Thursday, May 29, 2014

Flirting with Poetry

In recent months, I've written a handful of poems. While they may not have much merit, they're mine, so I thought I'd share them here.


We Were Green

It was green.
We were flying and the sun-dappled wonder
Became our hearts while our minds
Clasped hands to burn sunlight
The wonder so hard to reach and the blue
So far away.
But the wisps of dream colors would stay
Until the breeze carried thickening down
To the sparkling dark-diamonds of farewell.
We were young.
The warmth kept us safe
So that hearts could pound
Arms could reach
Feet could dance
Songs could soar
Until the day when they couldn’t anymore.
But I recall how it felt back then
When it was green.


More

I loved you so much more
When you were waxy and gray
And the whole world stood on you
While I whistled
Now you are golden and untouched
And it’s all very sad to me
The only thing that I like
Is your plinth
And only because of the word
Plinth
Rolls off the tongue
And if you rolled
Your perch would be precarious
And you might say
No more rolling for you because
Even if you fell
I don’t think I’d love you anymore
But I would still enjoy saying it
Plinth
Won’t you miss it, though
The bombastic abuse
And the unicorn-fiction
Of your hopes that someday
I’d stop whistling
And they’d see you
Waxy and gray and so lovely
The way you were to me
When I whistled


Boarding House Requiem

When open, the eyes do sing aloud and long and shimmer
But closing, bend the weight of care along forgetful paths
So, too, must I go before you to open, close, and fade
The garment worn when open still is shed and shreds and shatters
Your persistent face I think will stay upon my path the longest
Though mine was a shadow to you even before we met
And my garments now bear the print of your eyes
Can I walk this way without your hands having laid the very stones
Or do my works mark the measure of the steps of your own
Sight unwavering though I fail to blink and blush and stammer and hold
Because if I were to lose myself now…
Where would you go?
There is a requiem that has played since that birth
We together constructed these worlds, these hearts, these pains
The children of our hearts did sing so loudly for a time
Until clasped hands unclenched and the clock advanced
Eyes close even as the cloth wraps more tightly
My lips form the truths that I cannot speak aloud
I know you; I know you; I know you—
And that truest heart for which we both mourn is the one we created together.


Bound

I am selfish and childish
Out-of-turn, wildish
And still, here I stay at your feet

Your vanity is apparent
But my devotion is inherent
The balance clings you to me

Cruel and so brittle
Bitter and uncivil
Cold was the day we did meet

Trapped and constrained
In love have I changed
There is no will in me to be free

If you were kinder
Or if I were blinder
Two different people we’d be

So I worship your claws
You adore all my flaws
And in mutual pain we do cleave


Parisian Mime's Lament

I could hold you close, but you’re gone
I’ve lost any hope of you, and you’re gone
And I’m miles away from who you are today
I could have held you once, but you’re gone.

I could face your fears, but you’re gone
Those battles you lost, and you’re gone
And my arms reach out to soothe your doubt
I could have helped you once, but you’re gone.

I could kiss your lips, but you’re gone
I tried but missed, and you’re gone
And though I ache for you like I expected to
I could have loved you more, but you’re gone.


Regrets are like Roses

Regrets are like roses,
Their tender thorns
Do prick and wound
With beautiful scorn
And e'er the soul know discontent
The flower blooms and soon is spent.


Why

If I asked
Why
Would you even
Try to find
A lie
That might quiet me
Make my question
Silent
As my words so often
To you are
Unheard
Refracting off
Diamond-hard conviction
That your reasons are
So much better than mine
But you still
Will not even say
Why


My Love is Like

My love is like a red, red rose
My hate is like a garden hose
And all the spaces in between
Fertile with words I didn't mean

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