Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Artist

Inconspicuously, he sits,
Sketching her life
With his generous hand.
Drawing from the depths
Of his weakened memory,
His fingers stumble upon
A forgotten laugh.
He strains to hear the sound
Of a joy he once caused,
To see the lines
Of a love he once lost.
The clouds rolled through his mind
And, just before nostalgia
Could seize his hand,
Revealed the sun.

Clarity ignited him
As his pen tirelessly
Translated vision into truth
Frozen in time.
She caressed him with her gaze—
He was young again.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Wave Watching

The tide roars as it roles in.
Seemingly merciless,
It hunts everything in its path.
The foam stretches,
Racing after the unsuspecting sand,
Ensaring every particle in its claws.
The tide retreats,
Purging the shore of its empty shells,
Leaving behind the wet sand—
Stronger—
Ready to face another day.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Power of Speech

A sensitive child,
Armed with a battle song,
You stick out your tongue,
And, naïve as you are, 
Repeat the lyrical lie
You've been taught:
“Sticks and stones
May break my bones
But words will never hurt me.”
Ironic, is it not?
They shielded you with words meant to guard
Against what, if not words that harm?

A worldly adult,
You know that muscle can break
And that words can cut
Deeper than the sharpest knife.
They penetrate the surface of your skin
And bruise.
Words may be invisible,
But they have the power to infiltrate
Even the strongest of minds,
And those words whose natures are destructive
Can and will breed doubt.

But, words may be angelic  
And as such can also soothe—
A balm for the wounded,
A carrier of hope.
So choose your words wisely,
Let their impression be sweet,
A key to the heart
Of the next stranger you meet.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Navigating the Abyss

He held his breath and dove
Into the limitless sea below.
The water stabbed him,
Injuring his senses.
Overwhelmed, his eyelids held fast
Until darkness overcame resistance.
He continued, half-blind,
To scour the vast expanse,
Knowing that only a fraction of the journey
He would complete—
But he searched nonetheless.
From the corner of his eye,
A fish he saw glowing in the darkened blue.
The fish, though small, seemed to know its way
And beckoned him to follow.
And so he did, for he had no plan,
No map, no compass in hand,
Nor did he know for what exactly he searched.
Soon, however, the fish disappeared
Into the shadows behind a coral,
At whose feet a pebble caught his weakened eye.
The coral seemed to wave farewell
As he carefully collected the curious stone,
Reminding him he was short of breath.
He rose, reluctant, and swam toward the familiar shore
That seized him and threatened to batter his soul.
But, as he opened his fist,
He felt an invisible armor warm his bare chest
Upon seeing that Mercy had transformed the pebble into a pearl.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Limbo

When I was younger,
Limbo was a game
We played,
Excited by the challenge of
Bending over backward
To walk under a stick.

And then we became jaded,
Less and less
Willing to bend--
We may as well have
Landed flat on our backs,
For Limbo was now a paralyzing
State of being.

With no way out,
We wait for someone,
Something,
To free us from stagnation,
To lift the veil from our eyes
And show us the right path,
To compel us forward with
The knowledge that life
Is just around the bend,
And that our fingers,
Tingling with hope,
Are ready and able to grasp it. 

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Concave

A bitter taste rose in my mouth
As my stomach tightened and
Muscles contracted
To protect my heart.

I had been punched in the face
Once, before,
But what pain I felt then
Could not compare to the torment
I now felt.

When you touched her,
My stomach churned and
Acid burned through my esophagus.
When you kissed her,
Gravity pulled every atom in my body
Toward Hell.

But my heart, it stopped
In Purgatory along the way,
Pondering the image once again—
Roses, she got,
Your heart, she won,
While the smiles I received
Were laced with poison—
Until my heart beat slowed.

Bruised, I stood,
A love-sick soul,
Ruing the day we met,
Until the tide of expectation
Retreated from the shores,
And revealed another pair of feet.

They followed me over the sand,
Across the land, and on the sea, then
We climbed a mountain and entered a cave
Where we built a fire for two. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Window Pain

The sun came out after the rain
And you opened the window,
Letting the warmth soothe my pain.
I looked out,
Leaned forward to feel the heat,
The rays dancing on my face.
You pressed against me from behind,
And, holding my hands, gently,
You placed them on the windowsill.
Your fingers, they trailed my torso
To the top,
Until you reached the window pane.
My eyes, still fixed ahead,
I felt your heart beat against my back.
Your breath quietly caressed me,
But, before the nightingale could sing,
You closed the window on my hand. 

Seed

I planted a bulb, long ago,
And where it was planted,
It multiplied, and
Tulips grew to kiss the sky.

But soon the setting sun
Drowned the tulips in her tears,
And the petals drifted
To the wind’s wistful sigh. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Hearken to Spring

You make the clouds disappear
And run away with my fear,
And with one twinkle of your eye
The rain falls back to the sky.

The sun is in your smile,
And I would run a mile
To bask wholly  in your rays
For the rest of my days.

Spring is in your voice—
It calls and I have no choice
But to heed,
For you are exactly what I need.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentine

Take my breath away—
But give me your heart,
For your love will resurrect me
And my pulse will re-start.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Mirror

Standing on the seashore,
I stared down the horizon
And wondered if you
Were on the other side
Doing the same.

The wind whistled your name
And sent a shiver up my spine;
I smiled, closing my eyes.
I breathed in the sea air,
And wondered if that same air
Gave you life.

The sun rose,
And with it came your face.
I wondered,
Did my eyes start your day?
Did my lips bid your morning begin?
I entered the water and wondered:
Were you somewhere drowning in my soul?

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Exile

You told me nothing would change,
So here I am, with so much to say,
But you’ve gone and taken my lips,
Leaving my words with no escape.

Time had never broken your voice,
Nor shaken your understanding,
And the binds of friendship had held
While Distance reigned.

Closeness had never been subject to proximity,
But our bridge collapsed under
A wind of separation
When friendship was exiled by Love’s tyranny.

The sun that once rose with your smile
Now lays its head to rest on a heavy heart,
And absence has dried your shoulder,
Once wet with my tears.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Diamond in the Rough

Over the dunes he stumbled
And searched each spec of sand—
Huddled, he sifted for a diamond in the rough.
As the sandstorm blew, he reached out,
Hoping to catch his raison d’être,
But, when the sand struck strong,
Stinging his body and impairing his sight,
His fingers flew fast instead
To shield his face from further disgrace.
Inward he was then forced to look,
And when the storm subsided,
He glimpsed a glimmer, a sparkling sheen.
His eyes, alight, shone now,
A beacon in the desert night—
However, they did not reflect the hidden gem,
But rather the diamond reflected the light in him.

Twin Peaks

There's a place I want to take you,
Where I've only been alone,
But this time I want to let you in,
You'll be the only one I've shown.

It's a place where no one ever goes,
The grass grows and the flowers bloom,
But now we'll go on our escapade,
Free of self-pity, free of gloom.

From where we stand the lights are bright,
The noise is white, the air is thin,
And behind us we leave a trail of dust
When we decide to take a spin.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Reverse Ending

You did all the right things,
You played by the rules,
Said all the right words,
Used all the right tools.

You chipped and chiseled
To break down the wall,
But in the end
You faced an empty hall.

You raced down to the other end,
But the window was closed,
Though through it you could see
As the bright sun rose.

And then, it hit you,
There must have been another exit sign,
For into the sun there walked a sight
To make you cry, "that should be mine..."

You missed it. From your fingers it slipped,
You didn't fight the fight hard enough,
You quit the final level
Once the going got tough.

At least, that's how you scolded yourself,
Kicking yourself when you were down,
While the same thing that once caused you to smile
Now only gave you reason to frown.

But cheer up now, Buttercup, you didn't lose the fight,
Because you can't fight for what was never yours.
So turn your back on the window pane
And open the next set of doors.