Thursday, February 27, 2014

Dad (For deverse 02/27/14 Character)




Red hair, green eyes
thin frame, heavy
of spirit.

Man of honor
held it in,
suffocating on all
he held back.


Loving someone
who never knew
what that really meant.

Had to save the child
many times from the
loveless world she
tried to escape from,
first with church,
then with young love
turned bitter.

Dad-
Drove an old 55 Chevy pickup
battered, it fit like a glove,
tired, yet still on strong legs
they rode off, always returning
to a place, never a haven, always
choking, heart dying from the
choices which never seemed like
choices at all.

Made a bed, he never could
sleep in with any peace, held
the covers wishing, always wishing.

Dying in that bed, dreams
held tightly as he remembered
how hard he tried.


Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Mom





I always-
missed you mom
so detached, linked
to a world not mine.

Loving me
was not an option
illness took that away
buried  deep
in a crowd of voices
only you could hear.

I know now
you’re in a different place-

Heaven it’s called and in
the midst of angels
you look down upon me
and remember that you loved me.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Forgotten




She didn’t know my name
only remembered a child-


The child she took
swimming in the brook
behind our house, her house.
She said she never lived there

When I said
“mom, you must remember me.”

 She said-
 she was no one’s mother,
 never had any babies.

Her eyes blue and blank
as if in a dream somewhere
long ago, still young and childless.

She told me of dancing
barefoot in the grass
with a young man
as if it were yesterday.

The young man,
my father fell from grace
and ran off leaving his children
to care for the wife who forgot
his name.

All the years-
erased by a savage
invader who took my mother
to far off places where years
were held by timeless days.

Like a ghost she haunts the past
leaving me lonely.

.




Monday, February 17, 2014

Burning



In a proud fire
she burned
clad in ashen righteousness.

Martyrdom-
she never sought
it found her
clenching fairness
from the game.

Winning
was always the goal
but being right
left a scorching heat
melting away all the victory.

Standing alone
with her prize
she wondered
if a curse had not been
bestowed upon her

as she blew the ashes
into the still air
suffocating in their
lingering dust-

 And the years still
 remained the same.

Outside Eden




Sometimes
I wish to be held
and not hated

for all the things
I did wrong.

Sometimes
I wish to be heard
between the angry words
which fill the space
between us.

Sometimes I wish
you could see
my reflection in your tears.

 I am just as lost-

In my human guise
there beats a tender heart
I have hidden deep inside
yours

which you have closed,
afraid it will tear again.

Healing never takes place
with bloodletting
and so I weep for you and I.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Sketchbook (for deverse 02/08/2014)



Sketchbook

Candles-

How the light flickers
shadows dance
true colors imerge
from the dark places-

The lightness of words-
growing heavy.

The hating of years
show their scars
in spite of fire’s illusion,

The pain aches once again-

If she could, she’d deafen
the other ear, and memory
would lie, as it’s split-forked
tongue learned long ago.  


“I never thought you were
 worth fighting for,”
 he said with spite.

“I never thought -
 you were worth saving,” but
 once upon a time, before truth
 reared its ugly head, she did.


Saturday, February 1, 2014

I Remember My Bones (For deverse, Repetition 02/01/2014)





I remember
my bones-

Strong,
pure and silent

Carrying me
through years

I remember my bones
filled with all the destinies
of my kin

The pain of their burdens
bearing down
upon sunburned brows
In lazy fields
a harvest waiting.


I remember
my  bones-
Etched by the sharp
edge of time

I rock them gently
for they are mine.