Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
 Nov 2017 harlon rivers
ryn
Stranded
 Nov 2017 harlon rivers
ryn
Nursing a head full of questions.
Things left voiceless and unsaid.
Thoughts running errant,
and cracked promises half made.

In my already bloated baggage,
I take in an extra load.
A tourist in a familiar place
stranded by the side of the road.

Should’ve noticed the clues...
Should’ve read the signs along the way...

Now I stand in the middle to nowhere,
reliving yesterday, today.
I lost a sense of myself
in the silk of sadness,
sprawled on my bed
of lilies and night-long moans
in lingerie and stockings.

Come look for me.

This darkening heart of mine
desires one dulcet dream only—
to see you dauntless,
throwing your head back,
desperate and divine;

Ah, please
Come look for me.

And at last when you do,
Ah, my lying love,
like a longing prey for you
I will lament not
the loss of myself,
for I know well
with your lace-like touch
you will lift me
from this silk of sadness
and not only will I become
your little poet, no—
I will be ultimately *pleased.
I haven't written anything in forever, which made me lose the poetess in me & that is what this poem is about. enjoy x
I lace my fingers
with the snowy night
as I rest upon
carmine linen and lilies,
my hand out of
the window,
wet snowflakes caressing this
open palm of mine

with heavens I speak
of slumbering spring and
your name and how
both of you see
my stars, my peonies,
yet you
hide yours from this
open palm of mine

I lace my fingers
with the snowy night,
for I am weary
of you and winter
my hand out of
the window,
wet snowflakes soothing this
open palm of mine
it snowed yesterday and I couldn't resist writing about it
I dream of rivers
and that sparkle of theirs
sleeping upon sunlit waterlilies

my eyes sink into
that shimmering night of mine
and there I see
yours darling as sin
unsure of what to do
unblinking, wishful, gazing into mine

have I darkened them?
that tenderness within them
tell me, was it my doing?

drowsy river droplets kiss
that throat of yours
like I crave to

I dream of rivers
and that singing voice
of theirs lulling me
deeper into my slumber

the sun sets into
that gentle pomegranate color
of your unholy mouth
as you avert your gaze
then turn it back
and you speak about my
stars while you think
I am aware not
of it but I turn
in my sleep and
I shine brighter than
your foolish infatuation and
my eyes sink deeper
into the night of mine

I am a river
and that gaze of yours
will not halt my flow

I crave to sing
in that forest of your
heart but then sweetly
I remember mine is starlit
it's 1 am and I might have written my heart out
I can't tell if this is any good thanks to my sleepiness
goodnight <3
 Nov 2017 harlon rivers
Sjr1000
Her hair is blowing
in the high desert
winds
She's gotta
1942 Big Chief engine
between her knees
bequeathed
by her great granddaddy
She's heading up
395
Sierra bound.

She'll tell ya
she's had enough
straight time
driving her far from crazy

Pacing
playing losing aces
pulling her hair
she knew she
just
had to get out of there.

Now the great Mojave
has its expanse
Joshua Trees
they just had to laugh
as she rode by

China Lake
flashing
21st Century
weaponry

Passing through Independence
she's feeling free now

Now I can't say
running away
is
the way

But when your hair
is blowing in the winds
You gotta Big Chief motorcycle
between your legs
and
the ******* aren't stopping
what else can you
say?

Heading to the Sierra
gotta get the mountain view
high above it all
slump those shoulders down
breathe on through

Heading up Big Pine
smelling the Jeffrey Pines
Bishop too
ancient Mono Lake
when it ain't snowing
freedom reigns

Her hair blowing
in the mountain winds
didn't mean anybody
any harm
just had to get
out of there
alive

Bye bye
baby
take care.
A definite nod to Neil Young's "Unknown Legend"
"Somewhere on a desert highway
She rides a Harley-Davidson
Her long blonde hair
flyin' in the wind
She's been runnin' half her life
The chrome and steel she rides
Collidin' with
the very air she breathes
The air she breathes."  
Can't beat Neil's version, recently ran into a version by Shovels and Rope, very cool.
 Nov 2017 harlon rivers
Sjr1000
I stopped
inside a light house
on a dark and foggy night
and in the beacon
in the fog
I saw far too many sights.

Lovers lost in their pasts
uncompleted tasks
of shoulda coulda wouldas
"If only's"
blocking their
paths.

The ferrel human beings
with eyes of gold
but no money
to buy a room
running to nowhere soon.

The poetry outlaws
with no words
left to sing
lost within their prisons
and know one knows
what they mean.

The beacon flashed
and in the light
I saw those
trapped in drudgery
and fading dreams
of being free.

And lonely souls
in darkened rooms
of four white walls
with no where to go
and no one coming that they know.

The beacon flashed
in that fog
the horn it rang
to no one listening
but the ships lost at sea
heard something
but asked themselves
was it really meant for me?

It
Spotlighted lovers
on the far sides
of the bed
their love lost
in what is now
misery and dread.

Wage slaves breathing toxic air
and what's this life for
their breath asks
captured in the foggy air.

Stopped at that lighthouse
to look out at that foggy sea
was all about the poetry
and what it means to me
a light
on a foggy
populated sea
and
life told in scenes
about
those who struggle to be free.
 Nov 2017 harlon rivers
Sjr1000
The Nevada hillside
led me down
among the Pinion Pines
past the filled in
silver mine,
the cowboy coffee ***
on the ground.

The wind blew
through the trees
without a sound-
before my eyes,
I saw a sight,
as spider webs
one by one
one after another
spun
glimmering in the afternoon sun,
Spider webs
spiraling past,
Thinner than thin
stronger than strong,
Blowing from where?
Blowing to where?
Spun and spun
through that air.

A mustang came through the trees,
I looked at him
he looked at me -

These mountain hills
held
the echoes of  dreams,
come and gone,
Spider webs blowing through the sun,
riding upon the horses of the silent winds.
 Nov 2017 harlon rivers
Sjr1000
Walking miles
on a
desolate beach
never losing
my path back
to the highway
home,
inside
I know

My eyes
will once again find
the healing white light
the beacon
of
The 4 Trees
guiding me
to the long
highway
home.

Along the way
losing sight
of
them all

There is confusion
fear and trepidation
feeling like a child
waiting in front of a
movie theater
for their mother to come
watching cars
counting trees

And of where I am
And of where I am going
Somewhere along these dunes

Familiarity will
set back in
focus will find
the  4 Trees
quaking in the salty breeze

The ocean is rough
storms blowing on through
calling
beckoning
with each frozen wave
the end of all issues

Sometimes looking out
Sometimes looking in
writing in the sand
knowing the tide
is coming in
erasing all.

The  landscape always changing
Easy to become so lost
And tho
the landmarks will decompose
and fade

The 4 Trees
for today mark the way

Easy to miss
along the forest
Panic
a breath away

The phantom captain
the voice within
reassures
not lost
just misplaced
our spot on the map

The spirit guides
the dance
in a spot of the healing
light
the rustling sounds
of the 4 Trees
guiding me
back to the highway.
The picture of the real 4 Trees on my homepage. Easy to get lost out there.
"The phantom captain", a description I first heard from Buckminister Fuller, many years ago.
 Nov 2017 harlon rivers
Sjr1000
He exchanged his
routines
for the
long dusty road,
he exchanged his
jeans
for a long white jacket
he called it the "white robe."
His hat said "Home"

He took off on the
road only travelers
go.

He had a pretty girl
he was was going to see,
then he knew
he would have to leave.

He stopped saying much,
mainly "thank you"
and "please".

He had exchanged
his mind set
for a new set,
his confusion for clarity
his narrative for poetry,
many said
it had led him astray.

He exchanged his
fullness for emptiness
and
began to take it all in,
the old dusty road became
the only way he knew at all.

He would stand in perfect silence
and
hear it all.
He would stand in perfect stillness
and
travel it all.

He exchanged his awake routines
for dreams.

He traveled here and there,
where ever
that dusty old road
would take him,
some places made sense,
some were flashes
of total innocence.

He had exchanged
his expectations
for creations.

He could love you on the road,
be with you
but with you
he would never go home.

Rumor has it
it was his fatal flaw.

He had exchanged
success and failure
for
experience,
he avoided many a cliff
many a fall
in having it all.

You won't find him
hitchhiking
panhandling
soliciting or pandering
selling drugs
or
in bed with your mother.

You'll find him in the whispers
you hear
in the rainbow aura
around street lamps
on night time
deserted streets,
the meteor at midnight
the green flash at sunset.

He had exchanged
staying for going
and
he was on his way
with dust devils
blowing
behind him.
Next page