A shadow hides behind your smile
in the Riviera sun
Parisian moments long ago
our love had just begun
A child born then lost to time
whose laughter still we hear
As life took back its greatest gift
—his memory to endear
(Mayenne France: April, 1978)
Christmas memory
reminders activated
by ancestral crib
When you were little
near you everything was a dream ...
Minute that you were easily
inside me you entered.
When you smiled the whole sky
starred ... you were the brilliant
of the stars ...
So much was the brightness
that you radiated...
When you were in my arms,
neither me nor you
knew it was your future
that I held ...!
Funny how a fragrance can hold
such a precious memory
Yet, every time I simply touch the small pink box,
its tattered lid barely concealing the bottle,
I am flooded with love,
with the deepest warmth,
with so many feelings, all at once
It was my grandmother’s favorite
because I had given it to her
as a small boy
A simple Christmas present
One that became her signature
One that became an annual event
And though all that’s left now is an empty vessel
And the remaining scent is so faint.
I savor each visit
For when that sweet floral is recognized,
I can still see her face and catch the gleam
of her crystal blue eyes
I can almost hear her gentle voice saying,
thank you,
just the way she did upon opening my last gift
of “Memoire Cherie”
iron gates -
swing open on rusty hinges
the day cold and windy
the cemetery is old
with rows and rows
of headstones
and massive stone crypts
I love the statues-
weathered beautiful
fall crisp trees bending in prayer
and all the roads intersect
rough and cracked uneven with ruts
leaves brittle orange and red crunch
beneath my meandering feet
inscriptions a la memoire du everywhere
a trickling pond amongst the tombs
oh stop and contemplate the whisper
a gnarled tree protects your rest
the breeze takes my hair and my tears
mother such fathomless love but
your memory
is a dagger in my heart plunging
over and over again-
mother here repose in peace and I
who forever griefs and bleeds
will never let go never is eternity
and here I place a lip kissed
red rose oh the pain of the
grief-stricken _
____________________________________
October 7, 2015
Free Verse
Eyes like fire and voice like rain
eyes like fog and heart like a stain
cigarettes burning in the coals of the night
shivering from the downpour feeling unright
she lookes at me with contemptous passion
asking me if i'm all talk or action
leave her on the street
scuffle by dragging my feet
don't want to look back at the girl i knew
knowing that this is what became of you