shades and shadows all around
watching when the Sun goes down
all the darkness of the night
  leads us to  an inner light
                       understanding     who we are                              
            written out      between the stars  
       in the lines     upon our hands
reading patterns in the sand          
  in the crystal            in the yarrow
in the tea leaves             in the Tarot        
   answers in the            form of riddles
      something missing            in the middle              
                         priestesses            and necromancers          
     asking oracles            for answers        
        we believe            we see a spark
  but we are shining in the dark

this is a pit                                                              ­          and into it
we throw our garbage                                           and our ****
       our grease                                                           ­      and grit    
   our slime                                                            ­and swill
  and all the people                                     that we ****
flotsam and jetsam                           film and oil
compacted into                              fertile soil
beneath the steep         and jagged *****
     there grows         a single flower








hope

United  [] [] []  Meanwhile
  we boldly  [] [] []  we fortify        
   decry  [] [] []  our hearts
         the loud  [] [] []  not permitting  
    orange man  [] [] []  entry                    
   wailing for  [] [] []  to anyone         
   a wall  [] [] []  at all          

.

.


The table lamp

The single book of verse.

The ornament standing alone.

The photo in an unforgiving frame.

Or just
the dust

gathering comfort
in a bitter room.





© Pagan Paul (2016/17/18)

Floristree

What
clothes
she wears
for all to see
what radiance she displays
in bright sunlit rays, of pink and gold
what joy, she brings the birds to sing, in her arms,
melodic alarms, what magnificence, to be in the presence, of her
effervescence, warm and uplifting, depression shifting, she dances in the breeze
Oh the
Salvation
of trees.

★A★
★
★S S★
★N☆☆☆N★
★A☆☆☆☆☆A★
★K☆☆☆☆☆☆☆K★
★E☆☆☆☆☆☆☆E★
★  ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆  ★
★M☆☆☆☆☆M★
★A☆☆☆A★
★D★
☆E★E☆
☆★★★☆
☆O★★★O☆
☆F★★★★★F☆
☆★★★★★★★☆
☆S★★★★★★★S☆
☆T★★★★★★★T☆
­☆A★★★★★A☆
☆R★★★★R☆
☆S★★★S☆
☆★☆
☆★S★☆
★P★★☆☆P☆
★L★             ☆L☆
★I★★★  ☆☆☆☆☆I☆
★T★★★  ☆☆☆☆☆T☆
★★                          ☆☆  
★I ★★★★★  ☆☆☆I☆
★N★★★★★☆☆N☆
★★                 ☆☆
★T★★☆☆T☆
★W☆
☆O☆☆★★O★
☆☆                  ★★
☆A☆☆☆☆☆★★A★
☆N☆☆☆☆☆ ★★★N★
☆D☆                        ★D★
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆★★★★★★★
☆B☆☆☆☆☆★★★★★B★
☆R☆                        ★R★
☆O☆☆☆☆★★★★O★
☆U☆☆☆☆☆★★U★
☆G☆       ★G★
☆H★
★T★★☆T☆
★★            ☆☆
★U★★☆☆☆U☆
★S★★★ ☆☆☆S☆
★★                    ☆☆
★L★★★☆☆☆L☆
★I★★★☆☆☆I☆
★F★   ☆F☆
★E☆

oh
  you
    remind
      me of a leaf  
    with each season
      you change your colour
       until one day you fall to
      the cold, bare ground
       it may seem sad, but
       you add pigment
       to the lifeless
        soil, still so
         very
            a
        l
          i
             v
                   e.

.
              (  (  growing gray cloud of smoke and ash  ) )
              (  (  expanding mass of poisonous gas  ) )
                         (  ( billowing upwards into the air ) )           a
                            (  (    dark    omen    of    )  ) ­                   s
                                 (  (      despair      )   )                         h
      (    \           //    )  
                                       (   \        //   )                                 g
                                           (  \     //  )                                     e
                                              \\\  /////                                        n
                       ­                         \\\/////                                           t
                                         the                                                     l
                                    peak's        top           ­                         y
exploding     right off
                       glacial snows melting down                       f
                     lava flows heading for the town                     a
                   terror! destruction! fright erupting out                   l
               extinct beast awakens, roaring primal shout                  l
           mountain trembling, earth shaking, people quaking           s
       in fear and wonder, transfixed by summit torn asunder       
fire and fury blend with the sky as we flee and ponder why
we await this rage from the earth but the beauty makes it worth
all the deadly risks we know we face in living at this volcano's base