THE POET’S PANEGYRIC

“There’s someone I knew with talent unleashed
and a heart that had for so many relentlessly reached
This poet sought inspiration from the living and the dead
But I can tell you this about the poet who has moved me by what this poet had ever said
I read the words from a comfort zone
which this poet created, surrounded by friends or by foes or simply alone”
His essence of soul sweeps down deserted dead streets
where the thunder still crackles, the burial bell bleats
He laughed at himself as a Royal Rhymester Clown
but bore the black pains of those all around,
He echoed regrets but never a grudge
... of this I’ll say little... let his lines be the judge

THE POET’S PEN

Blind shots cry out beneath the night,
a car is cruising by.
A stripling’s blood streams words to write
... Wry rhymes to ask us why

A silly girl with child, *****...
to many, but a ****.
The baby at her breast is dead
... Cruel couplets meant to cut

A drifter, broken, cast aside,
lies lifeless in the cold.
Tap tattoos on a tattered hide
... Some scarlet stanzas scold

Two lovers clutch a turtledove,
enraptured by her coo,
impaled on pangs of Ladylove
... A sultry song for two

A drone of drums in distant wars
beguiling bold dragoons
who sell their souls like wanton ******
... Raw rhythms writ in runes

The stars ablaze, like tiger-eyes
reflecting candlelight,
’lume angels singing Lullabies
... A sonnet stuns the night

The soulless eyes of shackled slaves
drip tears that burn and blur.
Their ash, like dust, set free in graves
... Emblazing ballads stir

A hurricane, foretold, unfurled,
unravels mystic signs
as Demons dance, destroy the World
... Limned lurid lyric lines

Some die a death neath hangmen’s hands
where tainted justice reigns
for ‘thou shalt ****’, Revenge commands
... A quiet quatrain pains

While well-to-dos amass and flaunt
And follow fashion’s trends,
pale children starve and die of want
... And so an epic ends

THE POET’S EPITAPH**

His words lie strewn along the sand
While breakers wash ashore
The ripples weave designs unplanned
... a verse forevermore

His tales, entwined in cryptic airs
where freedom seeds are blown,
warn Guarders of the Realm ‘beware’
... his heresy is sown

His life outlined a chronicle
along a lonesome road
It started out as doggerel
... and ended as an ode

January,
rare
cross hatched
jet
conrtrails
inseminate
this receptive Carolina sun,
Emblazing this mountain azure sky,
framming Appalachian
repeat
peaks ,
terrace stone floors,
and hardwood grandeur.

Secrets of Wysteria flow in the vessels of my brain
And so I do not hear, nor comprehend the calling of my thought’s train
Vowing to never be held again in constrain
Eradicating the rotten fingers pointing to my disdain

Muses of bruises, callouses, and roses
Excuses the clueless, hung in ruin’s nooses

Flagitious tongue sharpens itself with sprawling centipedes
Rusted teeth from perilous mandibles bleed as it feeds
On the oozing, ****** veins of the wicked ****** as it pleads
Maybe these are too much for one’s avaricious needs?

Mindful, careful, piercing the syringe of refrain on plump flesh
Yeuking as the substance flows on blood so raw and fresh

Amid all, the past and future gather in Sheol’s pavilion
But missing is the presence of present in emblazing vermillion
Yet fleetly missed as the siren descanted her composition
Somber statues of ivory pretense witness with volition
Saints and snakes tear each other’s throats in a languish cotillion.

I don't know what it was
that sparked that feeling in my stomach
whenever she was around
maybe it was the glances
that lasted a little longer than they should've
or maybe it was the warmth she gave
when she had her arms wrapped around my waist
maybe it was the secret smile i was given
when it was just her and i in my room
or maybe it was the flame that became emblazing
when our lips touched
i don't know when the spark was ignited
but one day i looked at her eyes
and i felt the fire that was between us

The feeling of cold metal against my thigh as I inched my way across the ballroom elegant yet unknowingly dangerous. Like a wolf in a sheep’s costume, I glance across the room and lock my eyes with his. Dressed in black and ruggedly handsome. His emerald orbs glazed over with an emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It seemed as time slowed as we gazed into each other’s eyes before hastily breaking eye contact. The music slowed and he made his move, making his way across the maze of oblivious dancers before stopping in front of me. I studied his face for any sign of emotion, anything that could give him away before resting my eyes on his waiting hand. Tenderly lifting up my hand I rested it onto his. His rough palms engulfing my hand as he guided me towards the dance floor. Moving in unison we danced the night away, without a word but somehow with mutual understanding. The cool dagger strapped to my thigh served as a bitter reminder of what was to come. But as the music slowed and I rested my head against his shoulder and inhaled the intoxicating scent of pine my heartbeat quickens. But as every second passes, I can feel him guiding us further and further from the middle of the ballroom. Soon enough we were in an enclosed hallway. I move to step out of his embrace but his grip tightens. His eyes dancing mischievously he leans in, his hot breath hitting my ear. “It’s quite a pity someone so pretty has to end like this.” Reaching under my dress I feel the familiar smooth metal flicking out the dagger I pressed it against his neck for a split second his eyes revealed his surprise.
“You should know that villains often come with pretty faces,” I replied in the same sultry voice I had practiced in the mirror just a few hours ago. Circling around him like a predator to prey, “So who sent you?” My voice ringing out beneath the roar of the music from the other room. His eyes scrutinized my every move as his hand drifted towards his back pocket. Whipping out his dagger we circled each other, matching each other’s pace as if dancing our own sort of twisted tango.
“Guess,” he smirked, his eyes cool and calculating. As the music slowed in the background he lunged forward catching me in surprise only giving me barely a second to sidestep his dagger slashing wildly in the air. I wince as I felt the sharp blade graze the side of my back, my dagger clanking noisily as it slid down the hallway. Catching him off balance I pounce, pinning him to the ground, kicking his dagger to the side. My eyes narrow as I feel his familiar palms caressing my hands, and for a fraction of a second, I let my guard down. Giving him a way out, flipping me onto my back he pinned me down on the cold granite floor. I feel a fluttering in my stomach as he stared into my eyes, before trailing his hot gaze to my lips. And for a split second, I swore I heard him mutter under his breath.
“Till the next dance… princess” then, he was gone. His dark cape fluttering behind him as he fled the scene. Looking out into the darkness at his disappearing shadow I touch my lips as if just remembering to breathe. My stomach involuntarily somersaulted as his words echoed throughout my mind. My logical hatred for him was betrayed by my body and soul as hands were already craving his touch, my lungs missing the iconic smell of pine I had gotten used to. But I was determined to finish this mission, even those soft brown locks, draping over his forehead won’t stop me from that. Standing up I dusted myself off, picking up his dagger and slipping mine back into my sheath my imagination ran wild. A seemingly never-ending stream of thoughts poured through my mind. Slipping through the castle door I looked up, into the darkened sky. Shimmering with a million fairy lights, emblazing the august night sky. But at that moment, I could only see his eyes, exquisite, like priceless emerald. Getting lost among the pine forests, running through the fields of Ireland with the exotic aura of a newborn dragon. Butterflies erupting from my stomach at the thought of the next dance, meeting my prince.