Black thorns amid snatching twigs
form sky-torn nests,
where deep red berries
hang from dark bones.
Autumn tracks have settled
into annealed ruts,
those static waves of the fridged
and fallow fields.
There are still small birds singing
in the shredded shapes of the wind,
scattered voices that rebound
from ear to ear.
We are huddled, yet solitary,
separated by inward distances.
Farms are folding shadows,
gathering-in
the years thin linins.
Beneath the chilled earth
a behemoth stir's,
a beast of steam and vapor
arising slowly
until its face can be seen
through the melting ice,
but not yet.
The Republicans have revealed
"The Donald" has completely healed!
He was deranged
The climate changed
And now his e?ection's annealed!
Steely conceit,
low-grade manufactured lies
Stolen property:
iron crowbar kiss the tinted window glass
before the face paint dries
Idol chassis things
rolling off the conveyor belt
Humble beginnings —
discarded memories ... slag from the smelt
Silver dross assembled self,
triple A ego batteries required
Love in tow:
another vow insurance scam liar
You may now kiss the pride,
lift the veil of the scarred innocent heart
The black widow is once again a bride,
wiping those silken teary eyes
Can’t shatter the glass ceiling web
that ensnares your soul
Upon further arrogant inspection,
shutdown emotional quality control
Reinforced vanity —
upgrade the annealed haughtiness
Trophy buck showcase
the taxidermic truth reinvented self
the heart annealed
in velvet convulsions~
first love
seen from the highway traversing
backroads in central south dakota
the framework of an old homestead
a carapace more than a structure
in the distance gnarled limbs held
rusted barbed wire in place as fence
scant distance from the homestead's
weathered shell still standing proud
a decades old Aermotor windmill.
it filled a galvanized tank guarding
life giving water for far grazing cattle
golden crisp prairie grasses spread
far as an eye could survey
weathered bond of the homestead's
walls stood--relics of another age
hardened and annealed from
daily immersion in plains weather
noble despite capitulating to time.
in the minds eye he sees the windmill
at Little Reata from the movie "Giant"
as light faded welcoming the dusk he could see
the youthful Jett Rink climbing its ladder
rising to gain the platform-then squatting
to survey his empty land
the silhouette of Jett's sharp-cut features
visualized more than open grassland
Jett envisioned an empire. the visitor kept
mementos of a unique bygone era.
old homestead
9-29-16
First rain of spring.
Cold, driven
on a harsh northern wind.
Welcome.
Filling the dry,
gaping cracks in annealed soil.
Restoring the earth from an
unyielding, austere winter.
Essential, though coming as
a bold remnant of winter's
frigid will.
Awakening the raw and
callous earth.
Restoring freshness and life to
dormant winter air.
Mollifying the soils
for blade and seed.
Frigid and stinging,
yet still a harbinger.
Verdant spring's first birthing breath.
Slate-gray skies yield and clear.
Warm days will come.
Today, glacial rains signed a
new lease on life
for our northern plains.
Delicate bonds woven into cobwebs of complex relationships,
Intricate strings spun into bundles of heavy responsibilities;
Confusing problems sewn into patterns of puzzling circumstances,
Strands of forgotten,unkept promises annealed into heedless betrayals;
Rings of dark,mysterious sins forged into chains of salvation and penitence,
Abstract ideas and unsaid words lost in a confound conundrum of unfathomable thoughts;
Myriad struggles and strifes knitted into an eternal web of wars within,
Pearly beads of dreams adorned upon a silver string of hope;
Glittery golden wishes embellished upon shimmering little joys,
Unknown little joys and haloes of happiness skim over a blissful content smile;
Ancient sorrows and aching grievances veiled under salty droplets of tears,
Threads of oblivious reasons entwined into fabrics of complicated enigmas of emotion;
Wiry solace and self-satisfaction entangled into a mesh of silently complacent compromises;
All the grains of life sift through the sieve of experiences,
Fitting into voids,gathering in a heap of wisdom;
All the delicate complexities of life seep through me,
Filling in pores,giving me,"a mortal",an essence of life.
Billy my brother drifts on a plain
In my mind I still feel his hurting pain
I still see you Billy, seeing me cry
Dad it looks like Billy, he's saying goodbye
He tell me of places that no one has seen
Amidst the celestial dark amongst it's diamond screen
Where no one can sail against the luff
I still see you Billy, why has life been so tough
Billy my brother what would I see
Smiles on our faces once again when we are annealed
Still inside I cry and the reasons why
Billy your gone now, but your so nearby
Billy my brother what would I see
Smiles on our faces once again when we are annealed
Still inside I cry and the reasons why
Billy your gone now, but your so nearby
Billy my brother drifts on a plain
In my mind I still feel his hurting pain
I still see you Billy, seeing me cry
Dad it looks like Billy, he's saying goodbye
Dad he's looking down, there's tears in his eyes
My entry for John Heck's 'Dear John' contest with 'Daniel'
written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin
"And" by Mr. David Hart
And am I he who time knows not, and
Am I he who careth not?
For minutes can like hours prey
And hours can like minutes stray
In my annealed soul your wraith remains.
Mindless I canst naught your name contain.
And colors dance while music pirouettes--
Swirling harmonies nudge, wriggle,
Jounce and cavort in step
As seconds can like days invade
And years can like minutes parade,
And rhyming colors float and dazzle in
And out from one whose silence oft
yields a shout.
Yea, time, hail me in maelstroms of ecstasy
without rue
Pray time, forsake me not as being forever true.
And minutes melt into hours with ne'er a fight,
For one whose love oft rebuked, laughs at his plight
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