming
as an eagle glides in circles above

Though the view has changed
no longer softly verdant
now vibrant
spare
it’s inner core remains the same

The...

Heart Song

Eyes see
Mouth tastes
Skin feels
Fingers touch
Hands hold
Music lingers
Heart mourns
I miss you...

So.
Such a versatile word, so.
So good.
So much.
So far.
So there!
So what?
So and so.
And so on and so forth.
So, onward to awkward.
Aw-k-ward.
It sounds awkward.
To mouth it is awkward.
It even looks awkward.
A “kay” between two...

Time is changing
Time goes by
But in my mind
I'm only five

Scared and crying
Locked away
Hoping praying
For a better day

She's my mom
Why don't she care
He's my dad
Who's never there

He uses my body
Confuses my mind
And throws me...

I am homeless
I am me
Look into my eyes
Tell me what you see

I was somebody once, in another life
But now I'm dirty and I'm cold
I am young
But this life has made me old

A plastic cup in my hand
A piece of cardboard is where I stay
I...

I dashed through a snowstorm, in search of a tree
I had thirteen dollars, but found one for free.
It was thrown in a pile, still nailed to a stand,
Behind stood her siblings, all bushy and grand.

I felt a connection to this small broken tree
...

Awaken silent friend that
I found sleeping here inside,
Time for us once more to share
The laughter and friend words
That were a symphony we played
Somewhere far away and long ago…
Awaken now the ears that heard your melodies,
Awaken now the...

Biting-Tearing-Scathing
this is not somewhere inviting.
Eviscerating skin and nerves-
effacing and obliterating
sensation;
swift removal of lands and tribes
brings devastation.
No reasoning or rationale,
the freshly arrived just have to go....

How many pills will it take to replace
That once peaceful look, on your face.
And how many drinks will fill up that
Empty space, in your soul

All those magic potions, do little to disguise
That haunted look in your once, brilliant eyes
And...

He’s bringin’ rain, ole Hurry Cane,
Racin’ ‘cross the sea.
Batten down the hatches, ‘swain.
He’s comin’ fast for thee.

His wind doth blow, twist and spin
As it churns up waves so high
Ye can see naught but walls like sin.
Your end is...

Children should be seen, not heard
Who made up this rule?
If this is how you truly feel
Then you Sir, are a fool.

Many children go unheard
We look, but pass right by -
We’re much too busy with our own
To question them, but why?

A child...

I am in love with a beautiful boy
Who holds me like I am temporary.
And somehow, as if by divine intervention,
He is in love with me as well.

His touch is featherlight
To his lips, my skin is morning dew
I’d fall apart if only he’d let me
...

I stand alone in silence
Lost in years again
And dwell upon the canyon
With my lonely desert friend.
He sings to me through seasons
And drifting summer winds
In notes that skip like pebbles
Sprinkled from the rim.
His solo praises majesty
...

No more to see the sunrise
or watch the raging sea.
Tomorrow isn’t promised,
to either you or me.

No more to hear the laughter
of children as they play.
Tomorrow isn’t for us,
we passed on today.

No more to work or leisure
or lying down...

Dark shadows on the wall
Creep, creep, creeping, all
The way
'Cross my bedside pedestal.

What fills my thoughts full,
At hours near dawn?
Fear of the red-eyed bull
Now nearer to me...

Amidst dawn’s golden light
that shines upon the canyon bright
a hawk awakens from the night
eager for morning’s first flight

Within its pinions impressive as they are
lies evidence of wounds that left them scarred
from injuries inflicted...

The machine keeping my mother alive has an odd swoosh sound as it pumps

I stand listening, watching her eyes flutter

Memories flooding my mind

I try to push the bad memories away,
as there are so many

Mom wanted a different life from...

The Inch Between Us – Poem


I put my hand up
You put your hand up
That inch
Of glass
That inch
Between us

Do you remember
Can you remember
When you heard my heart
From the inside
Beating you into existence
Thumping you into life

...

Parts of me scatter
like raindrops and dried leaves
delivering the pieces to parts unknown
visionary winds that re-energise a stagnant pond
simultaneously, scattering and re-emerging
altered but united...

I watched one thousand people walk along a darkened road –
A road which, leading nowhere, passed nearby my poor abode.
All steady and without a sound they moved as by one mind.
I waited by my door to ask them what they thought to find.

 
The...

Did she know that they
would look for a note.

That they would be haunted
by words she never...

Alone I stand upon a cliff.
Eyes wand’ring o’er the ocean’s drift;
I ponder long on legends great,
E’er ancient kingdoms met their fate.

For long ago, long since forgot,
Fair men of old faced fiery dart
‘Mid battle tumult, standing tall
...

See! yonder hint of flick’ring light
Across the barren field of death?
’Tis candle, lit by young lad bright
To write to those whom he has left.

‘Ere this dread war had yet begun,
That fellow there had land and wealth
And left it all behind...

How long has ancient oak there stood
In quiet field of green
Where casts its shade o’er soil good
That rich with life has been?

What great events have witness-ed
The boughs ‘neath which now play
The children of the goodly laird
Who lieth in...

Horizon’s edge drowns out the sun
As slow tide ebbs and flows,
And laps upon the shore so brown
As daylight westward goes.

The rushing sound of waters deep
Stirs up my soul in thought;
How swiftly Time escapes our reach
And soon, alas, is...

In deepest solitude I sit,
My mind begins to stray
To thoughts of years in distant past
And coming future days.

The past lies just beyond my reach
And aching, my heart yearns
To live again those moments fair,
Those lessons to...