The hollow wind funneled the voice
of the distant night-train crossings,
awakening  a  familiar  silence
hanging from the vast wilderness sky
A restless heart hearkening the echoes,
imagining  a  runaway  Pullman
flew away off the rails,    airborne
on the winged wind headed north

Winter  pausing  for a moment
in  the  shadows  of  familiarity,
as if parsing the unspoken breathings
in an  echoless  surrendered sigh;
uncertain if tacit words set free
could ever allow a heart broken
        to feel whole again

There  is  no  absolving  voice
that whispers in a solemner tone :
        Death  has  no  mercy  ―  
love remains marooned in the wake ,..
and it feels like the world’s gone mad
letting time be the arbiter of perpetuity

The fading dream of a motherless child;
a wish to be held maternally
fell to the ground with a thud,
        breaking the silence,
dissipating formless as the shape of water

Muted cold lips so full of questions
morphing into fugitive sighs
come the unsettled night;
when shadows disappear like frail memories
that  passed  too  soon  to  grasp,
thickly palpable as the warm breath
a winter bird alone on frosty branch

There’s no fear in braving the darkness
in the  winter wilderness of life borne alone
There’s no way of knowing what you’ll find
down that long empty road back home
Life just flashes by silently before your eyes
        through the windshield
    of countless miles and miles

And there’s nothing you can do about it ―
It’s like hearing the moment of truth in a lie
when all I was looking for
was  how I got here in this now,.. yesterday

only finding a hopeless poet
scribbling  slightly stained pages,
spilling  a  bitter  sweet  dream ...


        harlon rivers ... February 2018


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Let my past be published now,
I care for it no longer;
Look between my righteous things
To see I was the wronger.
Gather all the worries
I'd fret about in winter;
Shove them off the highest cliff,
Make them crack and splinter.

Traipsing in the gardenside,
Dancing in the hollow;
Feeling for a mason's nook,
Sweet Amontillado.
Down within the castle walls,
Down among the relics;
Bearded faces line the halls,
Lilting in Goidelic.

Slowing pace to stop and smell
Of a strange antiquity;
Thinking on a silver day
That happened once in Brittany.
Countrymen with muskets bared,
Bent on fiery shot,
Pounced upon the zealous rogues
Of Napoleonic lot.

Wand'ring mind, drop your guard,
Stop your nagging ways;
Hark! the drap'ry's bold aura
Welcomes warmer days.
Happiness is fleeting,
Sadness is extinct,
So let my every passing thought
Be mindful and succinct.

Blue rain
we were stuck in a daze
once out
we forgot all about it

Grey rain
the loved we carried
evaporated
it'll always be living

Pink rain
when I first saw a new pair of eyes
I thought maybe this time

Orange rain
it fell apart
landed at my feet
thousands of possibilities
draining

Green rain
this evil sensation
is different
it's my turn to destroy
someone

white rain
my feet reach the end of his bed
his innocence is slowly leaving
out the door

black rain
it's a shame
several colors
gone to waste
wait another year
another blue moon

red rain will fall soon

Why is it you twist the truth
You done this game in your youth
Where did that get you
Not the truth
You only hurt you with your lies
It's you the people despise
Don't you ****** recognise
Drop your deguise
Reconise
Stop yourself in time
Stop playing the same old record
Stop playing the same old games
Become a new flame
A new day
Be kind
Be simple
Be mine.

Our footprints stays in the no
Our footprint stays in the snow
Our footprints stay on the earth
Our footprint is individually defined
Individual is our footprint.
Remember where you tread
Don't be mislead
Don't stand on no one's toes
Our footprint stays on the earth
Our footprint then in the past
Our footprint x