Tiny, shredded
Paper hearts
And flimsy
Cardboard
Feelings
Bitter aftertastes
On tongues,
Licked wounds
That are not
Healing.

Souls
Like quiet,
Vacant rooms
And minds
Screaming in
Silence
Aching chests
That long for love
Stranded on
Lonely islands.

this little number
is for your sake
cause if you know
just how I feel
I won't have to fake
make no mistake
this is the quake
inside us both
if you hold me near
you can feel it too
you take away my blue
make me feel alive
anyways,
I think I love you

i've always admired
how a blank white wall
looked back into my eyes

how it reflects as
pure, whole, pristine
into my deep dark eyes

how it pulls out
another set of trigger
into my soul

about how it makes
so much sense
my mind is white
blank
plain
dull

until you set
this explosion of colors
with little time-bombs
e v e r y w h e r e

as if these hues
represent
the way we are,

or more importantly,
the way we're not

how these reds
that should indicate
passion
love
lust
***
impulse

but they won't
cover up
the whites

instead they wash away
like water
against these blank walls

as if
your love for me
was never real anyway

as if i was nothing
to be lost
to be thrown away

as if the greens blues oranges
can stay
but you were yellow

you covered up
so much space
so much time

as if it symbolizes
your impact on me

how i cannot forget
this rendezvous we have

once or twice
or just whenever
you feel like

how can you not
forgive me?

i never forgiven myself either.

I love my little garden, Lord
Which you have given to me
I thank you for this haven
Where you can set me free

I pray each night to give me strength
To sow more wondrous seed
And for you to bless the pretty birds
Who fly right in to feed

I bless you for my sight and smell
To enjoy the flowers so
And all the bees and butterflies
Who gently come and go

So bless my little garden Lord
It gives me peace and joy
For I have prayed each night to you
Since I was just a boy

Keith Wilson
Windermere, UK 2016

I spread my hands
and look at each finger.
Over each curve and crevice
my eyes linger.
Chapped skin, rough-hewn
but also smoothness,
untapped youth
I reach out
my white-silver nails
catching light's gleam
rings sparkling.

I wonder
what lies beyond
the knowledge of my skin
So many storms have taken
over lately
These hands
that have risen up
in prayer and supplication
to the heavens above
These hands
that have wished
to cup a certain face
in love

These hands that cook and clean
and tidy up
that have poured countless teas
into countless cups
Hands that offer hugs
smooth back hair
that put on plasters
and mend a tear
And what, I ask, will be?
Where am I?
Who takes care of me?

For these hands
connect to arms
that wish to hug and be hugged
These arms on a body
that so needs to be loved
This body a temple
to my mind and heart
that need tender care,
that need a new start

I gaze outside
The moon is ripe and round
It glows in the shadows
as the stars peek out
There is crispness in the air
Hope in the winds
I put on my gloves
to protect
tender skin

Windchimes

In my advancing years
Clarity eludes me now and then.
I sit quietly in the gazebo.
Your book and glasses
not yet removed from your seat.
Drifting into sleep
I awaken suddenly.
with confusion reigning again.

I quietly call your name
The need to see you is overwhelming.
I search the gardens for you
Panic setting in to my heart.
Then in the cool evening summer breeze.
The gentle chiming of the windchimes
Calm my panic as your soft words once did.

Then under the blooming arches
of the rose arbor I see you.
A basket of flowers hang from your arm.
The fading light from the evening sun.
Frames a halo about your long hair.

My eyes mist
So sweet so astoundingly beautiful
As calm as the mist on a summer's morn.
You smile at me
The windchimes ****** softly in the air.
You tell me the sweet wudruff is taking over
The hollyhocks need trimming
And the roses need pruning
You tell me all of these things.

But all I see is your
sweet heart of purest gold.
The rose arbor framing the light of my life.
Glowing as the sun
at the Centre of my small universe.
I fall to my knees to pay homage.
As you fade into the evening shadows.
Just the lilt of the windchimes
Dance over the perfumed bounty
Of our flowering gardens