The rain fell hard blinding me
as its drops beat on eyes
open and eyelid shut.
I reached up for another grip,
a slippery handhold on slimy cliff
which was my only way out
of the canyon, with rapid rising surge
dragging at my feet, trying to pull me under.
I dared not blink as I tried the hold and lifted
my body up a notch in cranny crag.
I blinked when it held, I sighed for moment.
I blinked again, and again, in relief.
Then, it was time for another try.
Another reach for another sigh,
each moment tethered
to succession of blinks of eye
defining time's duration.
Tethered as it is
to moments in
present tense
between blinks
as shutter closures
when we're awake.
Categories:
handhold, time,
Form: Free verse
Falling
I can’t tell anymore
Which way I’m falling,
At once, I was sure it was down,
But it’s been so long
Expecting to hit ground
That I must be falling sideways.
Is my life so much a trial
I feel I’m falling sideways?
Loss of control,
Fear of what I might hit,
Will I run into tomorrow
Before I’ve lived today?
If I’m falling sideways
When will it ever end?
Catch my breath,
Catch my life,
Rushing by me at a standstill,
Unable to find a handhold,
Not able to find my place.
If I change my perspective
Will it stop me falling sideways?
Turn, reach for something more,
Don’t let them all keep telling me
I have no place right here,
I can’t be who I am.
I believe that falling saved me,
It made me take a stand,
It helped me to realize,
I only have this time
To become who I want to be,
Only I can make that change,
To put my feet on solid ground,
Stand up and take a chance.
Categories:
handhold, growth,
Form: Free verse
For Timothy Lee
When your hand holds my hand
we stand a complete one
as only two true hearts can do.
Let the strongest of winds come –
Our hand hold will never end.
Even when our bodies are past mend,
our hand hold will never end.
Let thundering rains saturate us
with all mercurial skies can pour
as our entwined fingers embrace.
United our pieces shall endure –
Our hand hold will never end.
Even when our flesh does ground blend,
our hand hold will never end.
No matter the fickleness of our weather
soulmate love is its own conclusion
as fate’s tapestry stitched together.
Despite the bruising dealt by intrusion –
Our hand hold will never end.
Even when comes our final ascend,
our hand hold will never end.
Categories:
handhold, blessing, devotion, endurance, fate,
Form: Lyric
Hands of America
Hand-over-hand: arduous climb
up the ladder of success.
Hand made: goods from a foreign land,
homeland in economic distress.
Hand-in-hand: dire collusion
with despots of detention
by the leaders of the state
that forged liberty's invention.
Underhanded: the undermining
of the only black president;
white hands applying black face,
inciting hatred and malcontent.
Handgun: a clutched firearm
with trigger pull light as breath;
handles on the side of a casket,
results of a violent shooting death.
Handover: a secret tactic
of those whose secret mission
results in the torture of those
sent abroad for extreme rendition.
Handiwork: the bloody results
of falsehoods of those who swore
that our homeland was in danger,
that we must send our best into war.
Handhold: a grip on reality
by people needing a hand.
Hands off: the response of
those who seek to rule this land.
Categories:
handhold, passion, patriotic, peace,
Form: Free verse
Hands
Hand in hand: A romantic walk
with relationship in hand
or palm to palm, high five,
victory ever so grand.
Hand over hand: Arduous climb
up the ladder of success.
Hand made: Goods from a foreign land,
homeland in economic distress.
Underhanded: The undermining
of the only black president;
white hands applying black face,
inciting hatred and malcontent.
Handgun: A clutched firearm
with trigger pull light as breath;
handle on the side of a casket,
results of a violent shooting death.
Handover: A secret tactic
of those practicing vendition,
involving the torture of those
captured for extreme rendition.
Handhold: A grip on reality
by people needing a hand.
Hands down: The response
of those who now rule the land.
Categories:
handhold, truth,
Form: Free verse
Oh Almighty,
You created my mind, body and soul;
Gave them perfect proportion and order;
You taught me speech and intelligence;
In my forties, I remain a foetus
In three shades and stages of darkness
Without your Light;
Almighty, won't You shine your Light on me;
Make me a model like Abraham:
An oft-repenting champion like David:
Grant me beauty like you gave to Joseph:
Make me enhanced and powerful like Jesus:
Endow me with resolution like Muhammad:
Peace and blessings be upon them all.
Breathe your Spirit into me constantly,
Let not my desires and decisions
Distort my beauty into discord:
Without your Handhold and Light,
I am nothing but a foetus
In three shades of darkness.
Categories:
handhold, islamic,
Form: Alexandrine
Straddling is safe with grips each side secure,
but progress requires the flip flop position,
secured on one side or the other, not looking down or back.
It’s iffy to lift a foot implanted
with footholds secure in straddled camps.
To poise precarious with return annulled
to go binary with uncertainties, with flip or flop.
It’s yeah or neigh, not betwixt nor between,
for or against, not poised procrastinating
nor straddling serendipitous with free fall.
Like a climber, securing three firm grips before
letting one grip go, and reaching up for next handhold.
This keeps ambivalence under control,
stepping adroitly and securely,
without looking back or down,
making assertive progress one step at a time
on a three-legged stool.
Categories:
handhold, encouraging, engagement,
Form: Free verse
MY FRIEND, AQUATIC
I am supported, gently, head to toe.
By your concern to hold me away
From the hard, cold pool floor below.
I push you with hands and feet,
But you resist and little do you move.
As though a solid you give me a handhold
With which to pull myself forward.
I push you away yet there you stay
And as I forward move,
You caress me as I pass you by.
As I splash, in friendship
You wave, wave all the way
To the edge of the pool.
Yes, Aquatic, you are my friend,
Hard to emulate,
As you both soothe and stimulate.
Categories:
handhold, friend, imagery, metaphor, water,
Form: Light Verse
A staff is more than handhold, its worn
to the grasp, trust in what fell down from above.
The llama's sure foothold fits like our staffs
in the rocks climbing upward to the top to the sky.
We risk the blaze of sun, for the wide wings of condor
soaring, spiraling, hunting for a meal, never assured
except for his hold on the sky, flight, supreme
over the rocks and tumbles and worn out straw
of season of cold passing into days of warmth.
The spindle clatter, the roil and curve of weft needle
a prayer to on high, like the spirals of rock to the sky
the sun speaking to us at feet, these are complete
to the rest and remain of our escape to safety
in the cradle of our summer retreat, waiting for stars
to fall among us, waiting for stars to carry us away
from homes built within a circle of spires, three spires
to bring the ley lines of power into our grasp, to offer
escape from the dust and dung we live in, amazed.
Categories:
handhold, beauty, heaven, journey, nature,
Form: Couplet
Our love is simple
A sparkle in the eye
A handhold
A sneaky kiss
Our love is childish
Running around the kitchen table
Peeking in the shower
Waiting behind a corner….
Our love is boring
laying on the couch
fetching a glass of water
watching that show you hate
Our love is tender
A kiss on the top of a hand
Tracing tattoos with fingertips
Hugging them while they're busy
Our love is kind
“It will be ok”
“I miss you”
“You’re beautiful”
Our love is ours
Weird kisses
Inside jokes
Squinty eyes
Our love is unbreakable
The hooking of pinkies.
Categories:
handhold, love, love,
Form: Free verse