Abigail

Abigail Dec 2011

A mirror.
Reflect, unconditionally, the glory of all
But never radiate one's own splendor

A shell.
Provider, protector
Submitted to the furies; ever a refuge, never a refugee

A utensil.
Mere instrument, to be used and used
With no other use

A shoe.
Worn in and around
And replaced when the toll is apparent

A secret.
Put it out there, do
But keep knowledgeable to a close few

A kettle.
Boiling away on someone's behalf
Soon to be dismissed as a maker of shrill screams and hot air

A woman.
Charitable to inane ideals
When all that defines her is contrary

Abigail Sep 2011

Ghosts of Questions Past

Oh, how I wish that I could trust you
But we’re running out of daylight
And ghosts of questions past will soon emerge

To envelop us so stealthily
Even as we flee them
And you’ll duck for cover, leaving me to stumble as they converge

And so I’m haunted each dusk
By these phantoms so persistent
As they race from my head to nip at my hasty heels

But if only I had the courage
Or the wisdom to confront them
I know they’d lead me to your refuge, all revealed

And though I long for this occasion
I cannot bear to turn my head
And simply face the jeering, spectral things directly

But I grow weary from the chase
And as I rush into the night
I know that, willingly or no, they'll overcome me

Abigail Sep 2011

The Battle Preemptive

Slashing, swallowing tongues of fire

Igniting his own funeral pyre

The soldier stumbles, heartstrings rent

From his gun’s chamber, bullets spent

Haggard and ruined, he cries surrender

Welcoming death as his soul’s avenger

Faltering, crumbling, face to the earth

He closes his eyes and accepts his unbirth

Abigail Sep 2011

The Immortal Conqueror

After I have conquered all
And my history unravels
Through the few whispering tongues which bore witness,

May irreverence be a challenge
To the eyes then gazing southward
As recollections of my triumphs are brought forth.

And though the spoils of flesh may spoil
May consciousness prevail
The endless valleys far beyond become familiar,

May there be thoughts left yet to ponder
Whilst the restless souls be sated
And in brilliance, let us rival the unknown.

When lilies’ petals fade to gray
But to spring forth again next day
May it be known that my conquests were not in vain,

For the battles won victorious
Will have been much worth the fight
When they summon my name wandering again.

Abigail Sep 2011

Fathoms of Blue

Staring up into the night sky is like looking into the water backwards,
gazing up at the surface from below.

The clouds drift across like a mirage, separating you from the distant heavens.
The stars beckon from heights far beyond your reach.

You yearn to break the surface, to reach into the vastness beyond the vapor.

What would you find upon breaching the fog?
Will the reflection be righted as you gaze upon the surface of the world from the sky?

Or will the endless depths of the universe envelop you like the sea,
leaving you once again to marvel at creation from beneath fathoms of deep blue?

Several lines of jabbering nonsense. Stars are cool.

Abigail Sep 2011

A Moonless Night

The moon is lost forever;
the sky has swallowed the stars.
If the heavenly bodies retain no hope,
where may we mortals find ours?

Abigail Sep 2011

Shades of Gray

The world was born of steely gray
An utter blending of the shades
Of miserable black and righteous white
Indicating wrong and right.

Or is it white whose hue condemns
And black from which the conscience stems?

Never matter, our impartial domain
Favors neither of its veins
Confounding at its very core
The moral and amoral score.