Fog creeps in slowly, bit by bit
a tiny blur, at first it seems,
to lightly cloud, yet most stands out
enough to move and get around.
But, woe those days as it grows thick
when barely silhouettes will form!
As eyes and mind become confused-
there's frantic hope that it will pass.
Piece by piece, bit by bit,
biting the steak, drinking the wine,
burying each cutout into its place.
My place in the banquet of life,
just like a puzzle, sometimes
sunshine yellow, sometimes fear,
midnight blue, a little unclear,
smiling when the quagmire
is revealed as a masterpiece.
Tight corners, dire straits,
when observed by passing time,
mere mosquito mementoes.
Souvenirs, those war wounds,
that touch the grandkid’s ears.
Many pieces will be picked up
through their years, as I disappear,
never completely, but eventually
melding into their big picture,
and so it goes through the generations,
biting the steak, drinking the wine,
reflections of time; crumbling cardboard
refined, sublime, wizened, sharp,
suspended, haloed; will progeny
interlock generations with gratitude?
Real Tea
We steep it far too long,
lowering thermometers,
holding rulers to steam,
timing the swirl of leaves
in glove-warmed hands
in our cosie cuddled pots.
We revere the cup,
catalogue the aroma,
argue whether the color
means what we think it means—
what real tea ought to be.
Meanwhile,
the real tea drifts,
up and away
with the vapors
that escapes
our nostrils
inhalation!
Wandering off
beyond the grim
plain-glazed rim,
It flaunts its time
it chimes its rhyme
it grins at our
uncertainty
out of reach
of a real cuppa tea.
bit by bit,
itty-bitty—
sip by sip
slip by slip—
whiff by waft,
one leaf at a time.
away from the cup,
away from the tongue,
away from its solemnity
away from the label—
Real Tea!
It's Real?
This Tea!
It's Real Tea!
Was worthy and reputed,
Was needed and recruited;
Was fresh and secluded,
UNTIL I WAS TORN OUT, NOW CRUMPLED AND WORN OUT!
It came and wrote out on me,
I was open and letting it see,
It scrambled on me with feel of hate,
but I didn't know its name was fate.
Was hoping and curious,
Was creative and serious,
Was fire and genius,
UNTIL I WAS TORN OUT, NOW CRUMPLED AND WORN OUT!
It dim the light of my eyes first,
Then slowly made my emotions burst,
It made me question my sanity,
I was completely stripped of my dignity.
Was sobbing and pleading,
Was crying and bleeding,
Was mourning and seething,
UNTIL I WAS TORN OUT, NOW CRUMPLED AND WORN OUT!
Now I was all covered in ink,
That brutal doesn't even blink.
I broke and shattered bit by bit,
Then it tore me and opened the slit.
Now shivering but healing,
Now fearing but sealing,
Now ended but... still feeling.
BECAUSE I WAS TORN OUT, NOW CRUMPLED AND WORN OUT!
I am not attached to the book anymore,
Though shaken to the deepest core.
It thinks it ruined me by tearing me,
But it doesn't know, that just made me free.
Because,
I WAS TORN OUT,
Just wait till, again I sprout...
(when my wounds have stopped bleeding and) [their eyes close for just a moment]
(i remove my sharpened bandages yet) [earth cares not of my turmoil i am blanketed in]
(why is there shame in hurting) [skin that was molded greatly in the eyes of no one]
(stars that glimmer for the sake of the night) [seldom bothered by the crowd]
(please i have nothing left to offer get me off) [the tables that merely overhear murmurs]
(this world that munches me bit by bit) [scratches again and again]
until nothing can be made of
(me) [it]
Sometimes there is only one thing
that an orchestra brings to mind.
Harsh image of evil marching
with nothing soft, it isn’t kind.
Can you feel it rip through the air?
Breeding rebellion you loathe it,
all you can do is pause and stare.
Overwhelming you fear it’s size,
delicate helmets hide black eyes.
Brave pilots in the air battling,
unfairly matched some fall behind.
Rebels still continue fighting.
A cadence leads the war you’ll find.
Our Outer Rim’s beyond repair,
the Empire’s crushed it bit by bit.
Desperation’s all that’s left there.
Alliance and what that implies,
they won’t stop ‘til they free the skies.
'nothing' is something,
Thinking creates existence,
The moment we think it, name it;
It vuilds up its presence bit by bit.
When we imagine nothing,
We already think something.
Maybe nothing exists,
Not in the mind though,
For it fills everything we sow.
It exists as the idea of not existing
A thought of absence, named into being.
The moment its named,
It feels like a thought tamed.
Maybe nothing can be thought, for even void leaves an imprint caught.
I look at you, you look at me.
Are you what I could be,
If all my life I was set free?
Not altogether, you were lost.
It made me stronger, but at what cost?
I lost you in pieces here and there,
In winter frost, in summer glare,
In autumn fall, and spring clear.
I lost you in every season of every year,
Bit by bit, until you eventually disappear.
Little by little, another person was shaped.
Little by little, the old person was scraped.
The shell of a new person around was draped.
And when the shell was blown away,
Your real reflection there still lay.
No arguments would make it untrue.
By losing you, I was losing me too,
Because you were me and I was you.
Tell them I'm back
Flying higher than before
They probably can't see me
Cause I'm where their eyes can't see
Now they have to believe
Cause it's only that which would allow them to see
Cause I'm in levels they never knew existed
Levels they can't even imagine
But I can see them
Cause like a good master
I monitor every chess piece
So that the pawn doesn't become the queen
I keep refining the art
And refining my heart
So that I can speak more about it
Cause that's where I speak without holding back
Now they just have to wait
To see what I'll be dropping
Cause I've carried a lot
And now bit by bit they'll see me getting lighter
The PO£T
The sun squeezes through
like it almost missed the train--
late and blushing.
It lands on the windows
and suddenly the glass
looks alive.
A crane freezes mid-air,
caught staring at the light.
Clouds hang around…
undecided.
A door slides open.
Someone steps out
into the cool morning air.
Shadows move down the walls
as the light grows stronger.
The city comes awake
bit by bit…
quiet,
unhurried.
I’m curves with a backbone, perfume with a bite
I’m soft when I want but I’m fire on sight
Wisdom hit different when you earned every scar
and still I will always reach for the stars
I’m a woman in full now, petals and flame
I learned my own worth before learning your name
I don’t need rescuing, lifts, or a crown
I rise on my own when the world knocks me down
See, the woman who’s walked through her shadows alone
But I’m open to love if it matches my tone
I’m tender by choice now, not by default
I can melt in your hands but stand firm in my faults
I’m seasoned not salty, flavored just right
Wisdom in my stride, got my own damn light
I stopped askin’ for space in somebody’s life
I built my own peace… cut clean like a knife
I’m grown… and it feels divine to admit
that I finally love the woman I’ve grown into bit by bit
Self-reliant, aligned, with my boundaries tight
a mature woman shining in her own fight
On the precipice of the fort you built,
and then abandoned,
stands this castle another is erecting.
So away with the pain you brought,
welcome the joy my new lover brings.
You defended all that makes love wilt,
you erased the warmth once in my heart, bit by bit,
till you erased everything with the joy you stole,
you left my vases with wilted roses—
the ones you gave when the last world war was fought.
In this castle built by my new lover,
love is watered now by peace of mind;
each room is filled with sweet fragrance
from freshly plucked roses and sunflowers—
it’s as if my garden can never wilt again.
So love thrives best within a castle, not behind a fort;
where pleasure swims like an eel without a boat,
no threat of fired shots begging for a shield.
How do you beg for a rehash of protection
meant for bullets, not for displeasure?
Eyes of hatred staring at me.
Why would a human want to live,
the mirror on the wall reflecting what I don't want to see,
does he really have to be like this?
Love is no play or game.
Over and over we lose trying to win.
It will hurt and we're destroyed by pain.
Or we will drown, even if we try to swim.
I just want to live to be a kid.
In the end, all of us will disappear,
like a apple being eaten up bit by bit
just for the crowd at our funeral to quietly cheer.
The only question I could tell
why don't we just kill ourselves?
I keep the pair of socks he never wore again
After he mistakenly taken mine instead.
I felt for him, but he didn't care for my pain.
I just wonder if I was ever truly in his head.
I keep a bangle as an exception for jewellery,
After another lover gave it to me generously.
I felt for him, but we lacked true chemistry.
I just wonder if I ever did love him fully.
I keep his lighter, our metaphorical fire,
After I mistakenly pocketed it after using it.
I feel for him, but I'm afraid love may expire.
I just wonder if we will grow more, bit by bit.
I keep objects from my objects of affection,
As I remember all the memories we share.
I felt for all, but I was met with deflection.
All but one lets me show how much I care.
It claps down through the lonely lane of view,
Far an eyesore with intent, trying not
To build out of raw annoyance long queue,
Lined up in weakness from a feat so hot.
Bit by bit, busy mornings mining miles
Away from nearer tease, closing up luck,
With tense atmosphere clawing calm styles,
Beasts in loyal heart lately riding truck.
On weary road, catching fun of captives,
Past weighs… each weird run’s timing: shooting .
Now, on its fitness, time what fun forgives—
A stake of peace commending rolling spit.
On a roaring mountain top upon birth,
Off silent valley’s stage: offensive death.
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