"Stone by Stone"
Each sin I’ve carried—stone on aching stone,
Dreams left untouched, stacked clean in silent rows.
Each promise broken, marrow turned to bone,
Each wound I’ve borne, a weight that never goes.
"Stone by Stone"
The heavens sang once, choirs now dismayed,
Ignored by hearts too deafened by the toll.
Layers of earth by sacred hands were laid,
Yet mud retains my shape, my heavy soul.
Your voice cuts through—an edge, both sharp and kind,
Unbinding what my ruin dared to cage.
Stone by stone, your mercy shaped my mind,
A sculptor’s hand to calm relentless rage.
"Stone by Stone"
What love remains ascends where grief resigns,
A monument rebuilt by your designs.
"Stone by stone"
The Quiet keeps a little Door—
No Mortal sees it Swing—
Yet every Rose that folds its Silk
Knows well the hidden Thing—
A Fragrance—not of Orchard fair—
Nor Clover, kissed by Noon—
But Earth's own solemn Covenant
Beneath the Harvest Moon—
The Lilies do not chide the Dust—
The Robin stays his Hymn—
For Life resigns her borrowed Breath
To Chambers faint—and dim—
What Men would name Corruption's Trade—
The Meadow whispers—"Grace"—
Each Falling Leaf becomes a Star
In some forgotten Place—
If Putrescine should wear a Crown—
'Tis woven not of Shame—
But of the patient Chemistry
That gives the Soil its Name—
So Death—who keeps no jealous Purse—
Returns what once was given—
And every silent Molecule
Still keeps its Road—to Heaven.
Give me a Quiet Hour with You —
Before the Light resigns —
To lean against the Afternoon —
And breathe between the Pines —
Let me beside Your Silence sit —
As though the World were small —
Give me a Quiet Hour with You —
That scarcely moved at all —
To touch a Hand so softly held —
It startled even Air —
And whisper not aloud Your Name —
Lest Heaven overhear —
Walking down the aisle was the dream with you, but it was all an illusion.
You left me with a poor excuse that caused my heart to bleed.
Drained of blood it became a dry slab of concrete.
We were already to begin the next step in the journey.
You lied when you said that we were each other’s Destiny.
Each person that came near me was a cause for you to be jealous.
That was your problem as I only had eyes on you.
I regarded them as relatives, two of them became my sisters when you voiced your moments of PP depression onto me.
You claimed that you had no help as you were surviving.
Now you claim that you are without a partner and have no money.
SO, why did you break away.
If it were the destiny for each one then you would have stated something different.
You are a liar that has not come to realize that the man for you was becoming the man you needed.
Goodbye Bell from the East, my heart resigns from you.
I live in this continuum,
Where I sit, I scroll, I rot.
This blissful poison hypnotizes me in,
An artifice far deadlier than I thought.
It promises me sweet lies,
Feeding on the pith of my mind.
I grow my own nicotine,
A toxin that turns me blind.
Stronger than any drug it seems,
It drags me out of reality.
I escape to the realms of fractured dreams,
Only to suffer their calamity.
I live in this continuum,
Where my soul resigns to the comfort I crave.
In this abyss I dwell,
I have learned to dig up my own grave.
23/01/25
Aunt, her twenty-something nephew, his grandpa:
It’s after dinner as her nephew tells her, “Mom’s
making dinner but I’ll have a taste,” A couple bowls
later, my nephew and Dad viewing news flashes
coming at them like strobe lights: Carter funeral,
Trudeau resigns, VP Harris certifies her opponent’s
win. Her nephew’s tall stature, shoulders shaking
with familiar giggles (he’s moving in a couple days
to begin real adulting) and he says, “What is this!
I’m going to have to watch the news more often!”
It’s begun already, his days of “The Office,” behind
Him…no, they’re just beginning.
Mrs Valid
Mrs Valid resigns herself to
permanent living in
potholes.
She blossoms when she's rising
Her heart and soul coloured
Complexities many, yet distant
Embracing each moment, briefly
Infrequent and often entwined
Talking minds not hearts
How she yearned for chance
Shielding under full exposure
No light there to guide
On her knees took day down
Grey shadows made seen
An epiphany never forgotten
History circles the mind image
Chess board askew the table
Turns, run out and resigns
As the cold light of day hits
Darkness falls once more
Rejected body and wholeness
Directions to future plans void
Living her life on life's terms
Acceptance...her only answer
Seizing each moment to be kind,
Listen, empathy employ, hear her words,
Appreciate small yet enormous signs,
Respond yet not overwhelm,
Cements our being valentines!
Just hearing her breathing,
Comforts, loneliness resigns,
Kindly searching deeds, acting wisely,
With Hashem’s aid yields love genuine!
Receive ruminations, attend expressions,
Kindles cupid, life as a couple sublime,
Despite turbulent exceptions we eschew,
Renew kindly favor time after time,
Sensitive antennae align the benign,
Middos Tov, being a Mensch,
Grow a good eye that culls the fine,
Delving with heart into her druthers is song,
To courage not chicken out align,
Surrender poetry not “Poultry in Motion!”
I am Eisenhower builds the
Interstate highway.
I am polio vaccine that
Saves the day.
I am the energy of civil
Rights.
I am the first transcontinental
Flight.
I am the Rosenbergs guilty they
Get the death sentence.
I am Elvis rocking,
You can feel his presence.
I am a disc-jockey who terms
The word rock n roll.
I am NASA created, can we get
A drum roll.
I am the baby-boom era at
It's peak.
I am Rosa Parks not giving up
Her seat.
I am the first episode of leave
It to beaver.
I am the TV remote control
Receiver.
I am the first passenger jet
Airline.
I am Winston Churchill when
He resigns.
I am Barbie and the hula
Hoop.
I am DNA discovered the
Double-helix loop.
I am the first credit card
And solar-cell.
I am super-glue and the
Birth-control pill.
I am the new rhythm
And blues.
I am Elvis in Blue suede
Shoes.
I am a fender electric
Guitar on scene.
I am Chuck Berry and
Maybellene.
Turbo1904
A shade of yesterday resigns.
As an ancient star never aligns.
To shine beyond the path it's given.
And let light in when it's forgiven.
A cosmic trail of never ending.
Lost in the mail forever sending.
An unopened message of love.
That only comes from up above.
Return to sender ever ender.
To never know a warmth so tender.
Compassion's not addressed to some.
A mailed letter that did not come.
Forgiveness lives inside forgivers.
For some, it's cirrhosis of the liver.
Till death do part straight from the heart.
For some, they just can't seem to start.
An endless longing for tomorrow.
To pay for yesterday's we borrow.
In hopes all of our dreams come true.
Before our time on earth is through.
Darkness imbues sunlight,
Stars adorn pitch of night.
Pristine as north winds blow,
Huddled in loam, primroses grow.
Razor clouds streak across sky,
Starkly bleeding is dawn to eye.
Sangria balm touches azure skin,
Contrast like yang and yin.
Shadows shrink, ignoble retreat,
Selene, curtsey, obliges defeat.
Emblazes arise, heat carries,
Tip to root blushing varies.
Dawn serenades coming day,
Phoenix arose from ashes of grey.
Pigments leak from wounded sky,
Serene, expanse gone awry.
Restless in sound of silence,
Darkness stalks with defiance.
Bated pounce as sun depletes,
Across waned skies, color secretes.
Bloom resigns, surrenders,
Bows to infinite splendors.
Brigand moon ‘neath covert night
Abscond again, posies light.
Maiden misses her fate down by the sea
Novel has taken her interest away
Missive on her lap quells her light
Sailor ponders whether she might court he
Watching her from shallow part of the bay
Maiden misses her fate down by the sea
She is farmer’s daughter, name of Ashley
Her book is filled with romance, hey! Hey!
Missive on her lap quells her light
He questions himself getting down on a knee
She turns a page, unaware of man in gray
Maiden misses her fate down by the sea
He talks himself out of it; lets her be.
Resigns himself to a lonely life today
Missive on her lap quells her light.
He leaves in his fishing boat quietly
She yawns, not looking up, having no say
Maiden misses her fate down by the sea
Missive on her lap quells her light
Cleaving to all its bustle and ado,
What trails behind is one’s own dark shadow.
O man, choke not with truth buried below,
Its fingers point to your vainest ego.
He’s no man that mutely accepts his fate
Resigns to whatso fate, whatso morrow,
A sheep in flock he’s no better to know,
In cool ash of ignorance to wallow,
A man is he defeated but by him—
O fight thy pretender, beat him hollow.
______________________________________
Ghazal |04.11.2021|
"Blue eyes look upon my brown skin they fathom
they asked a question am I human
Green eyes look upon my brown skin
they ask the question am I human
Gray eyes look upon my brown skin
they asked me over and over again am I human
A silver eye looks upon mine black, my bronze skin
and they are asking me continually am i human
Most of these figures
are your opinion
questions doesn't matter
though God (for He )created All eyes
And the people of my mind
I'm in a class that resigns
Resonating the rainbow
the compulsion of different flavors browns shades of pigmentation
of our skins differ
but yet we all have the same soul
so in reality the flavor of the day is
we all created from almighty God
And in awe all His colors,
His personal rainbows are beautiful"
8/24/21
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2021
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