The smell of a spring rain
settling on the earth
is the smell of life anew.

At the window, I sit with a book,
both cracked,
cooled by the alfresco air seeping through,
and tiny droplets glissando down the pane.

The pitter-patter of a soft rain
falling to the parched earth
is the sound of life replenished.

At the rain's offset, I leap from my chair,
exiting the front door,
to saunter through the lush green pastures
that linger outside the library's confines.

How green the trees appear, and the grass--
how rich the stalks of the trees,
their boughs with budding leaves quenched,
glistening in the sun.

I even enjoy the scent coming off the once arid pavement--
it is the smell of the earth,
freed from its impedance,
rising above the stifling asphalt.  

I smell the life that lingers beneath,
and the dull metallic tinfoil taste of the pavement
fills my open nostrils--

It is pleasant, though a little less so, than the ambrosial landscape.

I inhale ever so deeply,
relishing my favorite part of spring,
in the offset of a warm afternoon rain on a brisk day,
sauntering through the wood-laden trails on worn brick paths,

to the paved parking lot where my car awaits--
delineated in a filmy layer of mired pollen residue.
It needed a wash anyways.

Here I stand at the edge of the woods, hands trembling
At the thought of entering
How am I gonna do this
My sanctuary I miss

But it was taken away
One evil dark day
Once what brought me joy
Now seems to destroy
No longer happy memories
Me in his clutch is all I see

Please my friend take my hand and lead me
For the images he left are beastly
Hold me tight while I grive
For his dark deeds seethe
His putrid touch I still feel
It's to much, to real

I want my sanctuary back
I don't want this beautiful place to turn black
I want to hear the nightingale's song again
Watch the fish in the creeks swim
Watch the breeze
Play about the tree's
I want to once again sit quietly
Seeing the deer walk about so skittishly

Please my friend hold me tight
So these thoughts of his invasion I can fight
Please stay right beside
So when it gets to much in your arms I can hide
This time the darkness I can't fight on my own
For the cut he left was down to the bone
So grip my hand tight and lead me in
One deep breath let us begin
Confronting the memory where it began
Hold on to me so I can stand
Help me dear friend take back this land

We sprint through the trees.
And we are alive,
Our hearts burning as hot as the stars above our heads.
With a devilish glint in my eyes
And a lopsided grin on his face
We pick up our speed.
The moon breaks through my hair
And his laugh pierces through the chilled autumn leaves.
We don't slow our pace.
I feel the white hot pain beginning to spread through my limbs
Just as we reach the cliff and collapse,
Feeling nothing but the thrill and joy
That comes with our secret place
Where we cannot be followed.

In the calm still moonlit night
      she silently wove a silken tapestry -
          spinnerets spewing slender strands
      light as air but strong as Kevlar.

A silvery armature spanned the trail
    clinging to trunks and branches.
          Rappelling down from its pinnacle,
      she fixed radii to her deadly wheel.

Spiraling in from the outer ring
      she knitted her way to the center
          to await the tell-tale shudder
    of a fly or moth flown into her snare.

She took no note of the hiker
      paused alone on the trail -
          transfixed by the dew laden spiral
    shimmering in the rose-glow sun.

It mattered not to the spider
      that a man would find her work pleasing
          and it mattered not to the man
    that the web was not woven for art.

When the moon comes full circle
The change rips through me like a power circuit
It starts in my toes
Far away from my heel they grow
My knees now bend backward
My bones all feel fractured
Still on two feet I stand
As I go out and survey my land

There is a hunger inside me that stirs
And my blood lust all will incur
As I run swiftly through the woods
To meet my pack, my hood
I am the alpha female the leader of this brood
In the bright moonlight we go in pursue of food

We stalk the campers in their tents
They never had a single hint
Inside their canvas shell the blood did spray
They had become our prey

We shredded the skin to make it tender
So savoury sweet as I remember
With blood dripping off our jowls
We soon go back on the prowl

I am the alpha female I am the leader of my pack
If you see us coming, you better not look back
Better yet when the moon is full and bright
Don't go wondering in the woods at night

Three weeks latter she was in town to buy some snacks
And out of no where came a voice from an one eyed crone
Beware of the full moon's curse
It now belongs to you
She clutched tight her purse
Then turned and ran right out of her shoes
That night she checked her calender, circled the date of the full moons rising
Bought some handcuffs, attaching one end to the old metal radiator
Went to church on Sunday prayed and paid all her tithing
She would fight this curse with all her being, just like a gladiator
On that night long before the sky turned pink signaling the sun's escape
She clicked the cuff around her wrist
The full moon rose, her body started to reshape
She sprouted thick white hair, her body contorted and twist
Her ears started to protrude, the mouth stretched into a long snout
Long razor sharp teeth punched through
Miles away people heard a howling shout
And those handcuffs were of no use, she easily snapped them into
Now shes on the prowl, looking for food
Lookin for a pack
Don't go into the woods on a full moon she'll be stalking you
For her the deck is stacked

She decided she would take a short cut through the thick dense woods
The red and orange horizon signaled the sun was about to retire from the sky
So she hurried in, her steps where quick, she was begaining to wonder if she should
It was darker under the dense cover of trees it felt like a place one could die
She just lowered her head and hurried on
The forest had a thick carpet of leaves and moss
The thick gray fog was sweeping in strong
She was getting fearful that she might get lost
She slowed down a little, she heard something behind her
She stoped and listened, a very soft snap of a twig in the soft forest floor
She ran so fast her lungs were screaming she was almost a blur
She couldn't see through the fog, she ran on and on till she could run no more
She stoped and listened, trying to slow her breath
But something was chasing her, on almost silent feet it tread
She found a rotten log laying on the ground and hid, for whatever was coming was bringing death
It quickly closed in upon her, what she saw brought only dread
It stood on two clawed feet, it was almost 8 feet tall
Covered in a thick brownish black fur
It had a wolf type head, white sharp teeth lined it's enormous jaw
She put a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, trying hard not to stir
She knew what the beast was, she had watched it in horror movies
It was man turned beast, a werewolf, a curse come to life
Her mind was trying to wrap around this thought, it was to surreal and spooky
Trying to figure out how to get away, afraid she'd have to fight
Automatically her hand went to her silver cross necklace
At that instance the beast claw crushed though the rotten log
It had smelled her, her attempt at fleeing where feckless
Quicker than she could move the beast pounced on her like a dog
She pulled at the cross the chain stretched then snapped
She held it in a white ****** grasp, with only the point sticking out
She scurried back in the dirt she was trapped
She could see it's hot breath puffing white out of it's nostrils on it snout
The werewolf snarled, snapped, and drooled
It's claws shredded,blood splattered, her clothes and skin
She rolled left then right, trying the beast to fool
The best turned it's head to fallow her movments, she found it's eye and stuck the silver cross deep in
It stood up and let out a most painful howl
It gave her time to slide out from under, and run
She ran for her life, only taking a quick look back to see it clawing at it's ****** eye
She came to the edge of the woods just as it was breaking day, this short cut had been no fun
She tilted her head to the sun in the sky
She was ok except for the long scratch on her back
And a slightly twisted ankle she made her way home

I almost wrote a poem
saying it would be
the last one
I ever write for you.
                   I almost meant it.
But I reside in a forest of words
I long to lay upon your feet.
You are the only tenant.
Though I have already seen you hunger
for a wood more abundant with beauty.
You yearned
for the abstract; the colorful.
This is where I failed you, love,
for all I have to offer
is the pattern of my handwriting
against a bleak sheet of paper.
How is that to contest
a canvas
that turns heads
with its baby pinks and powder blues?
So I lay here
in the woods
that swarm with lost things,
longing to see the sun again.
And I am always reaching
      and reaching
             and reach i n g
But I am never quite there.
I lay still in the forest
with an abundance of almosts.

Although I try to fight them
Thoughts of his invasion
And of how he was so ******* brazen
Keep hijacked my mind
I know what I'll find

I don't want to look
I dont want to open that book
I don't want the memories
It just fosters my disease

He destroyed my sacred place
He knew that was my space
So cool and calculating
So patiently waiting
Knew when to strike
Out in the woods he'd make me hike

******* stop I scream to myself, just stop
Put those **** memories on the chopping block
Bury them down deep, and hide them
Or your sanity is gonna be looking grim

Think of happier things like butterflies, birds, and bees
Maybe it'll be easier than it seems
But my birds turn to buzzards
My bees die cuz my butterflies are bad *** *******

I'm tired of reaping another's bad actions
This kinda **** just shouldn't happen
But it does all the time
And cops don't give a **** about this kinda crime

So what am I to do
I feel like throwing in the towel, I'm trough
I'm tired of waiting for happier times
Of trying to patch together a life that doesn't rhyme