Behind myself in every shadow
I become aware of reflection,
That I am alone inside my unique-
Being the author of my deception.

A galloping dead horse breathing
Down my back startling,
A swelling comes into play when I
Decide the harder thing.

The superior memory scams
My day forward,
Closing doors I walk
Toward.

Ghost external plays
A quivering chill,
I rest upon a hard earned sorrow,
There I lose my will.

You are like shards
Of broken glass
That I am still picking out of my skin.

Everytime I think you're gone,
I shift a little
And feel more pieces of you
Working their way in.

there is silence sandwiched between silence
thanks to the sudden cessation of their croaking
as if a plague took them, but it didn't

nor were they sleeping, nor were you,
at 0300 hours--you were between guard towers,
with an M60, and a hunger for sound

though you were picky about your song;
you longed for their familiar cadence, for
their green belched reassurance

that they would lay more eggs in the mire
and tails would grow, the swimmers would
become singers of familiar verse

but you could not wait for a resurrection
you did not know would occur--your duty would end
at dawn, and by then you could be dead deaf

from their silence

  Tea Leaves

Saying goodbye is never painless.
But today closing up her old house.
Where I spent my childhood so long ago.
It is dragging me into the doldrums.
Each room full of her sweet life.
I find her books her souvenir box.
Locks of her children’s hair.
Christening medals.
I go into my boyhood bedroom
For the last time.
It still contains my magazines
and a book I read as a child.
The box in mom’s room is
full of her clothes.
Ready for the Goodwill.
Then I packed the last of the
old familiar dishes in the kichen.
Solid stoneware that carried
my sustenance for all my younger life.
In the back of the cupboard
Moms china cup and saucer
With English roses on it.
The one she used to
drink her morning
tea in all of her life.
On the rim a single tea leaf remained.
That had once touched her lips.
That was when the grief hit me
Like never before.

Bye Mom
I love you
Jude

By Arcassin Burnham


I see them there smiling at me as if I never stood a chance
Of keeping you in the first place,

But Honey you are long gone , only the pictures remain and
I still feel ashamed I let go,

dont be discouraged, but I just miss your touch,
You're old enough to punch me right in the nuts,
For treating you so cruel,
I found something better and she keeps me happy unlike
You,
I won't take part in your demise,
See through your soul right through your eyes,
I'm troubled so I can't deny,
The feels when you date other guys,
Pieces of you are in my mind,
I have no time to dwell in shrine,
The anomaly of my whole life,
I pray for you , hope you are fine.

I have never stuttered in pen
misspoken in ink
or choked in my writing
the way I do
whenever I speak
my fingertips always know
the right words to say
my tongue is still learning