The Restless Poet

How dare you! I finally erase what I had left of you in me and you decide to infiltrate my dreams again. My mind was buzzing this morning trying to figure out why I was so deliriously agitated and couldn’t put my finger on it until the scene came back with you written all over…

Loose teeth rattlebeneath sunken cheeks,swallowed whole and plungedinto the acid-gut darknessof shame. A mirage of purple huessprings to the surface,spongy, muted—tendertraces of bone to flesh. Punch-blurred and reelingin the impetus storms of ire,blackened clouds hovering, humming…dangling fragile peacein the hollow depths. Lid-stirring fireballsexplode beneath a torriddownpour of sulfuric ash,awakening the fearin the breath of a…

Petals pluckedfrom the white flesh,pasted to the frosted sockets,carved into the colorless bone, evanesce. The pallid, bald-faced maskabstractly cornersthe hollow gazeatop paper feathers of stone. Nightfall gathers,the profane pagesof blood debt bleed ink, etching a shadowed silhouettethat mutes the sorrowed voicesechoing behind the white-washed wallsand haunted embodied stares.

I stand ground on the backbone of inner fire.

The fatuous slant of light greets me from the corners of the walls of this prison. Is it solitary confinement if it is voluntary? Maybe not voluntary but laced with moments of pitiful self-preservation by way of avoidance. I need to unload the elephant foot off my chest before I succumb to suffocation. Suffocation- did…

“Lost in the ache of what’s yet to be.”

My vision of my perception may be influenced by my position, but the measure of myself remains within.

I craveThe intimacy of the rain.Drops of pearlsThat seep into my soul. Cleansing distant perturbation –Sliding, staining, filling.The breeze shudders the seal of afflictionsburied under scarsBeneath the shadow of my breath. The bulbous drops snakeThrough the shanties in my throat.Gurgling, choking, drowning.An agonizing thief in disguise. A panic of lunar clarity,Etching scarlet seams on the…

As I settle onto the shore for my final paddle, the weather mirrors my introspective mood – chilly and breezy. The forecast warned of windy conditions, but I’ll savor this fleeting moment of serenity, my last. Cradling my coffee cup and with music at the ready, I reflect on the melodies that accompanied my walk.…

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love. These are the words I want to live. I want to remove the words that bring no purpose. Discard any that bring pain and grief. Concentrate on one at a time but knowing that one will lead to two and so on. However, before I can get there I have to…

Time- weathered skin,once radiant and bright,now a dull complexion,against the autumn light. Age spot imperfectionsmarred, parchment-thin hands.Tiny tributaries that oncepulsed through the folds, – dried up, lifeless,now a faded glow. Fragile edges crumble,and to the earth return,Fallen and forgotten,awaiting winter’s burn. The parched and brittle landscapenow sprinkled with the dust,of flowers long forgottenwith advance of…

This journey to peace is like completing a puzzle of an idyllic scene. The photo featured on the box illustrating the end result. The picturesque setting stirring emotions of what it would feel to be right there in the middle of the beautiful landscape. The vision of a better future in clear view but the…

“Authenticity – removing the mask, a path to truth.”

“Nature’s silence whispers volumes.”

“Uncertainty is the cartographer of possibility.”

My wounds were never closed.They became the doorway to my soul. Bleeding the poetry in my painand the healing in my heartache. I thought I needed to escape thembut the gospel was in facing Goliath. I sought the darkness,crawling into the cobwebbed cavernsand undressing the past in all its messiness. I sat with my demons,allowing…

The plum sits cradled in my palm.The plumpness swellingThe deep purple skinAs if pregnant with seduction. I hesitate to bring the fruitTo my lips lest the tasteHolds no measureTo the ripeness in my mind. Anticipation…Is the satiety of longing.To arrive at fullnessWith only the eyes.

“Sometimes the only sound is the echo of our own pain.”

“Impermanence, a fleeting dance to eternity.”

I woke with a start this morning that immediately brought me out of my dream. I couldn’t recall it right away and had a hard time understanding why I was so dreadfully sad but I knew I wanted to remember this one. You appeared but there was more to this one. I sat for a…

I’m beginning to think I am more adventurous in my sleep than in my waking hours. Last night had me swept up in the energy of a concert. You were there but I didn’t know it from the start. Summer again, the season of play. So much better than dreaming about the frigid cold. I’m…

Why must my mood hinge on my midnight escapades and whether or not you accompany me on them? The morning light was cleansing as I woke with a cheerful outlook on the day. My attitude prodding me to misbehave and find amusement in everything. My sleep was delayed last night. I arrived home late and…

Hours before I would close my eyes last night, I could sense you would be making an appearance in my dreams. Likely the reason for the crosswalk urgency to claim sleep early. I held off but my last few tasks were hurried due to my anticipatory eagerness, though slightly timorous that it might be a…

I know this is procrastination from writing what I’m supposed to be working on but it’s been a bingo ball rolling around for a good couple of weeks. The questions won’t be answered but I still find the topic curious and begging for attention. Where did the presence that lingered in our house for years…

These dreams…they are telling me something but I’m clueless as to what I’m supposed to be reading them as or perhaps they are my mind’s form of entertainment. I woke up surly today. Weird sleep again last night and then this dream approaching me right as I was waking or maybe it was the desperate…

I envision the door swinging open when you hear my gentle tap, and I stand before you, clad only in my white coat. Your gaze locks onto mine, unwavering as you approach. With ever the slightest movement, you close the door and as you lock it, you gently press me against the desk, your fingers…

I ponder my dream from last night. You…laughing, joking, talking among the men in the group. I pass by, oblivious to who was sitting at the table and then I heard your laugh. Rich, smooth and velvety as dark chocolate. I turned, my eyes met yours. You shifted, subtly, an involuntary flicker like that of…

I’m not sure if it was hope or intuition that fueled the most unexpected moment of my life. I absolutely don’t think anything could ever exceed my expectations like the happenings of that night. This was a moment years in the making and it was so worth the wait…like that of a predator stalking its…

I lie awake at night and create things so I don’t think about the dark. I’ve been flooded by flashbacks I can’t control and I have no idea why they are so bad right now. Maybe my brain is processing everything in the background but damn…it makes it hard to breathe. Confront the unknown…face the…