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 Feb 2015 lloyd britton
Mikaila
Because I could not stop for Love,
She kindly stopped for me.
And I collapsed into her arms,
Cured then of being free.

In a golden carriage far we drove
Off cliffs and over rises.
Each time I felt sure that I'd died
But Love never lacks surprises.

And we passed Death along the road,
I waved but he would not reply-
I pounded on the windows gold
But he mutely passed me by.

For Love sat not with me inside
But whipped the horses viciously.
I asked her why and she replied,
"Love means no company."

We passed a church and, out behind,
A graveyard glowing in the dusk,
Two lovers' silhouettes defined
Beside a tombstone, clasped in lust.

We passed a darkened house and there
A lanky boy threw pinging pebbles.
And as the light when on, the air
Was filled with midnight funeral bells.

We passed a first kiss, slow and sweet,
Two schoolgirls shamed but still adoring,
And every time their lips would meet
A raven hoarsely tried to sing.

We passed a man and wife's "I do."
And peering through the stained glass window
Pallbearers paused their work to see
The other face of sorrow.

One thought gloats over all I see,
"When all is said and done,"
I muse in silent reverie,
"Love leaves you quite alone."

Because I could not stop for Love,
She kindly stopped for me.
And I will die my deathless death
For all eternity.
Yes, this is a deliberate... not parody of, but... tie-in, I guess, with Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop For Death". I really wanted the Love as Death thing to be abundantly clear, so... yes. Enjoy. (hopefully)
 Feb 2015 lloyd britton
Janette
Down by two
the bruised-blue flesh
of the bronze butterfly's
escape through sacrifice,
flays the emotions..

Unwholesome the silence
that goes before her,
a sound like the heart
bound to beat like butterfly wings...

Gently her absence quick
upon me, inhales the night
and swiftly, the dark
sees only ease to relinquish
her candles sheathed in glass
epitaphs that collapse like veins
to fill the fluent air with the spare
embrace of the blue elements...

Down by two in the bottom of the ninth,
two out, two on, two strikes,
the soul's too tragic abhorrence of details
fails to deliver the impossible syntax
of apocalypse, on the lips
of a courteous Christ, crucified
by light, the night fades
far into the furthest exile...

Under a tropic of cancer,
her un-obscured brilliance
pierces the vault of heaven's vast
gathering of angels,
and their illegible scripture...

Shatters the soul in one primal
instant grand slam dream, quicksilver
through her midnight moment's landscape,
every cherished feature in flight, the light
of the bronze butterfly's escape
through sacrifice, to the silver flame
of moonlight's crucial adieu....
Dedicated to the memory of my beautiful Grandma
 Feb 2015 lloyd britton
Janette
I remember

Ephemeral moments lost to a softly spoken kiss,
The shadowed whisper, carried on heartbeats
Within the echo of loneliness...




I remember

The lithe scent of wildflowers,
The sway of deep afternoons,
Where sighs were lost beneath the epiphany of prayers...




I remember

An orchid fragranced daybreak
When the sunlight traced my skin
As I awoke to the fragile kiss of an unborn morning...




I remember

Opalescent rain rushing through my veins,
The wild blue radiance, seizing it's elixir
In the thunderous rush of crimson heat...




I remember

Exhales, soft and hushed in a wonderland of unspoken understanding,
The inhalation of a kiss exchanged in the ache of lips,
Whispering, " sweet Dreams, I Love you"...



I remember

Embers bathed in his essence
The song of his heartbeat, igniting my existence,
In a fire, tenderly traced upon fevered skin ...



I remember

As my breath caught, and held on tightly
To his hushed
"Shhhh ... breathe deep, my love ... just breathe"...



I remember

As I rest my heart upon his pillow,
Softly drowning in this unmade bed
Lost, and lonely beside the apparitions of his last goodnight kiss.........
I close my eyes and pray for his touch.... for whispers to ease the loneliness... I miss the laughter we shared ... the poignant moments that made me feel alive ... close your eyes and feel the warmth of my whisper against your skin ... feel the tenderness in my touch ... the soft caress of my lips against your own ... "Shhh ... breathe deep, my love ...I am there with you...... J
Upon this hill I plant the flag--
     Of every imp and scallywag,
rapscallion, rogue and rascal, knave--
      Whom kingdoms' laws could never save.

I gather every varlet, scamp,
      Around the bonfire of our camp,
And pass around the speaking torch,
      For storytelling tales that scorch,

To every sullied man, uncouth,
      Unwashed who smiles a scurvied tooth,
The scarlet-lettered harlot, *****,
      Who loves to scallygag her mensch,

The whoredom-loving scallyhag,
      Who trollops round the pirate's crag,
The tousle-haired and greasy scullion
      Cooking all a hot slumgullion,

And after tales of those unnerved,
      And scullion's slimy stew is served,
I toast a round of filthy ale,
      To all who live beyond the pale.


(C)2014, Christos Rigakos
two souls enjoined by God become one flesh,
no more are they a husband and a wife,
one body, all its capillaries meshed,
one heart, two lungs, one breath, one beating life,

oh, we are interwoven, every thread,
like lovers' fingers interlocked in time,
as slowly flesh cleaves unto flesh in bed,
we are but one alone, not yours, not mine,

though when from me you tear yourself away,
our tapestry becomes unraveled, cringe!
how is it you are whole still, as you say,
while I remain a curled and tattered fringe?

our love once fragranced every single breath,
now torn, it seems alone I bleed to death

(C)2010, Christos Rigakos
Sonnet
I try to catch my words like fireflies
and store them in a jar.
I cannot.
Whenever I lift the lid to speak again,
the jar talks to me...
And off they fly.

In the silence,
inspired thoughts
make pleas for their own release.
Within moments
they are captured by another,
no longer mine.

Anything but silence is futile
when it comes to liberating
the true meaning of my fireflies.
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