Riding along a bumpy road
stopping at a fork in the road
not by choice or design
but from disorientation
shorn of his map
unable to read the signs
still unwilling to choose
the narrower entrance ramp
that leads him home
away from the bright lights
of urban decay

Turning onto the road
that yields only to desire
the skeletal remains
of a spent ******
in death's throes
whose revved engine
constantly in overdrive
can never idle
fueled by lighter fluid
a high octane burning gas
and a hunger for speed

With quivering mind
careens towards the slums
with an indentured body
that once more swears fealty
to a toxic brain,
in his wake
nuanced shadows follow,
a self-less caricature
of a lifeless body
straddling the coattails
of a disinterred soul

I sit alone under the starry night
dark patches encase the light
vapid holes without conduits
fringed by a parade of sparking dots
invite my tortured mind to explore
to synthesize the dark and light
an iridescence twinkles on smitten eyes
frenetic charges pulse through each cavity
heavenly bodies morph into beings,
imaginary lines without axis or symmetry
form gnarly figures, contorted images,
the cool shadows can't envelop the heat
sweat warms my brow as
a chill bristles my spine
my feet are grounded, but my mind wired
two worlds with opposite poles collide
a black light now flickers
invisible pulses shock my brain
I straddle the terrestrial divide
figments become animated
the siren song of crickets
rises to a crescendo
light and darkness ******

Great Grandfather's clock strikes midnight
through the drawn curtains
a glint of moonlight peeps
the lacquered surface glows with
the light of another day's shadows,
twilights that faded over distant vistas,
blipping echoes from searching sonar
that beam only faint pulses
off the embezzled panels,
invisible forms in the dust specks
whose true essence remains trapped
in the hollowed pores yielding only
the residual, a genetic bond
forever cached in the organic fibers,
hovering in a dark corner of the room
over relics that reverberate each chime

A soft, imploring cry
peels from far and wide
from the silted lives of
mercenaries and conscripts,
the coagulated blood of still lifes
leached from stented veins
and strained for national pride

A quiet, solemn echo
bounces off re-sodded hills
and re-capped mountains
of voices muted in their prime
so that indentured revelers
might joyfully trumpet
an unrequited melody
of garnished freedom
and varnished liberty

The curdling wind plays taps
to the itinerant bones
on reefs and ocean bottoms
now hollowed by corrosive waves
of land-faring vagabonds who
continuously pare their calcified genes

Bottled tears that will never drain
remain untapped on distant shores
as their pilfering descendants
salt the museums and memorials
with their gratuitous patronage

Your Primrose blossomed in the Spring
frothy petals in the light flared
a brilliant hue your season to groom
I stitched a garland to pair
my green blades with your orbit,
blushing from your radiant glare
a satellite garnishing stray beams
My doting shadow, enfiladed
by the waxy glow of your stems,
entrenched around your lurid stalk
Vassal bands nestled below as
the sultry air bore your fragrance
to the tips of each driveling strand


Growing in your rendered space
light years from your radiant estate
milk weeds fawned at your feet,
but my encroaching shadow
and twining sickles
could not seal your comely face
In just a few days, the light
from your bright candle
flittered its last beam
your silky cheeks folded,
not from winter's cold stare
or the wind's shaking reins
Unencumbered by my embrace,
without flair or aplomb,
you cast your gilded parasol
to its shallow, un-dug grave
A decaying, still life brand
now shrouded my sodded feet

A spindling sun stream on copses' cloak spun
Melange of orange, yellow, red on foliage does glisten
Decadent Umbrella wields fluorescent shield o'er barren fields
Glinted blades colorful shades heighten
Glossed Bright-cherry, Oak leaves the fringes floss
Purple haze of Sweet Gum lobes the flanks glaze
Yellow tips of White Oak fingers waxed with gilding syringe
Orange Marmalade, Maple stars varnished with tinseling *****
Blue Beech crusted folds dusted with a brackish rust

Satin sheen with flawless seams
Tawny curves, each silken fold careens
Ambient light emitting pallid streams
Radiant magnetic field distilling dreams

Azure panels fade; shed golden mane
Black, celestial portents mail links chain
Windows of heaven shaded darker strain
Foggy panes availing beams do disdain
Billowing, gray folds gilded tapestry doth stain
Burgeoning spouts brackish bile to drain
Reverberating drums strike dolesome refrain
Streaking bolts o'er tumult wax then wane
An eerie whistle howls announcing the careening train

On yonder strand
In bridled land
A motley band
With vigor fanned
Across hill, lowland
With self righteous brand
Seeking brigand contraband
From each licentious hand
To forthrightly remand
Every highway spanned
Tolls, tribute to demand
Each pilfering cleric did reprimand
Then every bloated collection was panned
Every royal vestige scanned
Gratuitous coffers to expand

hearth of family
a temporal domicile
hearts sanctuary

Midnight solstice sway
Cream shade ballasting night, day
Darkness eclipses