Love,
Stronger than death,
Its yearning pull,
Gripping the heart,
Binding the spirit,
The ties, so powerful,
They reach beyond life,
Spanning nether worlds,
Travelling unseen,
Crossing boundaries,
Emotional tethers,
That cannot break,
Not now, not ever,
Holding, holding, holding,
Until the course is run,
Life lived to the full,
Then reunited, ah,
Stronger than death,
Love.

©Paul M Chafer 2014

I feel like there should be a great poem spawning from this blatant attack on my heart
With linguistic tips and turns coinciding with my emotion
But that's just it.
There is none.
You have drained every last ounce of feeling from my body
So, naturally, when you made a big and public spectacle of how you desire her
I stood there stone-faced, frozen in stoical silence
The perfect poker face, you'll never catch my bluff
I saw that glance in my direction and smiled in return
That classic fake smile that never meets my dead eyes like a forged signature on an oath that avers everything's all right

Mother warned, lest I serve myself a ruthless course
To each, only one is bestowed, in all its rarity
For it, build Towers of stone devoid of frailty
With coats and cloaks knitted of seams impervious
Rid it of stark embrace, of the harshness of Age
And in this perfect solitude will its solace still yet lay
So shall thee in perfect peace remain,until that day
When this little gem will cease to be held hostage
Fluttered away by the fairness of coy chairty
And drenched in the hollow waters of flattery
Oh this tender heart of mine,in all these thrills did'st it find delight
Suddenly it tasted pain and in misery it did wallow
But fought in futility to rise, and thence-forth did it stay so
Mother warned, yet my new dwelling is found in irredeemable plight

My pencils are breaking-
Pens have spilled too much ink
But at least I'm still writing.
The flannel I have,
Smuggling collarbones
From chilly apartment-
I've worn that all week.
There's a cigarette burn
In one sleeve,
The buttons have come unhinged
During midnight runs to the corner
For cheap chocolate
And cigarettes.
Ramen boils
To salt my appetite.
But at least I'm still writing.
I leap from place to place,
Eyeing hoods passing by,
And I imagine guns tucked away.
The sink leaks,
There's not enough sun.
I'm high on debt
And college school books
Rot in the corner.
I guess my degree
Has gone putrid too.
My life's gone dingy and dark,
Suffocated by polluted winter.
Dark circles
Tell stories
Dreams can't remember.
But ******* at least I'm still writing.

You are the wilted flower in the sea of the dead…
The last beautiful sign of a world forgot –
Your beauty stretches beyond the words,
Tipping over the cliffs of tongues,
Crashing into the abyss and swallowed –
Eaten whole,
Forgotten…
You are the last droplet of sun,
Kissing the horizon as you asunder from the day –
Leaving your taste in the sky,
Painted with the colors of your soul…