In shadows deep where our weary hearts were cast,
Hatred blooms, for the garden’s trust is past.
Stubborn weeds now choke what love had sown,
Their roots entwined, shroud what once was grown.
Words once so tender shatter into fragments.
Bridge collapses; strength too frail, laments.
Apologies fall silent, they're lost in the air,
Echoes dissolve and fall into a hollow stare.
We clutch at shards of once-mirrored memories,
Deceiving eyes with lame, fractured histories.
The warmth we knew lies hidden away out of sight.
In shallow graves that mock the hope of daylight.
A circuitry of broken wiry veins remains,
Forgotten paths grow wild into tangled chains.
New bridges rise yet they're shattered torn,
Their severed, frayed wires, make healing forlorn.
We wander through this labyrinths of pain,
The ghostly whispers, lost, echo and remain.
Warn us that healing comes in slowly with the tide,
That certain wounds we'll never turn or hide.
Words of sorrow fall like bridges into the abyss.
No balm is enough for what collapsed, went amiss.
The past laying fallow, without consent or grace,
Still haunts us with the mask of love’s face.
Victor, the VW bus was angry, he had rust on himself now
His owner was unkempt, frowsy, disheveled and frayed.
His house would have been condemned
If he had not hired a maid.
With blade sharp tongue his words stung
with the pain felt when funeral hymns are sung.
In a mournful voice, off key of course,
as was his choice in the way he spoke to me.
I was blind not to foresee
the dagger that soon would be
plunged deep into my pulsing heart.
His committed sin could not be expunged,
for rivers of blood drained from my eyes.
There was no fairytale disguise
to silence my sighs or hide my fears.
Tears were what I used as thread
to try stitching closed the tattered seams
for now, shattered and frayed are my dreams.
There was no bewitching magic elixir
potent enough to be a fixer that could mend
the once upon a time love story of he and I.
~ The End
*old pains have healed from apologies made and accepted.
Perhaps his sin has been expunged by the hand of our judge.
The secrets that we keep leave us fevered
in those moments when we must be apart;
Your spirit circles me throughout the day
I moan as our liaison’s remembered;
In another world your perfect sweetheart,
instead my scarlet cheeks won’t go away;
When I look at you my eyes can’t hide it;
Are you able to feel sultry thoughts start?
Around you all my senses start to fray,
heart settles and then splits turning a bit
crazy.
I can still hear his voice when harsh winds blow ~
his murmurs once calmed my fears
Stars faded and moonlight dimmed ~
without romantic whispers in my ear
Twilight descended as we said sad farewells ~ threads
of our romance frayed
It is worn, patched, and tattered, frayed about the edges. It has at times offered me adrenal ascendency, scared me out of my wits, challenged me to act, or to be still. Its warmth has often failed me. Its compass deviated from true north or at times just ignored. I was told to “wear it as a loose garment”, yet it often felt too restraining or cumbersome. Still it is my choice to slip into it each morning, share a quiet moment, a sip of coffee, a laugh about a patch or stain.
It is more frail now, more likely to require re-stitching of old wounds and faded patches. And yet it serves me well. Its distant colors chuckle as we recall a hot sauce stain, that bar in Angelo, the too often sewed pocket still holds its own. Several of the “original” buttons remain to taunt the newer ones. None are sure where the others went, or why.
And so we sip coffee and recall the tears and joys of birthday cakes, of babies snuggled in its flannel fierceness, and carry on.
loosely worn garments
a history of flannel
frayed edges of life
2/25/2023
It Means A Lot To Me Poetry Contest
Calm your frayed nerves, dry beading brow
You’ve reached the end, now time can cease
How we got here, don’t ask me how
Calm your frayed nerves, dry beading brow
Accomplished as much as days would allow
Your loose ends are tied, be at peace
Calm your frayed nerves, dry beading brow
You’ve reached the end, now time can cease
lovely quilt was made
found to be crooked and frayed
unevenly laid
All that I did I will never forget
In years I have polluted my heart;
Never in time, I did regret
In years I have polluted my heart
My difficulties never seem away;
Wishing and willing to quickly depart.
My difficulties never seem away
I don't concern myself with crying;
For I shall dance until I go astray.
I don't concern myself with crying
What happened yesterday is today;
Knowing time is for dying.
What happened yesterday is today
I'll rest long enough when I die;
Death surely brings on total decay.
I'll rest long enough when I die;
But before that, I like to laugh and sigh.
My heart is frayed
Hope to tie the ends together by those who betrayed
When you ask ‘Are you ok?’
all I want to say,
is how not ok I am;
Like a piece of frayed lace;
When you’re around
all I want to say is
‘No one else makes me
feel so alive.’
I’m coming undone
just to hold it together;
Since it’s just not my place
to let you see in my face
that I’m falling apart
Like a piece of frayed lace.
You are the longest true love of my life.
You always gave selfless love even through strife.
Somewhere along the way we lost it
and I cry wondering if I could have stopped it.
Just my hindsight saw it all unfold.
For years now it has been more than my heart can hold.
Mentally, your voiced views battered me.
Emotionally, your behaviors shattered me.
We have completely turned from love’s way
so, I dwell sad in past days laid tainted and frayed.
Though no final death scythe ended us,
separation bereavement exists between us.
I search for moves holding love’s right stuff
‘cause I need to show you, Mama, I hurt enough.
everything changed by the light of day
all of the monsters, held at bay
one more night of sordid dreams
one more day not as it seems
broken thoughts and reverent prayers
wishing for things that were not there
pictures left in broken frames
always losing at your games
never one to pull out stops
just so once, I'd be on top
a pile of hopes now resting frayed
from all of you that slipped away
Frayed Pockets
A mere bag
Of shells, she said
Shiny colored stones
Sifted from
Ancient sands and
Sentient oceans
Were placed gently
In my waiting hands
They spoke of
Harsh losses
The rainbow hues
Of human lineage
The music of whales
Poems yet unwritten
Seedling thoughts
Floating in the void
Tasty moments to come
And meeting a lover
Perfectly matched
My trembling hand
Reached into old
Frayed pockets
To find a brace
Of kisses
Blown from the
Lips of parting lovers
And I offered
Them to her…
Frayed Twine
Often, thoughts of you, as my safety net
as the tight rope under foot never taught
Even footing sure, cannot steady time
Stretching, past memories, will balance naught
Sweet solitude, I dream, I close my eyes
I step away, let go, and fall for you
as once before you led me straight across
into your arms of warmth and trusted truth
You gave to me, kind love and built me up
you showed me I was strong and good enough
I took your trust; I took advantage of
then gave away, what you had given me
Yet when I gave that love to someone new
I could not give enough to feel the same
like city life I'm lost in one-way streets
Over-whelmed I am searching; first and main
I walk along a tight rope once again
I see you on the platform other side
Standing, not alone, Still, I let you know
But so I would not fall you threw a line
You gave to me, kind love and built me up
You showed me I was strong and good enough
Though our line is frayed,
like twine, holds a strength
I will always be; Still, in love with you
HBK © 2018 Jeffrey Spencer
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