The allured mind roaming restive
in the searing desert engulfing,
seethes in the pensive pores
of the swirling sands desolate.
The drops of sanguine sense desiccate,
the dust of desire swirls
with the transient sheen,
transforms into tantalizing mirage,
flashing with the tangerine tinge
of the sinking sun suspended
on the evaporating skyline,
where the flicker of mirage called hope
disappears from the myopic vision blurred,
like the golden deer fleeing
from the elusive oasis unreached,
at the end of the craving trail unwalked.
_______________
March 26, 2023
For Strand No 1203 Contest
The road taken,
a path unwalked,
direction unto fate
A choice is made,
the debt unpaid
—redemption coming late
(Dreamsleep: July, 2021)
The day my life went haywire
I saw the storm clouds rush
and cluster from nowhere.
The skeleton of the sunny sky
tumbled down instantly devastated
in the debris of despair,
where the wounded gazelle lost its way,
for it could no longer sprint,
where the robin unlearned to fly forever,
for its wings were broken.
In one dark autumn dusk
fate had played a cruel game
with my legs immobilized.
All the miles I had promised me
will now remain unwalked.
And to the twilight horizon
I’ll wheelchair me
through everything dire,
across the topography
of my changed world.
April 9, 2020
Contest : The Day My Life West Whacko
Sponsor : Caren Krutsinger
Once you had arms
that held me so tight
Once you had legs
that stood up for right
Once you had eyes
that could see in the dark
Once your strong hands
plotted courses to chart
Once we would walk
and the birds would proclaim
Once we would sing
and the heavens refrained
Once we thought time
was our servant and slave
Once, before war
we forgot and forgave
Now that you’re gone,
my memory’s gone dark
Now that you’re gone,
paths unwalked in the park
Now that you’re gone,
surname given and fast
Now that you’re gone
—my heart beats in the past
(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)
Those footsteps ahead
are now footsteps behind
The past but a memory
the future declines
My cadence is slowing
my direction unclear
When frozen in place
on the wind I can hear
Quiet footsteps ahead
louder footsteps behind
Their sound fast approaching
to reclaim and remind
The years stay unpromised
except for the end
Each step left unwalked
trailing closer—portends
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2019)
Away, Melancholia
rhymless
life striken root
Away, Melancholia
you
dandelion sun
terrace shadow
want of want
Melancholia,
gateless fable
withheld of word
of that unwalked path
Melancholia.
you are owed no
explaination,
have no spoken rath
but still
I walk through
your time
to tell your story,
I am sorry.
Leave me.
The footbridge stood
Far deep within the wood
Moonlight on stone
Gave forth a ghostly glow
The stones shone white
As bleached bone might
Hard and dark
As the eye of a crow
The overpowering reek
From the creek
that ran ‘neath
Was of pungent incense
And dead flowers
Both at once rancid and sweet
As from slow rotting meat
Across creek a carpet
In the Devil’s bowers
The bridge long unwalked
Would say if it talked
“I’m naught but mortar and stone
So please don’t deny me
At least you could try me
So I shouldn’t be
All so alone”
But don’t be tempted
To enter the wood
Nor should you
be enticed to cross the footbridge…
In the least…
E’en footsteps of Angels
Are not meant for that span
Much less so for e’en
…Man or for beast…
Hot dry passage of the unwalked space
How so do Arctic winds leave your halls?
All around is naught but ore,
where dust has all but settled.
Come hither, freeze my soul
For amongst the flame of life
I stand and sweat
The drones slave on.
Been everywhere, but no where at all
Headed down a path that's not there
To a place inside my head
Trying to find myself
Only to lose everything I had
I lost my sanity
The hand that held my heart
I lost my mind on that rocky road
Lost control of emotions
I never knew were there
Through my double vision
I see things I want to see
The outstretched hand I run to hold
The heart I yearn to keep
I see my imagination run astray
And my insanity keeping me alive
These things are not real
They never will be true
Headed down a path, but motionless I stand
Look around to see where I've gone
Been everywhere, but no where at all
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