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Yesterday’s Night

So close, her lips of coffee and cream,Her pungent smell of abundant lifestir earth and sweat; above us,white doves fan flames asgentle waves of silky haircaress my face like Aphrodite’shands of warm whispers.My eyes, too soon open,release her embrace.Night’s rain patter washesher away in a dawn ofmorning shadow, every tracesoon cut away by fresh knivesofContinue reading “Yesterday’s Night”

Summer Walk in Appalachia

Sit with me on this rockby the clear trickling springwith three small yawning fish,Hold my hand as Dawnspreads her yellow rose fingersto tickle a blue ocean of sky,Rise to walk the hills of treesin a molder of crunching leavesonto a trail of canopy shadewith its rock-rooted path of tired feetand back into Day’s sun-filled embrace.Continue reading “Summer Walk in Appalachia”

Mystic

Life’s continuum of regrets,I cling to such as thee,Seems I can never forego, forget,Nor have fates forgiven me. I tend to forget, to forget to lay,A carapace over the bee,To prevent the sting upon my soul,And deny its eidetic glee. Bury my sin in deepened pits,Under an evening elegy,Caste it from this mind of mine,IntoContinue reading “Mystic”

London Fire Watcher

I walk the cobblestones of Queen VictoriaStreet, rubbing the black soot from mybloodshot eyes while whisking awaysnow-like flakes from my flat cap.A stench claims the road beside meunder a souring color of gaslightthat flames a golden fire, not yet pinchedby the lamplighter’s snuffer. The bomb’srubble crunches under my shoes,as my ankles stir thick grey fogworkingContinue reading “London Fire Watcher”

Hope Fragile

I lay in a bed of deep blue sky,The cool light of hopefloats in clouds – distant,like a painting on the wall of my life.I yearn to touch eachbrush stroke but dare notfor fear the hope withinwill disappear.

Quiet Ending

The melodic, nighttime chimes of myheart announce the arrival of the quiet.The quiet has its own sound – a whisperof silence, like the final, dying rippleof what once was a mighty ocean comber,sucked into the cream colors of a sandy beach.Who was this wave? How fardid its white tips travel? How raucousits fathoms of saltwater?Continue reading “Quiet Ending”

Roads Not Taken

I thought about joining the Navy instead ofgetting married. I might have been a pilot,or a battleship commander – and diedat the bottom of the sea. I could haveplayed on the college baseball team,become an All-American or been that guy – the final cut. I considered retiring in the Sonoran Desert,joining the fat Saguaro cactusContinue reading “Roads Not Taken”

The Church at the End of the Road

The red doors of 1886 open their armsto breathe a wind of welcomefrom angelic spirits suspended.The stained glass on high, sparkles ina scintillation of sunlight,as the sacred hands of the Savior wave us in. The sweet smell of Easter’s candle wax,tears beneath a flaming helicoid of smoke, swirling upward to skewer a bottleof the King’sContinue reading “The Church at the End of the Road”

The Bus Ride to Indifference

I sit on the sunny side,no shade to hide the flashlight glarein my eyes. I turn away from theintruding fireball and see a prettylady next to me, dark as night. Shesits quietly, hands folded, rubbingher arthritic fingers.I can sympathize. She’s from Jamaica, Queens; aneighborhood in New York City.We both mumble somethingunintelligible as we pass aContinue reading “The Bus Ride to Indifference”

The Artist of Time

Felt tipped pens hiss,pencils crackle, spraying blackash in circles like the darknessof expired hours. A palette of paints, oils ofblue, yellow, and brown;a thin brush drops slowly downthe canvas like hourglass sand. A thoughtful lean, a cat-likesmile, a feline stretchof tired satisfaction; the passingpurr of a breeze gone by. Remnants of work, now idle;pens, pencils,Continue reading “The Artist of Time”