It's never finished—
endless need for dab or daub
with ink, paint, still wet
pen and brush, quiver and quake
aching for last touché touch.
Mind waits, contemplates—
sees the flaws, fizz, flaunt, and seethe,
edges come undone,
making more space to be filled,
with more touché there instilled.
Smooth will not lie smooth,
each move runs against the grain
tremors spill lava,
each correction answers back—
it's never enough—touché.
Obsession obstructs
the path towards completion,
becomes a minefield
of bits missing in action,
cowardly in dissension.
There's fingerprint smears
on every surface, shined clean
to show perfection—
obsession won't rest until
each shine shows more hidden rust.
At last, the step back—
but the work clings on, and on,
it won't—can't let go
obsessed with never-ending
contraire touché affair.
bones are bones, when left alone …
our marrow - the love, unvarnished,
but sun-to-sun, the blood's undone
by time, and the truth, so tarnished.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, September 8, 2022
Contraire
by Michael R. Burch
Where there was nothing
but emptiness
and hollow chaos and despair,
I sought Her ...
finding only the darkness
and mournful silence
of the wind entangling her hair.
Yet her name was like prayer.
Now she is the vast
starry tinctures of emptiness
flickering everywhere
within me and about me.
Yes, she is the darkness,
and she is the silence
of twilight and the night air.
Yes, she is the chaos
and she is the madness
and they call her Contraire.
Keywords/Tags: contrast, confusion, emptiness, chaos, emotions, despair, depression, dark, darkness, night, silence, twilight, madness, contrary, contrariness, loneliness
They come to me couplets,
they come to me tight
They come to me rhyming,
they come to me right
With lessened confusion,
more light in the air
All youthful illusions,
exposed,
—‘au contraire’
(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)
My thoughts are of you
Only of you
Sitting alone in your chair
Rocking
Gazing
Out the window you stare
But I know you still care
Sitting
Alone
Rocking again, still in your chair
A love
So true
A love
I dream we'll share
I swear
I'll show you beauty and grace
To lead you from this place
An experience
Together
An experience
We'll share
Together
A love
So deeply we'll care
A love
Unmatched
A love
Oh, Contraire
isn’t grey the finest shade
to fill the sky
to aptly fade
from misery’s old masquerade
a drowsy disposition
isn’t Cupid’s mind to blame
for wretched love
for passion’s claim
straight through my heart, his perfect aim
and malice ever after
don’t you hear the sounds that teem
the clustered speech
the cities scream
soars echoed from my latest dream
of blushed reverberation
can’t you see I’m busy here
with killing time
with bruising fear
your missives were most insincere
and left me thus with nothing
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