Thomas P Owens Sr

Thomas P Owens Sr Aug 2018

I've yet to write of the child in me
that kept you close
and made you smile
I've yet to write of the terror in me
that held life and death
on a precariously short leash
I've yet to write of my love for you
though draining and awkward
was the love meant for this soul
take me to where the light
follows the waves to my feet
as she settles in
behind the horizon
and I will write my final words
at dusk
in the hours that remain
in the moments I have saved
in the grace of the setting Sun

9/2007 - slightly revised

Thomas P Owens Sr Aug 2018

hollow man

I searched the face of the hollow man
as I drove the dagger through his empty heart
drained by love given
but not replaced
he cried to me
conceiving his defeat
to shield his soul from the pangs of living
the blood of fleeing life
and the tears of anguish
fell in drops
to the time-worn floor of the dismal room

a light breeze eased the curtain aside
a blinking hotel sign
revealed a dead man
lying beneath a mirror
smeared with blood
dried to the image of a stretched palm
many hours later

1974 - read this in front of a creative writing class - people avoided me on the street afterwards

#suicide

Thomas P Owens Sr Aug 2018

slip silent

slip silent into the mist
a darkness lurks
behind your kiss
your smile now vacant
scaring me
slip silent into the sea

turn slowly out of my hold
your warming skin
has now gone cold
your dreams elusive
floating free
slip silent into the sea

I'm drowning in these unseen waves
the darkness pitch
as pauper's graves
the love that breathed new life in me
slips silent into the sea

2005

#loss

Thomas P Owens Sr Aug 2018

castaway

my Father wrote poetry in younger years
of love and loss
of joy and fear
i discovered his work tucked away in a drawer
castaway drifter
returned to the shore

who was this man of sentiment
whose gift of prose is long since spent
who spoke so rarely
and laughed not at all
i knew him not
beyond the wall
that stood in stone
grew stronger with age
his soul now resides
in this book
on this page

01/07 - slightly revised

#father #writer #castaway #mystery