Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
Light on the water
the clouds shape
sheening the swells with pearl
before the wave.

How used are my eyes
to the immediate, to the
limits of a bent neck.

The salt and light conspire
to force the challenge.

And I sit here, clutching
them to me, for too often
I have fallen away like
the foam,
retreating, without
in my turn rushing forward
to prove the immovable.

A young man’s stand
for I am yet too young
for wisdom to mean
passivity.

I will force the challenge.
Feb 9 · 237
haiku no. 162
Feb 9 · 412
haiku no. 161
through a seam in the blinds
the sun
still
Feb 9 · 155
haiku no. 160
glasses case
when will it
come back to me
Feb 9 · 255
haiku no. 159
in the daylight her face just sleeping
Feb 9 · 286
haiku no. 158
one small ear poking out
her covers rise
and fall
Feb 9 · 212
haiku no. 157
her braided hair
in the lamplight
and daylight
Jan 30 · 250
Senryu no. 4
dim shower
this blue screen
washes over me
It was nostalgic writing this.
Jan 24 · 185
haiku no. 156
birdsong
and roses
this imaginary garden
Jan 21 · 396
Senryu no. 3
after all
disappointment and a cold day
a bowl of soup
Jan 19 · 283
haiku no. 155
bluebird courting
on each branch he bobs
up and
down
Jan 15 · 365
haiku no. 154
well-loved cardigan
I glance at everything
but the calendar
Jan 11 · 496
haiku no. 153
dawn light -
the weight of the air
settles in
Slow morning
Jan 11 · 201
haiku no. 152
evening after snow
the trees limbs
are limned in light
Jan 11 · 155
haiku no. 151
savoring earl grey
my pen rests
between Masters
Jan 11 · 234
haiku no. 150
after a mornings snowmelt
the next morning
dawns
It snowed briefly here in Athens Georgia today.
Dec 2024 · 360
From the Corner of my Eye
Christian Bixler Dec 2024
Beneath the covers at night,
when I am alone. Past scrolling,
and all the other things that present
themselves for distraction. I find
sometimes that I am lonely, and long
for a companionship that is elusive,
even now. A likeness that calls to like.

I am aware of time, these days.
I hope in time, we will
find ourselves together, more
and more often.
Sep 2024 · 264
Vignette; Dandelions
Christian Bixler Sep 2024
I see you
bursting like dolphins
from a grassy sea.

Crownless,
it is for the light on your leaves
I would honor you.
Silver rippling, with the breeze and the thunder.

And you among them
still, with gold on your bent
stalk. My heart goes out to you.
Linger a little longer, fairest
one. When spring comes again
I will look for you.
https://youtu.be/DVebPEyrors
Sep 2024 · 534
haiku no. 149
Christian Bixler Sep 2024
quiet morning
my eyes travel up the pines
to the sky

or

quiet morning
my eyes stay awhile
at the tops of the pines
Dec 2023 · 1.2k
haiku no. 148
Christian Bixler Dec 2023
pale gate
in darkness
the hanging lamp

or

pale gate
in darkness
the unlit lamp
Dec 2023 · 961
haiku no. 147
Christian Bixler Dec 2023
dim hallway
alone the hanging lamp
floats
Oct 2023 · 948
Moon Song
Christian Bixler Oct 2023
I have a heart
used to yearning.

To swelling, full
to the brim of presence.

To aching when
presence is absent.

When it is I feel
like a man looking
at the moon.

White and large
on a clear
night.

And reaching up,
up in vain.

I never hoped
I would hold the moon.

Though longing for it
has shaped me; has
made love a feeling
of horizons, of beauty
at far distances.

I loved, let
love fill me, and
did not hope.

And yet,

when I look at my hand now
I find it full..

And light spills from my fingers
to wash my arm, my face
in wonder.

I have found
what I sought.

And beyond hope
my longing
is ended.

For the moon is beautiful,
is beautiful,
is beautiful.

And all fears and doubts
are vanished,
for her light is cool
and blessed; and yet
draws a fire that flows
through me, bringing
hope, life, strength.

I have found my desire.

But my heart
is used to
yearning.

I will begin a new passion
as true, and longer lived
than the old.

I will hold the moon to my heart,
and meet my desire with my love.

And my hand will shelter it,
inward-facing.

May it always be so,
that my hand will shelter her.

That her light not dim,
nor beauty fade while I hold her.

That from my eyes
her light will return,
ever brighter and
more beautiful.

I have outstretched
my hand, and returned it.
And the light which
I sought dwells with me.

I am blessed,
and the world
is beautiful.

I am blessed,
and my heart
is full.

May it always be so.

May it always be so.
Jun 2022 · 1.1k
haiku no. 146
Christian Bixler Jun 2022
yellow sky
the winter grass
deepens
I wrote this as a draft last year, then forgot about it. After review it looks like it holds up.
Christian Bixler May 2022
Envy
how I hate it
It makes me want to **** a man for
dreaming, for asking me to dream.
What use is it, what use have you
in dreaming, in presuming
that I am not in my very essence
capable only of glimpsing the edges
the light-limned outline of the door
leading forward
and falling back again.
I'm too tired to edit.
May 2022 · 833
loneliness
Christian Bixler May 2022
The bar of soap
smooth and curved as old driftwood
it is familiar to me.
Precious to me.
All of its shape and all of its use
is my own.
And with each use
it lessens and grows
in my heart.
When it is gone
I will open a drawer
and a new bar will sit
where it sits
and eventually I will forget
I ever loved it
and the whole thing will begin again.
Apr 2022 · 770
haibun no. 2
Christian Bixler Apr 2022
Every time I begin to clean with a magic eraser I feel sad, because of the pure white and clean lines soon to be smudged and torn apart. I console myself with it's function, the beauty of it's usefulness; but still.

on my fingertips
the small noises
of a still night
Mar 2022 · 1.3k
haiku no. 145
Christian Bixler Mar 2022
how rare
afternoon turning to evening
on my skin
Thank you for reading. Recently I’ve decided to work seriously on my poetry, on haiku in particular, so you can expect more regular posts. Also there may be a personal website in the future. If there is I’ll link it here. Thanks again!
Dec 2021 · 766
haiku no. 144
Christian Bixler Dec 2021
for awhile
the rain-washed limb
glows
Nov 2021 · 1.3k
To the Sound of Pipes
Christian Bixler Nov 2021
There is a quality to desolation
that I have never seen.

I have been in a desert, touched
the aridity of it’s soil, and its
air like hot feathers
on my breath;
I have seen the sea far out
with only a blue smudge on
the horizon
to mark our return.
But I have never felt that terror,
that awe and loneliness
that has been spoken of,
and said by the poets
and deliverers,
to bring ones face
to God.

Do not misunderstand me.
I have felt these things;
at the end of a trail
leading nowhere,
on a *****
with loose stones
for footholds.
I have been in places of terror
and beauty,
and been overthrown.
But not wholly.

Perhaps
I have not been still
enough, have not lingered
in those part-wild places
that have seen the summit
of my fear, my longing.
Perhaps even they, even
they, have what I seek.

Perhaps
I have not been still
enough.
https://youtu.be/YQQAsEEZorQ
Oct 2021 · 714
haiku no. 143
Christian Bixler Oct 2021
fungal bloom
hidden beneath is
its source
Jul 2021 · 432
Blurred Lines
Christian Bixler Jul 2021
Clouds streak the
setting sun’s radiance,
like waves, like feathers
bowing leftward. A soft
rain falls, a breeze blows
gently from the west.
And from me the sound
of pipes, of words and
exultation, lamentation.
It is in me that the sunset
is exulted. It is in me that
the border of the blue and
purple is seen, the amber
of the center. Around me
the gloaming is falling.
I see, and am whole. I live,
and am not fractured.
This is evening.
This is evening.
May 2021 · 344
senryu no. 3
Christian Bixler May 2021
vanishing tail
after three the rock
goes with it
May 2021 · 764
haiku no. 142
Christian Bixler May 2021
scuttling tail
the rock falls
into place
Mar 2021 · 357
senryu no. 2
Christian Bixler Mar 2021
white petals
now the clouds have
competition
Mar 2021 · 873
haiku no. 141
Christian Bixler Mar 2021
blink
white petals are drifting
between clouds
Nov 2020 · 247
Honesty
Christian Bixler Nov 2020
At times, in my
yet brief,
and ordinary life,
I have felt
wholly,
that all that there is
to anything
is inertia;
a reaction
that begun, ends: and
all I have felt
of beauty
is but the
latest iteration
of atoms.

It is like this,
sometimes,
that all the world seems empty,
or worse
that in everything around there is light,
but in me
only darkness,
corruption,
deficiency.

I have tried to be beautiful.

I have tried to hold
about me,
in me,
the mantle of righteousness;
of tolerance,
empathy,
and all that
seems
the trappings of the wise.
I have held to
old words,
verity,
and been content.
Not long.

For always there
has been some snag,
some frayed end,
that in the end
has been the cause
of my fall.
My very own fall
from grace,
in the endlessly
renewing
microcosm
of myself.

And in falling,
I fall always
into myself;
and there all the walls
are mirrors.

If you tell me
that there is still beauty in the world,
I will say yes,
I see it too,
and when I do I see it everywhere
and all the world is beautiful;
it's only
that I can't all the time,
that's all.

If you feel
that I am unhealthy,
if you worry; don't.
For even when it seems
that I will be crushed by darkness,
it is a truth,
that I love
the darkness;
seek it,
yearn for it.
Not always,
but sometimes,
I love it:
For it allows for
circular reflection,
for positive feedback loops,
for the intensification
of those id emotions,
without which, I feel
I could not live.
So thank you,
but don’t worry:
I will take care
of myself.
An old one that still rings true. I thought it deserved the light. Thanks to any who read this.
Sep 2020 · 345
haiku no. 140
Sep 2020 · 297
haiku no. 139
Sep 2020 · 335
haiku no. 138 revised
Aug 2020 · 292
haiku no. 138
Aug 2020 · 237
Senryu no. 1
Jul 2020 · 228
haiku no. 137
Christian Bixler Jul 2020
from above
backlit waves
of plastic
Jun 2020 · 188
haiku no. 136
Christian Bixler Jun 2020
ahead
two red cedars
before pines
Jun 2020 · 213
haiku no. 135
Christian Bixler Jun 2020
grout lines
a row stayed
of fishermen
Jun 2020 · 212
haiku no. 134
Christian Bixler Jun 2020
lemons
in the bowl one
is chipped
A centerpiece.
Jun 2020 · 166
haiku no. 133
Christian Bixler Jun 2020
colored in
a trees bend
and a tune
On a drive.
Jun 2020 · 203
haiku no. 132
Christian Bixler Jun 2020
tulip
in its root is
every root
A rewrite of no. 131.
May 2020 · 404
haiku no. 131
Christian Bixler May 2020
amorphous
the vitality that exists
under blossoms
May 2020 · 268
haiku no. 130
Christian Bixler May 2020
leaf and tale
in brief
heart-shaped
May 2020 · 291
haiku no. 129
Christian Bixler May 2020
plain shapes
hose, cube, cone
colored homely
Lamp fixtures
Next page