Last night I woke up
to the light of 1000
dead children from other
places where faces have
forgotten how to smile
in ***** white shirts
and smudged skirts
holding up lanterns
like lost miners looking
for answers in a dark hole.

I'll say a word
I'll pen a thought
In the most abstact manner
About sharks in the ocean
Some hammerheads
Smelling blood
And no matter my intentions
You'll find your own meaning
And it will mean something to you

But I'll intone
I'll sing a song
In my plainest language
My purest intention
I love you
I always will
And I'll be alone
Because thats what makes you happy
Yet you'll find no meaning in that

Plants grow even in the desert
And I'll turn on the radio
And hear a song
We used to call our own

How can I forget?
Only by remembering that it was a song of sorrow
I'll forget
Because you want me too

And all my love is meaningless

almost
at breaking point

almost
fleshed out of existence

she caresses
the white hospital cup

as if it were
a soft-feathered fallen dove

frightened and waiting
for a chance to fly again.

© M.L.Emmett

winter chills my bones
fiercer every season

her warmth i seek
with the prayer

O God, let her grow not older

When i snuggle into her
hear her lips' quiver

..........let him grow not older

For her
he was always the man
on the other side of the table.

He was fond of it that way
so he could see her face
read the shades and lights
crack jokes through the grim times
when on the table was little
brimmed plenty in their hearts
and her tears when flowed
were not of unfulfilled needs
but a happiness she couldn’t grasp.

She doesn’t know
what she misses is love
or a mere habit.

She only knows
food doesn’t taste the same
without the man
on the other side of the table.

the heart feels a gypsy
the mind a vagabond
the eyes get misty
by the lilies in the pond

bloom the petals pinkish
smudged with streaks of white
swaying slow by wind's kiss
glory displayed bright

upon the slender neckline
crowns of innocent smiles
fill all dark with sunshine
wipe out weary miles

o traveler feel the invite
merrily pause to respond
be a while in sunlight
among the lilies of the pond