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 Jul 2016 Loveless
ryn
Clover
 Jul 2016 Loveless
ryn
Saw a single clover...
Peeking out from the crack in the wall.
All alone... With no other.
Shivering in the wind.
Still it braved the unknown.
Just to see...
What was shown.

Touched the single clover.
So much courage within something so small,
so green and frail.
Standing tall in the torrential gale.
So much I could take and learn from it.
I shall make it my daily inspiration.
I shall leave it be.
So that on my daily walk back,
it could say to me,
"I'm still here, you are too.
Let's keep on, keeping on,
till our days are through."


On my walk back today,
I have looked forward to see the clover I've learnt to adore.
Only to find that it had gone missing...
It just wasn't there anymore.
The crack was vacant...
I looked all around.
I finally looked down...
And there it was on the ground.
A twisted corpse of what once was...
The storm earlier had ripped it off its perch.
The winds had overcome and left it in the lurch.
Grounded and defenceless,
It quickly became the target of many footsteps
belonging to people too oblivious.

The clover is dead.
But it's still so green.
As I looked at it,
I imagined what it would have said,
"Keep on, keeping on.
You won't truly know...
You won't really learn...
And life won't show,
if you get too afraid of the storm.
And then you won't grow.
Stick your head out
and never be too scared...
To see and be a part of the wonders of the world
that the universe has infinitely shared."


.
 Jul 2016 Loveless
ryn
Vault
 Jul 2016 Loveless
ryn
Relegate your thoughts
into the vault.
The mind isn't ready
to deal in absolute.

Banish into oblivion,
untimely discrepancies and faults.
When infractions are unclear
for you to refute.

Consign the arrogance,
into the darkest dark.
Let them fester,
never to see light of day.

Cradle the fear,
nurse it till ripe, engorged and stark.
For everything now lies...
Indefinite and in the grey.
 Jul 2016 Loveless
ryn
Cloak
 Jul 2016 Loveless
ryn
.

Cloak of invisibility...
Render me unseen.
As I tremble with the fury of
a thousand downfalls
and untimely disappointments.
Let the complacent eye
merely skim the surface of my masquerade...
Without learning of what seethes underneath.


Cloak of invincibility...
Render me impervious...
To the callous digits that know only to point.
To the disastrous effect of heated words.
To the unforgiving nature of
my wayward thoughts and emotions.
Grant me strength and resilience
through hardened skin that promises not,
of betrayal.


Cloak of infallibility...
Render me trustworthy and honest.
So that I can rest with the knowledge
that what I feel is true...
What I feel is me.
That this isn't the result of the faint murmur
of errant gossip...
But instead the genuine exchanges
between the heart and mind.


Cloak of myth...
Render me a believer.
Aid me in finding my footing
in the blasted dark.
For...
I have been siphoned dry,
during these unsure times
that have drawn much...
Too much.


.
the pain
of having to let you
go your way

after such loving days

pulls my face
   into a joyous smile
makes me speak
   words of reassurance
   crack jokes
   ostentatiously enjoy
      a Manhattan at lunch time
   and boisterously hug you
      au revoir

anything
   to overcome
      unshed tears
      the hardening lump in my chest
      the tightening knot in my stomach
      the cold fist that grips my neck
      tightens my throat
      makes my eyes dry
      with the knowledge
         you will not be
         by my side
         for weeks

              * *
Everyone talks about how beautiful it is
to be shining with life, to have a slight glow
to be walking with joy, just starting to show.

Friends will all smile and will all want to know
(just like your family) the date and the gender;
If it's a girl, your beauty you'll lend her
but if it's a boy your body will surrender.

They all have a story, a fun little tale
but none have the cure for
the all-day-long hell.

But here's the first secret
I have learned on my own:

I love this sweet baby despite how it's grown.
On the days that I can't
even roll over in bed without
an internal sigh so deep
it would rival the heave of
the shuddering earth
and you ask me why
dinner is still cooking and
the drier is fluffing and
the dishes are crusting
and the dust is still lying
and my lashes are bare
and my hair is unkempt
as the sheets on the bed...
On these days when
I go to work anyway
before you wake up and
I get home after you
(you're sleeping on the couch)
and pick up after you
and serve myself after you
and you still think to ask
about the undone things that
your eyes see so well...
On these days with
these questions and that
look in your eyes
it's all I can do
to set my jaw,
smile,
and say:
"I just haven't..."
 Jul 2016 Loveless
Jeff Stier
When I first met her
God put a speaking trumpet
straight up against my ear
and stated
very slowly
in that Godly voice
that is a mix of
the ocean's roar
and the singing of
Barry White

"This is the one
you've been looking for."

The stars were in on it
bubbling like champagne
in the night sky
singing a sweet accompaniment
a singular poem
of one word:
Yes.

What would you do?

I took the only possible path:
Surrender.

Gave up my wandering ways
quit my womanizing
got hitched straight away
tied the knot
didn't know a thing
about knot tying
but the **** thing held.

And here we are.
Poet number one
that would be her.

Poet number two-and-a-half
me

Marriage solved nothing
brought more questions
than answers
more unfinished business
than completed tasks

Yet at this late stage
a sense that against all odds
against the evidence
of my hands
against every argument
presented by the priest
who reluctantly married us

Something has gone
wonderfully right.

The stars,
dear friends,
truly know their business.
A piece missing
A puzzle left incomplete
Observing from my tippy toes
Air beneath my feet
Everything I ever wanted
Slightly out of reach
The world is my oyster
Yet you're the only thing I seek

You stand with wide eyes and circle rims
Nipping it all in the bud
Hasty gardener who over trims
What's left of our water
Just a puddle only my finger tip can skim

I'm stuck in love with a not ever after
If you be my shining knight
And I'll be yours to batter
Bruise me, scar me deep
Treat me how you will
I'm always your to keep

Waiting on the sidelines
Nervous to jump in
Muddy shoes from walking
The mess is to my hem
With shallow waters Im soaked
I grant you permission to swim
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