after Because I could not stop for Death, by Emily Dickinson
Because I would not stop for Death,
he kindly stopped for me.
A wilted bouquet in one hand—
a reminder of life's mortality.
We began to walk—he knew no haste—
side by side, as we always were.
In silence, no sympathies were spoken,
as he knew I often preferred.
We passed the house where I once strove
to play and know no sorrow.
We passed a creek whisking ashes downstream—
something I was hesitant to let it borrow.
Or, rather, it passed us—
the mist in the air quivering with a dog's final breath—
for only I began to falter
on our beaten and lonely path.
We paused before some foothills that seemed
serene, yet all too demanding.
The soon-to-be graves were scarcely visible here—
urns in my arms notwithstanding.
Since then, it has been decades, and yet
it still feels shorter than the day
Death first took my warm hand in his own
and his comforting coldness became mine for eternity.
Fight the algorithms
that tell us what to do,
to make us predictable,
unoriginal and bankable.
Have you witnessed how
increasingly bland and homogenous
our lives are becoming?
Choose freedom
avoid the diaries of commerce
that riff on the ubiquity of apps
resist the reductive tropes
of our published and circulated,
perspective customer identities.
Fight the algorithms
with their embedded back-lot
familiarity, built around class
and consumerism.
Try to understand the
vague, inscrutable and
purposefully circuitous.
Or stop overthinking
and embrace liberating surrender.
That’s the path I’ve chosen.
.
.
The Gates by Da Vinci's Notebook
Talk Down Dijon
Familiarity
Familiar as an old book,
but priceless.
Worn and frayed like,
an ancient tome.
Pages bent and torn,
heavily perused.
Annotated musings scribbled
bring back memories.
The shininess, sexiness, luster,
crispness of new pages,
new cover long gone.
Marriage is like that old book.
Now used, worn and tattered,
but warmer, deeper, richer.
Nothing is new
Even me and you
All re-lived
In time frames anew
Thread through this heart
Tread to that soul
Weaved and walked
Million years ago
Warmth of that smile
Recalled by this being
Comfort and peace
No one else could bring
Meet you again
Some day, somewhere;
Different face,
Same old gaze
My vantage point is clear and true,
The scene below…….. it gives me pause.
I watch the waves roll to and fro,
Constant and Ephemeral.
All around me, and in the distance,
Foliage, sand, rocks, sea and sky.
The motion that is so perpetual, yet
Constantly Ephemeral.
Light and space, openness,
Distance, silence, isolation.
Tiny figures in a captured space,
Constant and Ephemeral.
What is the plan, or is there none?
How can I find Continual?
I have to trust, this must be enough
To give me Hope……
Through the Constantly Ephemeral……
It stood out to me - Gold
Against the brown, mocha skin of your neck
It brought out an essence of what might lie within
What I saw was the warmth of your body radiating
That my fingers didn't need to feel
I couldn't stop from imagining if I did touch you
Would I recognize it
Would it feel strange
Would it feel somewhere between home and I know you
I let myself stand in the mystery
I would admire you from afar
Maybe then I wouldn't have to know
That maybe our worlds within played the same tune
It could be that it sung the same part of the same song
I didn’t want to be sure of the truth
It was comforting to know without certainty that we could be the same
I let myself wallow in this fantasy
I understood that if we touched
I could be reassured of what my eyes saw
Or feel a sudden wave of aloneness
Unfamiliar - you might feel like the rest
I didn’t wander here to you to feel it again and again
It was hope that I felt
Between what my eyes saw and my fingers that never touched too close
Hope that I might’ve found someone just like me
Hope that maybe you’d be the one
- to have the faintest conception of what I mean when I say a thing
Blue eyes and red hair
I see you in everyone, everywhere
But I yet to find one who can compare
Flaws are subjective, I was too protective
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
I wish for another day that I could hold her
Through warm and cold front sensations,
We've weathered many storms.
But the cessation of the sole connection
Left us bleak, laden with human forms.
The reverberating of chimes is so loud,
Reminds us of what we once had.
But now that we're lost in a sea of doubt,
I wondered if it was all just a fad.
We used to share everything.
Our thoughts, our dreams, and our fears
But now that we're too busy even text-messaging.
Our relationship was reduced to mere cheers.
But still, there's hope in our heart's wand.
One day we'll reunite.
And once again, we'll forge a bond.
That will shine brighter than any light.
Nothing can break the bond we share.
It's too strong to ever fade.
And though we may drift apart to be aware,
Our love for each other will never be betrayed.
Written: June 08, 2023
Oh shall they be called human nature —
Wildlife in an essence of reality
Angst is every faces you see
Whether they'd smile, let them be
Angst is fear, fear shall it be
This occurrence is no strange
Humans, they call us
Think alone we are
No my dear
We share, emotions the same
Capacities different stake
Oh, familiarity in angst
Never it is seen but felt deeply
It's cold embrace takes me
A gasp fills my lungs
The first time I've felt full
I understand clarity
It speaks purely in tongues
Mimicking the devil
A troubling familiarity
The burning ache
My body soothes
Ghostly hands take me softly
Nirvana I shall betake
I lie still in her grooves
Nirvana, I await
sometimes the strangers
come as helper suddenly
where known are doubtful
loyalty of dog- stronger
where human avoids Savior
16.09.2020 Chattogram
I close my eyes
feel the sun on my face
hear the sounds of the sea
smell the cooking of Greek food
I lick my lips
all around the sounds of Greece
a language that is familiar to me
a smile on my face
But, it is only a dream
and I open my eyes
I see green fields
feel the sun on my face
hear the sounds of birds singing
smell shepherds pie cooking
hear neighbors speaking English
a language that is familiar to me
a smile on my face
one day........ I will
see the Aegean Sea
eat Greek food
speak in my mother tongue
feel a hot Greek sun on my face
and know I survived.
Lonely I walk through the walls of crowds
Reach out but like shadows they don’t connect
Their eyes are vacant cold and empty
Ghostly people walk on by crossing my path
As I head back home in wonted despair
Where I find solace in the whisper of your silence
I can always count on you
Your soothing presence tangible
Your embrace warm and lingering
As familiar as an old lover’s embrace
The feeling hovering
Haunts me ever so gently
Tired of wandering alone
It’s soothing to find you here
Loneliness serenely dark and faithful
Wrapped in the warmth of your caress
I find solace in the whisper of your silence
Read on air by invitation ~ April 12, 2020 'LATE NIGHT POETS'
AP: 2nd place 2022
Submitted on July 27, 2019 for contest SOUND OF SILENCE sponsored by JOHN HAMILTON - RANKED 10TH
Sameness I can avoid
I know what your skin smells like in the morning
And I can avoid that
I know how your eyes look when you get excited
And I can avoid that
Familiarity I can’t avoid
I know how your spirit feels
And I can’t avoid that
I am drawn to a familiarity that moves like the wind around your soul
It’s in his laugh
I can hear the sound coming from your chest when he breathes
Sameness is out in the open
It is blatant and it is blunt
Familiarity is sneaky
It comes in the night while I am asleep and makes me feel safe
But reminds me in the morning I am not
Familiarity seeps into the whole
Pretending to make a home
But familiarity doesn’t stay
Familiarity Does Breed Contempt
Contempt can often be bred by familiarity,
And an ideal environment appeals to parity;
We tried to find,
But left behind,
Fear from despair they created by disparity.
Jim Horn
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