"chicagoan" poems
my love and devotion for you
was a wavering candle light
held to my chest to shield
from a wicked wild wind
it dripped wax onto my unsteady hands
scalding my fingertips
a foreign burn seeping into my skin
(my love) became my sole source of comfort;
a wooden fireplace
in the depth of a cold Chicagoan winter
thawed my heart of ice
and you breathed life into my lungs
every time you beamed at me
I found myself
falling in love with your smile
'til I had seen that same lopsided grin of yours
flashed to someone else
and so,
the fire in my soul gave way
to waves after waves of relentless jealousy
that which pounded
against the shores of my heart
carved away gaping crevices
in the jagged ridges of my ribcage
in one final encore
black acrid flames returned in full force
as I clawed off
my flesh and bone
tearing at the itchiness in my blood
and the taste
of iron in the back of my throat
here I am
another one of your victims
with third-degree burns
my nerves are burnt beyond repair;
I no longer feel anything for you
Feb 14, 2015
Feb 14, 2015 at 4:33 AM UTC
"...SO I DID WEAVE MYSELF INTO THE SENSE..."
( In memory of my Aunt Peggy )
the candle carves
your face
out of the dark
you waver
with its flicker
become a mask
I watch your words
float across the space
between us
I see every syllable
all your pauses
your each and every punctuation
you recite
Herbert
with an American accent
I try to pull you
out of the dark
of the past
but this is all
memory will allow
of you
I say your name
to make you more real
"Peggy...Peggy!" I call to you
now far away
from that lost day
your daughter's love
reminds me of
who you were
to me
your Chicagoan voice
telling me: "Gee....
you've got curls like a girl's!"
May 13, 2019
May 13, 2019 at 2:47 PM UTC