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Rob Rutledge Dec 2018
A wise man raised his hand,
Declares intent to speak.
Says nothing.
A crowd begins to think.
Rob Rutledge Nov 2018
I will turn today to yesterday!
So we can repeat the same mistakes;

In the bound loops of fires fury
Futile fight, hands cuffed by fate.

Beat the horizon of tomorrow today!
Sorrows washed and cast away,

Burning cleanse of sun's fell rays
Cast shadows on sun scorched glades.

Something lurks within the haze
Delays surrender of the sun,
The dark begins to march,
Parched earth drinks the night.

A pounding of the feet
Lets drink Guinness and eat red meat.
Blood flows freely in the streets,
Concrete dreams and broken teeth.
A token for the city
A token for the priest.
The least of all our sins
Wept, confessed, absolved.
Whispers born again in
The hollows of the walls.
Rob Rutledge Aug 2018
The knife feels kind of nice.
Despite the fact it intrudes,
Protrudes from a wounded back.
The price we pay, I guess,
Closeness never quite manifests.
But it's good to know, you know?
Those who feign familiarity
Friendships staged and put on show,
Critics acclaim, shamed curtains close.
Characters who grew into the role
Far fetched with hyperbole.
Lines they speak with finesse
Lies smooth the noose of regret.
Confused they peruse part two.
I think therefore I forget.
Rob Rutledge Jun 2018
The sea is swept in mystery
She confides in me no more.
No whispers in the shells
Or echoes from the shore.
You do not argue with the wind,
You can not bargain with the sky.
Standing back to back with mountains
We watch and weep while angels die.
For the face of life is fleeting,
Tweeting, tapping at your door,
Ravens that won't relent,
Yet ones you can't ignore.

But I'm boring you I'm sure.
I was talking about the ocean
And how we speak no more.
It's not that we don't get on
We still have much to say.
Words are made of water
Written in the waves.
Now the tide is out,
The sea seems
Far away.
Rob Rutledge May 2018
We wage wars with words,
Whetstoned sharpened wit.
Wounds win rounds of applause.
A pause,
While metaphors are mustered,
Rusted dictionaries dusted,
Cobwebs shed from unread shelves.
Pikes of pronunciation
Pick apart
Portraits of ourselves.
While poetry parries,
Prose pivots,
Prepares and rallies,
Stares down violet valley below.
The violence of lavender
Shines like silver in the snow.
A scent sentenced to silence,
Flowers on death row.
Rob Rutledge May 2018
Ocean spray flays ancient cloisters,
Darkening already withered stone.
Moonlit towers crumble, humbled
By the weight of stolen thrones.
Sound proclaimed in hollow domes
Found shallow, wanting and alone.
While wind rips down forgotten walls
Tapestries tap out in hallowed halls.
Memories shed shadows in the fall.
The call of rust, echoes of war.
Ruin and dust for now and evermore.
Rob Rutledge May 2018
We cling to dead air
Holding on to broken promises
And feelings that are not there.
We dwell on the scars
Carved with care across our heart.
Trying to place our finger on
The beginning of the end
Or the end of the start.

Our dearest departed
Left us used and disheartened.
While the sins of the father
Gave birth to disaster
Born in the shape of a man.
The harder we cling to shadows
The more we long for shade.
The more our grip shall weaken
As those we love slip far away.
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