Monthly Archives: December 2021

Trance

Thin words speak lengthy prose in the morning
each thread beset on both sides with lace
woven over of the threshold of this space
between one worlds end and another’s forming
contemplative clouds swollen and storming
one last gasp before they leave this place
with no more than a glimpse of what they face
just a glimpse is enough of a warning

On the other side the land is broken;
split asunder by imaginary lines
and named with words that are more than spoken
rather a label by which people are defined
beware the sleeper who has awoken
the world is a dream corrupt and unrefined.

Ursa Major

Its thick fur haloed by beads of water
the monster stands patient in the river
a nearby lake’s errant playful daughter
filled with light and fish to make it quiver.
The beast stares through the shimmering surface
at silver spears darting this way and that
their panicked movements desperate and nervous
in pursuit of another habitat.

She brings her paw down like catastrophe
the rushing water erupts in violence
and the fish begs the beast for amnesty
but the giant gives only its silence.
The hunger is real and evening is nigh
there are cubs to be fed hiding close by.

Remorse

               Opportunity
often speaks in riddles
               an anxious precipice
                              tumbled stones
                                             climbing wind

a sunlit valley could be a city
               a city could be leveled
                              the years gathering together
                                             to rebuild the valley that was
               opportunity

is the vision beyond sight
               a world of dreams
                              expressed in folds
                                             so close to finding
               opportunity

will find broken things and fix them
               or break the things that are better broken
                              not resigned to decide
                                             that responsibility rests on you
               opportunity

passes quietly like a loved one
               not seen in years
                              love kept safe in the closet
                                             in a box unopened
               until they are gone

Entrenched

The lakebed – a mystery beneath me
a raised fist of surface tension
broken by my presence
ready to snap

The bold                             enfold
Take hold                           withhold

Those treasures that a younger self might seek
buried beneath what could have been
in the hands of sunk ships
we passed at night

Be slow                              cargo
forgo                                   below

Destination
tribulation
the boon of the lonely
once found grants us only
abdication

Anticipation

Wait

               In shadows
the dark like water

Swimming

               Against the current
a weight to the chest holding you

Down

               Beneath the rot
where light is afraid to come

Out

               Of sight and mind
patiently waiting for the moment

When

               Will it end
or should I end it

myself

Dementia

Let the mind get lost in traps
find new ways to fight back
as memories degrade and collapse
reclined on the backs of warmer days

Navigating those labyrinthine paths
hidden behind all those well-worn masks
that have long been unrecognizable
amongst the moments masked by confused vitriol

The thoughts that remain are like loose balloons
escaped to the skies from a once crowded room
through a window opened long ago
when there was room for air and levity

But now there is so few balloons left afloat
your identity reduced to a scrawled note
“I that was and am shall be again
nothing of note is new, make room for the past.”

Drowning

The ocean calls to us often
when life itself will not soften
those depths could envelope our pain
as we settle in their domain
submerged

What better way to keep at bay
the many thoughts that can break you
all those demons that haunt the day
when you’re trying to just get through
the mind submerged in work is strong

Reality can be held down
with fluffy handcuffs and sex toys
or a host of other such joys
when all else just deepens your frown
become submerged in pleasures song

When everything else feels so wrong
be submerged or you won’t last long.

Imperfect

What is perfection but an attempt?
               passion personified as will
               but left wanting
to give in would leave you with nothing

Perfection is a nice dream
               when sleep is needed
                              and morning comes too early

Perfection is a plan you have for the future
               that you should have enacted years ago

Perfection is a long drink of water
               waiting at the desert oasis

Perfection is pursuit and effort
               though it is lost in the result
               you will never achieve it
and for that you are perfect