with the sword we tore apart,
i carve this message unto you:

brandished bark bears
names etched in time,
our honest tale it shares.

it tells of my meeting you,
brown eager eyed girl,
hair black scarf subdued,
oh precious pearl.

a simple shy hello
and tongue-tied good bye.
so our babbled ballad goes;
a mere shift from high to low.

~ Inori

the meaning of an apology:
echoes of a thousand I’m Sorry’s;
the silence of deceit, its awful slink;
the humbled hope to atone,
to pay amends where due,
to mend the maimed,
and trust renew.

forgiveness is a sad word:
it bears the scar of a wound;
to forgive is to hope with hurt.
it is to trust in tide to wash ashore;
for in lack of trust and hope,
it is noble to sink with the ship.
it is bolder yet to hop asea,
and let tide be guide.

the parable of the builders:
the wiser built his house on  rock,
the rain came down,
the floods came,
the winds blew,
and beat on that house;
and it did not fall,
for it was founded on a rock

the foolish built his on sand,
the rain came down,
the floods came,
the winds blew,
and beat on that house;
and it fell — and great was its fall.

determination's downfall;
for, is a house still not a house
despite its foundation?
fortune's fortress looms;
our sandcastle holdfasts hampered in comparison,
but home is neither keep nor battlement,
neither moat nor bailey,
neither portcullis nor drawbridge;

home is where you touch the ground,
where you choose to grow...

the rain will retain its hiss;
but the rain is still the rain,
the floods remain the floods,
and the wind is just the wind.

~ Inori

The cost of free is:
four hundred years of slavery,
a billion pounds of gold,
decades of senseless brutality,
millions in captivity

and the body of yet another innocent man.

~ Inori

I still recall the minutes spent;
Every kiss and moment — hands intwin’d,
Days with thee, thy interest fully lent.
Sitteth I and ponder sober mind’;
Of thy gaze and grace and lovely face,
Of thy voice tuned sweetly like the lark.
Tho’ time apart hath drawn a pace,
Riseth I, with heavens eye to hunt the snark.
Seeketh I in places dark and sullen grim
With naught but hope and love equip’d,
Plungeth I to caverns gull and dim
Void of joy and weary grip’d.
    I trace the beast and find it’s lair,
    To my surprise: a maiden fair!

~ Inori

I remember when we first met,
t’was a chill’d Autumn day.
Oh, how ever could I forget!
it was a Friday, many a May.

On that day, stood thee:
fair skin’d and rosey cheek’d,
dark plumes in morning gust.
your gaze my eye had seek’d,
your touch my heart did lust.

on that day, stood I:
heart heavy with fluster,
stood I still as time did flow;
if only courage could I muster,
my love for you would I show.

Wo! my heart did cry,
Wo! had I sadly weep’d,
until my name you did call
and my heart to heavens leap’d.
oh the joy! I still recall.

~ Inori

With hearts in tandem
we stand: lip locked
bated breath, sweaty palms
tongues wrestling to wring a sodden truth.
A simple truth that is this: I love you!

~ Inori

I lost my footing in the wide of your smile.

I beg your pardon?

It’s a simple slip of the tongue.

~ Inori

“There’s plenty of fish in the sea,” says she,
drawing a blade to cut the line.

“I’m hooked to this fish!” protests I,
begging her not to.

~ Inori

I cover the strident stench of lies
with menthol candy drops,
It clings to my skin like beads of sweat.

I hold ten notes in clammy palms;
Nine on left and one in right.
I hand them to my mother,
Nine crisp notes and a crumpled truth;
Don’t get too close — I wreak of nicotine.

~ Inori