(Tr)aveling w(i)th the younger I
With her on your back
She gazed at intricate diamonds of the dark.
Never facing an ounce of (um)brage.

With age, her knowledge flourished
Growing from the water of your trunk
Her brain was nourished with ex(p)erience
Following in your trail

Strengthening over time
She (ha)d no i(nt)erest on your back
Nor the night sky
Rather clouds and the outside
Away sh(E) wa(l)ked from your shadow
With your trunk raised high

Lions and crocodiles swarmed her on s(e)a and land
With no trunk or tusk
Adrenaline rushed
She shook in nerves til dusk

Continuing days with no shade
Skin cells accepting harsh sun rays
With the storm of your stom(p)s
She awaited your presence
(h)yen(a)s laughed as you came
Splattering blood on your name

You laid with your wheel
As she wailed with no trunk
She wept
For you sculpted her i(nt)o who (s)he was

Long, Long down the road.
Buying from an old bookstore
Finding a binder filled with the Royal Animals

Turning the first sheet
She noticed a stamp
Reminding her of her stuffed friends
Triumphant  *Elephants

She sits upon her royal chair,
eating a donut, drinking coffee, smoking a plume
smoke rising like a phantom menace in the air.

She calls upon her royal friends she sees,
the batting false eyelashes to a perfect stranger
asking the "gentleman" only for his "hand" by all means.

She drives in her royal chariot,
A red and orange one, flaming stripes at the sides, singing
Songs about the battles and triumphs of wartime's "great" merit.

One day this lovely newborn bird will fly the coop,
the child I know by rights was a born queen! She'll
win first in pageants and then we'll drink to soul's soup.

Our love is like the puzzle pieces
We bought when we were dating,
The ones that came without
The guiding box-top picture.

Day after day you hand
Me pieces of emerald green
Or royal blue.  Some days they're
Orange with a streak of white.

For years now I've been
Lining up the edges,
Linking one piece into another,
But the image remains fragmented.

Now here I am at the end
Of my life, pushing the
Final piece into place.
With tears filling my eyes,

I behold a photograph of you and I
Sitting on our front porch.
Our old, wrinkled hands clasped
As we watch the sprinkler

Move back and forth,
Laughing as our grandchildren
Leap through the streams
That shimmer in the sunset.

she praced around on graceless feet
wearing a crown made from
the shards of broken dreams
her eyes were vacant or
at least they seemed for there were
glittering tears falling down in streams

l.r.

It takes patience to be kind,
For the world is cruel my dear,
And you've got to take your time,
Chances come, go, they're forever;

But when things boil over,
I hope you'll know that it's alright,
The end is not that far, not close either,
You just have to go on and fight;

Sure people will break your heart,
Stay strong for yourself don't fall apart,
For you're made to survive this life and the next,
You're a warrior, a goddess, your mother's daughter;

Don't let the others talk you down,
Make you doubt yourself and your crown,
For this life is yours to rule and own,
A cavalry at your disposal to claim the throne.

@byizn

Upon deceit I've built a kingdom;
A mighty fortress declaring freedom.
She stands up tall; brave as can be
And gazes outward toward the sea.
But when one’s castle’s built on sand,
There is a chance it may not stand.
For secrets hide behind her doors
And crawl through cracks beneath her floors.
Until the light sheds on the lies,
The castle wears her sweet disguise
And secrets linger without a sound
Until the kingdom tumbles down.

The tryant rises over the city
The crowd's minds in wiped obedience
The free-people's prince flees swiftly
His savior anonymously leads him in silence

The elder, masked and cloaked, leads,
Thorns following around him,
the child Prince through the weeds
To hiding on the cliff's rim

Twelve years in the mountain
A youthful wolf looks over the river
Thinking he surely would've been slain
Had the king of thorns been any less swifter