The loudest silence, felt by one yet unheard by others, is the quiet tremor of a heart splintered in solitude.

Along the same roads where memories reside,
I saw you again, and something inside died.
As if my soul has never moved, still tethered to the past,
And my heart, open wide, waits steadfast,
To cradle you again, to mend what’s torn,
To find the quiet solace where love was once born.

pain with no script
subterranean roar
pressing call
pushing through
unkempt wasteland

places we don't see
lest they confront
status quo
hidden from all
but the sharp

as echoes we meet
find the persona
sear like another
stinging coal
on splintered frame

bent from carrying
shadows
cast on the
lake of fire's
unceasing scourge

I used to think I was messy broken

Let me explain

Like a stray rock,
chipped from a bat in some sandy back lot
Through a window
Now shattered

Through. Done. Finished.

My splintered little pieces scattered to the winds
And me, running after those small bits
Like they were loose handouts in a windy parking lot
Scrambling to catch hold of
My life
My dignity
My sanity
My love

But

The only way to amend
Is complete replacement

For I am now irreparable

. “Adrift on the edge of a feather,
in my slumber I am most awake.
rhythmic, deep inhalation’s I feel…
as each breath takes you deeper…
without pretense we entangle there.
the place in space where minds do not matter and souls gather to hold hands.”
~15O17 #RachaelHays •

Sometimes words dont flow
They scratch your soul
With a blunt knife,
Splintering edges
And jagged rough cuts
Not elegant enough
To be called engraved.

The gap between the platform and the subway car
seems to grow the closer you get to it
Until crossing it seems like the worst idea you could make
But you close your eyes and brave the void
Taking care not to thin about the tracks beneath
So alive in their snaking routes and tortured screeches.
The doors shut abruptly once you've sardined inside
And its all you can do to grab onto something, anything
Before the wheels begin to turn again
And you're lurched into some other time,
Some other place
As the tunnels decide what your fate will be.
And the doors will open again
As a ghost of a platform appears
But commuters be weary
For the tunnels and the tiles can be deceitful
So as you leave the decay
And the fractured tiles behind
Take caution
You might not notice it at first
You might not notice it at all
But the subway tunnels are unpredictable
And they enjoy making the rules
So the vortex you thought you imagined with the tunnel's lights speeding past the windows of the train
Might have actually transported you to some unknown city
To some other dimension
And there's no turning back.

mating behavior
pushes the limits
forgets boundaries

tall
dark
eyes like a canyon
pulling you into them

hands
length
soothing sounds
vibrations

mating rituals
dances with wolves
edge of the feather
periscope vision

~ rachael hays 9O15

One plus One
Two times Twenty-Three
Forty-Six plus you and me

A mustache
A ******
A means
We must

Labor of love
Delivery from above
We meet
We seat
Together retreat.

A Jude
A jet
Never question the fret
we sing
We three
In perfect harmony.

~Rachael Hays 15S15