There was a paddock
at the end of the street
locals called No Man's Land.
It was a few acres
of wild let loose inside
a suburban brick and asphalt order.
Plenty of open grass, trees
to climb, old stables
and fenceless yards gave
an untamed world to the kids
thereabouts to explore
and claim.
It was the place to go
to escape from walls,
the world and the tyranny
of merciless gods.
I spent a good part of my
childhood in the sanctuary
of those grounds.
When things got too much
I would crawl out
and hang on tight to the tail
of a kite I flew there, high above
the world where I lived.
The air had no boundaries
and was beyond the reach of hell.
I was before myself
in those heights and floated free
of what held me.
Come dusk,
I could feel myself slowly
being drawn downwards
into a waiting dark
and back into another place
where I didn't want to be.
Categories:
fenceless, nostalgia, places,
Form: Free verse
I kept it treading air,
constrained,
as if it were held
tied to a grip, clenched
for fear of letting go and give
to wings a fluttering freedom,
an elsewhere beyond
the mind's persistent stare
and the anchored weight
of being.
I would like
to launch and let it
rise into fenceless air,
to fly unhindered, a blur
of colour keeping
just within my reach until
it lifts away to where
the slightest breath
sends it aimless, adrift
on a gentle wind, to settle
a dreaming soul - somewhere -
on the far side of here.
Categories:
fenceless, freedom,
Form: Free verse
I've been jealous of Time,
sharing it with the foot steps of Days
feeding it to the appetite of Age,
Possessive of unbuyable beauty
that roams reckless within a creation fenceless,
senseless ownership, owning only the yawns of yesterdays,
jealous of glory as it ransacks the wrinkles of haughty heroism
hungering for more rumor in the religion of rhapsody,
following it throughout the carols & catacombs of hearts greedy,
feeling the charm of challenge to earn my woman's wishes,
jealous of commitment that sits silent in the center of attraction,
Jealousy is the General of my affection's arsenal,
a strategist that tells me love is worth a crusade,
taught me not to surrender to simple circumstance,
that my woman's warmth puts my skills on parade,
relentless progress is the ambition of Jealousy,
a must be aptitude, a must see attitude,
jealousy is that drum beat in my bravery,
war paints the face of my fears,
sharpens the claws of my soul,
a song that stammers not on success,
a lyrical miracle,
should not lose, could not lose, will not lose -
J.A.B.
Categories:
fenceless, jealousy,
Form: Didactic