it's 4 am and i'm still up
in the city of the half-dead
alone with my racing thoughts
insomniac nights are the best

You were no Eve of Russian literature
like Pushkin’s precious Tatyana.
You were no young, innocent, provincial girl
seduced by cynical Onegin, that bon vivant
corrupted by modern European values.
You were no mysterious Russian soul
brimful of essential purity and self-sacrifice -
with a love of pain and pure disdain of happiness.

Tatyana resisted all temptation, refusing
to take flight, rejecting the man she loved.
She was too good to be true; but you, Anna
what a pickle you got yourself in, choosing ****** sin.
You could share an affair with dashing Vronsky
elope with him and leave behind your husband
abandon your beloved son, Alexei.

But these were not the dreadful choices
sealing your tragic fate, my dear Anna.
It was those ****** feelings you chased
all based on the sin of selfishness.
You fed on romance, passion and desire.
Your hot-hunger was insatiable, a fire
rip-roaring through restraint and all decorum
You sweated and panted wild for ******.

They say you’re a ‘drama queen’; heartless and mean
a woman undone by excess, always longing to undress
nakedly making grand errors of judgement.
By ignoring Tatyana’s fine example, you certainly forgot
there will always be those who tot up the ledger.
Your blood debt was owing, it had to be paid.

You saw the light at the end of the tunnel -
cool down, Anna, let the raw feelings subside
be watchful, wary and ever-ready to step aside
let the moments of  menace and gloom drain –
it might just be an oncoming train is due.

© M.L.Emmett 2016

Here in the desert
it's been raining
on and off
            for days
making the succulents and cacti
glisten with wetness
their thick skin sparkles
and catches nature's ironic eye
flowers and plants shine
so much better in the half-grey
Here in the prehistoric depths
Of rocky whitewash and silt
             flash floods rush through
flushing out all guilt
         And inside
a raging storm commences
and I feel so blessed
to be a part of this celebration
my lungs expanding in my chest
I breathe in deep
that fresh purity of air
let it cleanse right through me
from my toes up to my hair
It rushes in my body
taking no prisoners in its force
flows through every vein
cleansing poisons in its course
its power flows into me
washing out this stubborn pain
Turning the confusion
                     into clarity again
From inside subconscious thoughts
           realization thunders
rinsing from my mind
                 the emotional strain
and replacing it with euphoric wonders
Come, my raging desert tempest
Bathe me
       penetrate me with wet
restore and purify
my being
take over and disinfect
let me feel my own strength
until it pours out from my cells
into the space inside my heart
where love and lust still dwell
My tears mingle with the sweet drops
                as I fling arms open to the sky
releasing strikes of lightening
for every word I cry
as I summon, pray for lightness
mixed with the sturdiness of earth
Let joy rise up and bubble
within my being
as rebirth

Befuddled
      (as if)
I was walking on the rain

The rain
     (so cold)
Was it fog or the
     (formation)
of another
     (lost)
and listless soul

Even snow
     (falling)
would be warmer than this

I speak of the
     (blackness)
far beyond the absence
of the light

Truly staggering the
    (immensity)
of the nothingness
that swallows whole
everything in sight

Jesus walk upon the water
I just walked upon the rain

Yet he stood upon the
    (firmament)
I just stood upon it's
     (soaking)
pain

Love is matter of heart it is not matter of mind
When it touches beauty it leaves horizons behind
It is that eternal process which is kind but blind
It is something which is predestined and defined

With love we can encounter all the barriers of life
It makes us to walk on sword and to take the knife
It is makes us least bothered to go through strife
It culminates in making both husband and wife

Let me see world through your beautiful green eyes
With its force we can touch and encounter all skies
At times it changes size and comes as sheer surprise
To fantasize love,beauty takes on every enterprise

Col Muhammad Khalid Khan
Copyright 2016 Golden Glow