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31
There's a hurdler in the distance,
Approaching from afar,
Nothing struck him in this instance,
Though the setting was bizarre

He somersaults each in a flurry,
As the clouds threaten to rain,
The flowers flutter with worry,
As they sight the old warplane

He runs straight out the exit,
Takes a right onto an avenue,
Where streetlights line the docks,
And pebbles question you

Waves crackle over the pier,
As he flies across the decking,
He throws his hands up and volunteers,
To the cold hiss of forgetting

Some time later he awakes,
On a beach of pebbles and shells,
Hasty escape perhaps a mistake,
A fall from carousels

A tower commands the sea around,
Windowless, aged concrete,
He laughs and spins at what he's found,
Alive but incomplete
Forced by covenant to conceal
The wound you carry deep
Too dangerous far to now reveal
The secret you must keep

The truth, it’s said, can set you free
Whose truth, I ask my heart
Some truth must hide, to shadow flee
Or slay as a poisoned dart

A truth which must be guarded well
Though to be shouted loud it cries
Must be restrained and forced to dwell
Within a citadel of lies

A soaring fort of alabaster walls
Splendid turrets as disguise
Conceals pits beneath its gilded halls
Where love lies brutalized

Though we ache for all the world to see
To the heart, it matters naught
Two souls are not united by decree
Nor love with license bought

So truth must wait and a prisoner remain
In lonely cell, there to abide
Believe dreams of freedom are not in vain
That gates, one day, will open wide
Winston Churchill wrote "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies. " Just as in war, so it may be in love.
She bolts awake from nightmare’s fear
Her mind fumbles for the mask
Its visage calm, gaze cool and clear
Once in place no one will ask

Exhausted from her restless night
Escape routes all slammed shut
The knots already pulling tight
Deep down inside her gut

The enemy stand at their station
They circle round her bed
Anticipating her annihilation
The demons in her head

Her feet are not yet on the floor
But the battle has begun
Another endless day of war
She must fight, she cannot run

She glances quickly in the glass
Haunted eyes she cannot meet
The enemy charge takes the pass
Her soul in forced retreat

The mask will serve her well today
Its rigid smile conceals
The terror barely held at bay
The torment that she feels

She plants her banner on the mound
Though hopelessness holds sway
She grits her teeth and holds her ground
But the ******* make her pay

All day the battle rages on
But the mask remains in place
Though at her feet hell’s chasms yawn
The world sees not a trace

The conflict ebbs, her shoulders slump
No victory is claimed
She turns for home, trailing blood
Count her among the maimed

Return to camp yields no respite
Command’s duties have no end
Cares for her troops into the night
Strength's last measure she will spend

All her charges now in bed
Mask in hidden place she keeps
In resignation bows her head
And midst the dark, in silence weeps

Now when the camp lies silent
In night’s hush no pennant streams
She braces for coming violence
And girds for bloodshed in her dreams
we are spontaneous
COMBUSTION
set me alight
your soul fuels my flame
boil, deep fry, and barbeque
char me bone deep
in flagrante corpus
we immolate together
conflagration
deflagration
don’t fear cremation
ashes will rise again
burn me to the ground
they said she was a dreamer
no clouds to veil her thoughts
a fantasy believer
her mind a maze of knots

she loved to live in make believe
talking to her porcelain kitty
thrilling stories she could weave
a pint-sized Walter Mitty

dreams can change as we grow
so it was for her
imagined prince became a beau
Oz became Big Sur

childhood fancies may pass away
with little pain or strife
but adult hopes, should they betray
can leave a wound for life

so many ways that dreams can die
some peaceful and humane
some burn out, or with a sigh
others outright slain

dreams can turn to nightmares
some live past their death
haunting those who called them theirs
once precious as each breath

but dreams can holy grace receive
and dreams can live again
hearts can heal, no longer grieve
and faith not be in vain

dreams can live on love alone
dreams shared grow stronger still
a dream fulfilled can be a home
or a castle on a hill
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