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I don't remember, any more,
The exact shape of your hands
As I held them in mine,
Caressed them,
Memorized the length of your fingers,
The depth of your calluses.

I don't remember, any more,
Exactly your height, how much
Taller than me
You were, where
My head rested on your chest
When you held me tightly close.

I don't remember, any more,
Your scent, when we lay together
Creating our own
Magic rhythm,
Matching our heartbeats as we
Touched the sky, together.

I don't remember, any more,
The sound of your voice, calling
My name as though
It were a song
Within itself, a precious treasure
You valued with all your being.

And I don't remember, any more,
The color of your eyes, the shape
Of your lips,
Only...
How your eyes crinkled at the corners
And your laugh, as you told me,

"I love you."
Copyright by Ash L. Bennett, 2011
Why aren’t your eyes--- there?
In two places--- where water should be?
Moldy residue--- absence of vision, tears
From those bullet holes--- you ought to see--- your own ambivalence
Fall down my cheek
Terrifying--- Me, with nothing for both us
Automaton, my weakness
Intellect, disease
You’re my body
Cage
You're my spirit
Doubt
Justice and horror--- within, without
MMXI
 Jul 2011 Roseanna H
Jon Tobias
Rabo Karabekian said all our souls are neon tubes of light
If that is true
I know mine always flickers
Especially when I am scared
And if you knew Morse code
My soul would flash to you

“LOVE ME”                                                                                  

If you place your hands on my chest
You would see
My heart beats

“FREEDOM”                                                                              

The broken Braille of the goose bumps
That I get when I am cold
They say

    “HOLD ME”                                                                            

If you were blind
And you
Dragged your hands across the terrain of my face
Every pock mark and scar
Would make you think I was the moon
And when you got to my mouth
Warm from the breath I try to hold
When you’re near me
You’d realize
There really is a man in there

Underneath the warning signs
And flashes of light
When the sounds from the pleads for help stop
And you can finally hear me breathin’
You’ll see the message that I was supposed to give to you
Read what it says on my skin

“Underneath is a man                                                                        
Who keeps the dark and the stars to his back so he can always face you                              
Some days his distance feels cruel                                                          
Some days his smile is ugly                                                                  
But his heart                                                                            
When it’s not beating so hard that it’s beggin’                                              
For freedom                                                                              
It’s full of love                                                                            
There is still dust in his lungs                                                              
For he does not use his voice much                                                        
But he can hold you like a lullaby”
Tears
and rain,
sit upon
my eyelashes.
One shows my pain, one washes it away.

The grey clouds are one with my breaking heart.
Shedding their pain
in tune with
my souls
cry

To
accept
that Grandma
is leaving me,
is easier to say than to live through.

Each slowing beat of her heart pierces me.
My second mom,
my best friend,
dying
now.

Her
grace and
wisdom will
stay with me still.
I am, today, the woman she molded.

Touching so many, giving of herself.
Angel on earth,
soon to be
going
home.
This is written in the poetic form of "Tetractys"  The scheme is a syllable count of 1,2,3,4,10...then reverse the count 10,4,3,2,1 and so on
 Jul 2011 Roseanna H
Gabrielle F
The photo reminded her of bruised fruit. Well first and foremost:fruit.
Her body, curled around itself, sheltering the fibrous crunchy pit of her, her body white and frayed looking, rounded buttock, calf gently sloping, feet modest, willowy toes toenails like shale
face blurred, questionable dark spots where her eyes could have been. they closed as the shudder buckled, her mouth sagged open, lip lolling to one side, brow ancient furrowed like folds of sand nudged by a lazy tide.  None of it concise, only guessing. Her knees brought up, squeezed against small  
crunch-able chest. Full, heavy with pulp (stringy sweet, what snags on the teeth) but what if it were to fall from an appreciable height? Filmy is the flesh. Daring the looker to look closer, see what mite be hidden there.
Ripe:questionable. Sweet like nothing, pouring from the corners of a mouth: what a bite it would be.
That first bite.
The bruising comes in when she thinks of the brain beneath, that open, limitless figure so pale and forefront and brimming with intent, so crush-able with careless fist, so lovable with thirsty mouth. But what of the mind that put her before you, that turned her vulnerable, shameless, open for discussion?
Put her before you. naked.
I want to stand by her side,
to catch her when she falls.
I want to be there, good or bad,
to carry her through it all.

I want to wipe her tears away,
and hold her hand so tight.
I want to keep her close and warm,
to hold her in my arms tonight.

Still it matters not what I desire,
for fate is cruel and so unkind.
Born so very far apart,
a punishment fit for no crime.

She carries on her life out there,
somewhere in this lonely world.
I stand alone in these dark times,
thinking of this forlorn girl.

I want to softly stroke her cheek,
to take her pain away.
I want to help her to her feet,
and tell her she will be okay.

I want to gently touch her lips,
and brush the hair from her eyes.
I want to promise her the world,
and give her wings to fly.

Instead I’m met with these dark halls,
with no end or exit in sight.
No means of escape, nowhere to go,
I cannot run, nor hide.

She searches for someone to love,
and claims to know what love is.
I stand alone in these dark times,
having only my heart left to give.

I want her to hold her head up high,
to take life by its very horns.
I want her to bite the hand that feeds,
instead of feeling so forlorn.

I want her to realize she’s not alone,
even if I cannot be there in the flesh.
That I would give my heart and soul,
to share with her a single breath.

I want to see her smile,
because it is happiness she seeks.
I want to lie beneath the stars,
with her beside of me.

I don’t know what love is,
but for her, I think I’d try.
It’s a feeling I may never know,
for she’s not in my life.

Fate is so cruel and unkind,
and for that reason I stand alone.
Until I find my way to her,
in the darkness I shall roam.
I missed your hand,
As you reached out
to stop my fall.

It was too late
When I finally saw it
already slipping past.

Into the void,
Hope's bright light
Slowly fading
to black.

Spinning in a sea
of endless dark,
I am lost.

How long has it been?
How much longer?
(c) Jesse Bourque
my heart
            shall burn brightly still
though unwanted
(c) Jesse Bourque
It's cruel and indecent of me
to expect you to climb
these walls

They are my walls,
I realize that now

To hide behind
to shut out the light
I care not to see

So I built this palisade
and from the ramparts
I can see you struggle and fume

It's my fault
I know
but I can begin to see

The sunlight
through the cracks
I'm so distant and reserved. *sigh*

(c) Jesse Bourque
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