Like an eye looking out through black and blue night.
Scintillating squint in Dead of Winter; looking through
Slat of the Midwinter blind. The Canadian waning of light.
I could have been listening to a sermon, sitting on a pew.
Caught the “deer in headlights,” before the eye closed.
It was like peeping through a hole of the universe; gold.
Tree branches spread out, as if fancy’s figment disclosed.
I’m open to chiaroscuro and the Creator’s diurnal hold.
Could have been an angel’s flashlight, looking for a fleck.
Perhaps where Heaven touches earth, that is so cold.
The wind twines with hymns and the flurries hit the deck.
A groom carries a splendiferous bride across the threshold.
God’s natural art emboldens impressions with constant sear.
The intensity both bold and minute embrace our existence.
Climatically they manifest, grab hold, redirect, and adhere.
Never ending dispersion of colors and seasonal coexistence.
Olive trees all around us
the warming sun illuminates
a mysterious walk
two strolling strangers.
One brief introduction
yet no words follow
as your warm smooth hand
grazes over mine.
Chills become clenched teeth
your head turns suddenly
I freeze like a deer in headlights
a small grin widens on your face.
The sun finally goes behind the hills
a radiance in purples, pinks, and reds;
framing your face in a soft chiffon light
rise into the lovely twilight.
Shadows move through the old lane
scurrying all about the buildings
A bottle of wine and glasses wait
Time for a toast to the Tuscan Sky.
What’d
I miss?
Clue me in!
Deer in headlights…
Asleep at the wheel.
By all means…after you.
Plain as the nose on your face.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust -
November the third w a s cliché day!
11/7/2022
A November Nonet
Sponsor: Andrea Dietrich
i do not want to have to ask you to hold my hand
i do not want to have to voice my insecurities
like glass shards rolling off a tongue
or a blade lodged in my throat;
it isn’t easy, to say the least
i don’t want to feel like i am perpetually the deer in headlights,
feeling the danger but staying,
regardless.
you looked so harmless in the summer light
but the heat has long since died out
and the light is anything but warm
i do not want to have to ask you to hold my hand -
you wouldn’t do it, regardless.
swore you knew someone
but they changed like jekyl to hyde
like oil & water deciding it was better to work together toward
something less concerned with others---
more to the point,
you swore you knew someone who you no longer know &
you’re certain of this because you see less & you hear less
from them
(cannot make their face out anymore/cannot make their voice out anymore)---
seems they climbed the ladder without you
seems they saw the tip of the pyramid &
clocked out,
snuggling right down in their little tent with their little brood
to count the days of their life away all
insular,
and you can’t have a conversation beyond the pathetic polite
pleasantries of parasitic
politicians
anymore---
it makes one wince
it makes one tear
it makes one tremble
it makes one stare (shocked like a deer in headlights roaring towards with no intent of stopping)
all wrapped up in how distance from each other
embeds itself,
separating & destroying
slowly.
The Belt
Nineteen eighty-four
That infinite time in history
Graduation day
A turning point for me
Wings grown
And almost ready to fly
I set out into the world
With my hopes aimed high
Head swollen
I was like a deer in headlights
Had I learned nothing in twelve years?
That would give me insight.
Overnight I went from knowing everything
To not knowing anything at all
When your pedestal is too high
How quickly one can fall
Thankfully I had loving parents
Who placed we firmly on my feet
And set me off to college
And kept my butt to the heat
For in the next coming years
I learned what life’s all about
Even though I stepped into life’s pants
I still needed a belt
Thank you Mom and Dad
From you guidance I could not hide
For even though I was eighteen
I still needed you by my side
I am one
nation under God
I am many
ethnicities together in a melting pot
blending to encompass positive traits
Finding strength in diversity
I am all
about freedom
to escape tyranny
immigrants sought my New World promises
I am few
times startled like a deer in headlights
blindfolded even after 9/11
but still carrying a torch
I am
Lady Justice and Lady Liberty
the dreams of founding fathers
promises of yesterday and hopes for tomorrow
I'm nervous and careless, I'm sad and mad.
It'll be what it will be.
Because it is what it is.
Nervous and careless, sad and mad.
My belly tight, it hurts real bad.
My heart beats fast, i feel it in my hand.
The loss in my eyes, like a deer in headlights.
It makes me ill and filled with fright.
This world closing in with unexpected winds,
Twirls and swirls me around, until I the hit ground.
When it's all over is when I'll begin.
There and then i will finally be found.
For now in my present in anxious torture.
I'm nervous about this and careless for that.
I'm sad from the past and mad for the future.
I will face without choice my mistakes.
The storm I won't be able to escape.
It'll be what it will be
And I'll do what i have to do.
But I'm nervous and careless, I'm sad and mad.
Why do I do see all the deeds done bad.
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