(Note: taken from a diary of a young lady)
In memoriam of Jose` Maria
aged twenty, drowned.
I lounge on an uneven stone
under the uneasy shade
of an ancient carob tree,
away from the hot rays
of the summer sun.
I sit alone, abandoned,
I contemplate in vain,
for my thoughts wander on you,
who left me in the lurch.
I stare vacantly towards
the mighty sea that
like a cyclone of frigidness
buffets the darkened rocks
that form the inlet.
Wave after wave
enters the narrow strait
and rumble onwards
to the horrendous shore
throwing iridescent sprays
over the plaque of cold hard marble
that hides a tragedy of life.
Under the Iberian sky
prickly pears ripen
a stone's throw away
from the glinting shore
amid the green olive trees
slightly wet with sea spray.
The plaque seems to glow
in the hot summer rays.
I wonder what made Jose` Maria
swim in that turbulent sea.
Maybe he searched for treasure lost,
or hunted for the slippery octopus,
or mourned over lost love.
A life destroyed.
Am I not astray too?
I am so far away from you,
forsaken and unloved,
for you are like the sea, drowned
in a cyclone of frigidness.
In times when I was met with frigidness,
and cruelty scraped my fragile skin,
I may have whimpered like a pup
or merely shaken it off.
Those memories remain
somewhere in my brain
but not in a
place of joy
or of
grace.
I
prefer
to lock up
old injuries,
and some I may have
concealed so very well
they linger as in a fog.
Unlike the bliss of a first kiss,
my deepest cuts and wounds have become
memories lost within a frozen mist.
Something has you really dazed
You seem lost and kind of phased
Confused, hurt and really blue
Tell me what happened to you
What made you feel like this
Taking away all your bliss
Leaving you in a weird place
There's a look upon your face
That is new--your eyes are blank
It's like somebody took a crank
Winding you up--letting go
Watching your emotions flow
From a wound up shattered heart
That has been bruised by a shot
Of despair and heartache
Leaving you to bend and break
By a person that can hold
The master key--turning you cold
From the frigidness of steel
Stuck in your back as you feel
A twirl of emptiness and loss
Take that key out--try to toss
The memories in your mind
Hallucinations will not wind
You up if you find
It is just all from a time
Of a bad and upset past
Shake it out it will not last
Reality will soon shine through
Happiness heading back to you
Winter approaches with a soft, light step
A simple breezy chill swallowing your mind
With eyelashes frosty and limbs bundled up
A home with flames dancing in the corner
Silken bed inviting you to a long winter’s nap
But where do the forest critters go when nippy air bites their paws?
Does the white bird still fly when her wings are glassy with frost?
Do the berries rejoice in the sound of silence when the bears and rabbits bundle in their burrows?
Do their thorns break, so brittle from the grasp of the wind?
Does the glacial silence roar in the ears of the mice, unable to stand the quiet chaos?
As I am defrosting in my home, watching the powdery first snow
Does the rest of the world go on without me, sleepily blinking the frigidness away?
The snow serves as a blanket outside my door, covering the creatures in a delightful glisten
Savoring any apricity in their fur, ice glinting in their eyes
All is calm, the silence like the rhythmic sound of a bird flapping its wings
The white bird flies over the treetops, melting in with the sky
Just another snowflake in the silent, crystal mountains
Sitting at night under the Southern sky
with Spanish moss dripping over head
my skin sticky with the dampness of heat
And the air glowing silver with the moons secrets,
its easy to fall trance to the nights own lullaby.
To fall in love the legacy of the land thats nurtured me.
To forget the frigidness of winter eves
when we huddled with space heaters and prayed for the ache to stop.
The sun is timeless.
It soaks into our bones and melts our drive,
It radiates long after from the forest floor giving life
to song of cicadas, this chant of eons celebrating the toils
of all our struggles.
Reminders in the quiet of night of the infinite cycle of those stars, and our smallness in the scale of them.
Crystalline floe’s fade in the amber glow;
shadows chill the foliage to white crystals
I cast my eyes to the orange and lavender sky
and breathe in the frosty splendor of the
snowy mountains silent facade.
A lone doe stands watching the river,
hoping perhaps for a drink of the thawing
aqua; I breathe in the scent of snow-laden
evergreens’ breath, filling my lungs.
In winter, the river is untainted,
as the crisp cleansing of the seasons’
frigidness will give birth to new beginnings;
I contemplate and revel in the
majesty of upcoming new births.
3-10-2021
CONTEMPLATION Poetry Contest
craig cornish
I can hear the mouthless wind
loudly howling outside my window
Its wingless unseeable form whipping through
the leafless trees
riding the branches wildly
And blowing falling flakes onto every available space
and covering them in white giving them
admirable shapes
Oh yes indeed
what a magical sight to gaze upon
And although I happily enjoyed watching the snow soundlessly gliding down
kissing the ground softly and forming beautiful landscapes
The harshness wind is toothlessly bitting through my bones with its frigidness
So I think it’s time to turn up the fireplace for some heat for my chilly bones
And maybe a cup of delicious hot cocoa to warm my soul
Because
baby it is cold outside
Akkina
2/1/21
i'd rather curl myself
in the depths of your arms
listening to the deep sighs
in the rise and fall of your chest
than venture back outside
in the frigidness
of january's wind
both which take
my breath away
indistinct chatter
sweeps through my mind
like wind through trees
in winter's high pitched shrills
as memories twirl
in a spiral of thoughts
my heart pauses
beneath fragments
of shrouded warmth
once found in love
and this diminishing sun
i am hesitant to stand aground
where rains have come
between winded breaths
like these trees
naked on dampened hills
i too shiver in the depths
of coldness, alone
bending, almost dropping
to the accepting ground
bitter trails
of the unworthy
drop at my feet
like leaves of autumn
only to crumble
within the moments
of allotted time
i gasp
in what takes my breath away
momentarily
before i hear the depths
of my mind speak
as if warning my heart
to wake from endless dreams
halt to all possibilities
of treading on thin ice
beneath winter's frigidness
and bury my heart
behind the walls
that protect
so i do not fall
and drown
in the depths
of tears again
"Ave Maria" playing
in the background
distant chatter fading
my emotions asunder
like the dandelion
in autumn's air
soft wishes
blown about
i always curse
this time of year
it's the crossroad
of life and death
where everything beautiful
rises to glory
in its splendor
dancing gleefully
before becoming grounded
lost in the echo of wind's moans
succumbing to an end
the bareness of trees
with nothing left to strip
as they shiver in this frigidness
gathering little warmth
from the raven's roost
as he awaits fatality
a top its soulless branches
i feel the same nakedness
with every kiss
pressed softly against
lips silenced of life
i shiver within pools
of emotionless tears
beneath the numbness of years
as "Ave Maria" plays again and again
September 17, 2019
Something has you really dazed
You seem lost and kind of phased
Confused, hurt and really blue
Tell me what happened to you
What made you feel like this
Taking away all your bliss
Leaving you in a weird place
There's a look upon your face
That is new--your eyes are blank
It's like somebody took a crank
Winding you up--letting go
Watching your emotions flow
From a wound up shattered heart
That has been bruised by a shot
Of despair and heartache
Leaving you to bend and break
By a person that can hold
The master key--turning you cold
From the frigidness of steel
Stuck in your back as you feel
A twirl of emptiness and loss
Take that key out--try to toss
The memories in your mind
Hallucinations will not wind
You up if you find
It is just all from a time
Of a bad and upset past
Shake it out it will not last
Reality will soon shine through
Happiness heading back to you
Hotel Lobby
There is nothing quite so lived in as a hotel lobby.
The seats are worn with daily use, the lighting just the right depth to hide the shadows who have passed through its angles, sharpened with use.
The maître d' returns my watchful eye with disdain
I do not belong in this hotel lobby;
Too many children and shady businessman and painted women have sat where I am sitting, waiting for Charon's taxi to take them back. Even the staff are prepared for the shift change, when they can drop their suits of sophistication for a simpler garb to present to their families.
Only the maître d' has made his home here, in the twilight zone between the powerful heat rolling through his glass doors and simulated frigidness within. This lamp here is his candlelight for lonely nights of black-clad faceless staff with pinned-up hair.
I am here to observe the wakening of livelihoods; the pre-amble of business meetings; the preparations to an outing day.
Perhaps only after will I feel the need to sleep.
Every time autumn's frigidness wears away the leaves grips and cause them to fall.
Summer's once green life withers away to return to mother earth.
Like every mother she knows when the time has come,
Whether it's a bird pushed from the nest,
or an infant child's first breath,
maternal instinct mixed with offspring love, together knows best.
The real test is when winter's bitter cold desires the sun,
lands are frozen, inhabiters run,
birds soar towards the south,
the worst's yet to come.
Continual Cycle of seasons of change
Constantly challenges the strong, the willing, and brave.
I know when MY spring blossomed a life that I can call mine,
summer followed and seemed endless forever alive.
Deep inside your mind a day can last forever,
fall slowly creeps by, while we all spend winter together.
it is beyond where I see what no one sees,
as fond as the children of the, birds, and the bees,
of those famous few words as the 7's of seas,
as rotten as the nectars in the most poisonous of trees,
given this day, is taken in a breath,
as a product of hatred, is a product of death,
taken it by the heart for you will not hear,
the swiftness to the beyond, they will not cheer,
blind to his magic and weak to his gaze,
the frigidness of his presence will put you in a daze,
remember this phrase
beyond the dark you must not see,
that cloaked in this evil will surely be me.
The Slothful Musings of an
Indicted Leech …
… I suck. Simply put, I suck.
Attaching my slimy being,
surreptitiously clingy,
nauseatingly smooth,
ingratiatingly insidious,
onto warm sources of
sustenance.
I suck, I leech, I drain,
the elements of good-nature,
turning smiles into profitable
ventures,
sucking, leeching, draining,
the beings I encounter,
suctioned cups of guilt,
of predatory precision,
surgical frigidness,
clinical intent,
sucking, leeching, draining,
till fattened,
bulging with burgeoning gains,
flush with siphoned-off goodwill,
bloated by hubris,
slipping away,
slithering into my den,
creeping on borrowed legs,
seeing with donated eyes,
cloaked in spurious fabric,
I leech, I suck.
Self-pity my only refrain,
flushing what is left of a soul,
down,
into the welcoming drain.
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