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Night
What I saw when all was dark
Under the moonless stars,
Unfurled sails cross clear skies
And steeled my grounded heart.
I lost the moment when time shed
All its frog skin spots,
Returned its gaze back upon me
And shouted in the dark.
“I will not win this any way
I will not cross the fog”,
That creeps into this crystal night
A bandit with false rot.
And when the ship is set adrift
Above my small abode
I will not know the phrase to say
To reach the silver throne.
I will stumble in, dismayed and great
To test the edge of night
To join the silent revelry
Or face the call I might.
That echoes through me
Like a drum, set fire to my veins
“The time has come, the hour close,
Soon these nights will change”.
Circulation Desk
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How are you today
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Looks like…. You have one other checkout, looks like it’s The Power of Habit?
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Have a wonderful day.
Surrounded
Travel between I’m told
Release yourself, be one
But what happens when all
At once
I am none,
I am floating in the river
Bobbing without direction in glass
Breaking my heart to listen
To hear
Too many cries echo beneath my feet
Too many universes have whispered
Too many minds have been broken by the wind
And mine is not strong, not fortified against the madness
That creeps from the glacier that’s fed with blood
To find me wrapped in shadows, alert as the river turns
Against my being, the rush,
Overcome by majesty and unfit to feel its pulse
pearls
Scattered poems seem so small
They wrap around my skin
Strung together, plastic pearls
Never ever meant to begin
Each bead added weighs heavy
Biting on my wrist, creasing
Categorized, crafted, captured
Never the fight nor the feeling
Make the bracelet whole
Charms and gaps appealing
Clear, concise, contained
Never the numb nor the feeling
And when the sting, it snaps
Flinging notions on linoleum
Cupboards, couches, chairs
Feelings to be never ever found
How…
How fearless, how brave
Moments of ignorance make
Untied to the price
Unbound to the loss
Of what could, will, be
How cowardly, how stupid
To walk through this life
Staring at weapons
And seeing game dice
What I was not born to know
I hunt for you.
In woods and opera houses,
Scouring farmers markets,
And baseball stadiums,
Straining my eyes
To take on the full moon
And on the other side of eternity
Rests the answer,
You. You cloaked in a mystery
Four winds bound to leather.
And me, me, I am
I am dragged across starlight
Splintered in slim darkness
I search,
I searched,
I searched to find.
And now that I stand before you
Wrapped in a clarity that confuses
Even myself
If you dare to show your face,
If you are more than reflections
If you have ears and eyes
If you can recognize the determination in mine
You know, as I do,
Bows and arrows can’t catch the wind
You cannot skin nor carve what might have been
My newest lament, veiled and waiting
Was wrestled into releasing
What I was not born to know
Some days I’m a robot
Some days I’m a robot
Calculating in a void
Welding myself to the spot,
Heart and mind unemployed,
Never better, never worse
A charming, faceless android
Triumphant clarity my curse
The same strategy deployed
Be gone, be gone, within,
Without a second to avoid
Yes… no…no.
I’ll face the world as my kin
Self assured and overjoyed
And when my gears begin to sing
And when my eyes are rose oiled
I’ll see you, sharp and learning
And remember. I am breathing
Not only in my ridged fear
But in my useless dreaming
No…no
Detach, detach, but all abound
Are waves of endless feelings
Hnff, click, pop, clank, ahh
I’m back to dull, a robot
Through and through
Another day, another way
Of trying to make it true.
Thin Layers
Thin layers
Coat my skin
In thin betrayers
A hollow limb
Thin layers
Cloud my eyes
In thin blurs
Never to be wise
Thin layers
Wrap my heart
In thin favors
Borrowed from not
Thin layers
Guide my hands
In thin years
Devoid of plans
Thin layers
Fill my soul
In thin prayers
To hide the whole
A familiar path
My little black dog stops
At the red rocks
The same as yesterday,
Yet born anew
In dappled sun she reads
Her daily canine news
Floating feet ahead
She leaves a mysterious code
For friends and foes
Entwined with a knowledge
I’ll never know,
At the base of an old oak tree
Fire Season
A fire broke out on my drive home
Black smoke billowed high over the road
From the hilltop to my right,
Beside the white house on the ridge
Not thirty feet from the raging flames
Its windy today
A plane flew low above my car
Red stripes on white
To save the day
Did they fill up in the lake?
The engine fills my car
Smothering the Beach Boys
Its windy today
Then a second, overheard
Headed towards the hilltop
With the little white house
Beside the column of smoke
Its windy today
My phone buzzes
There is a fire
I know, I’ve seen it,
Heard the planes
Smelt the smoke
Its windy today
Hours later another buz
The fire is contained at 0.49 acers
Its still windy
In the morning the fire is gone
Put out with planes and heroes
The wind has stopped.
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