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"skyward" poems
Not easy to state the change you made. If I'm alive now, then I was dead, Though, like a stone, unbothered by it, Staying put according to habit. You didn't just tow me an inch, no-- Nor leave me to set my small bald eye Skyward again, without hope, of course, Of apprehending blueness, or stars. That wasn't it. I slept, say: a snake Masked among black rocks as a black rock In the white hiatus of winter-- Like my neighbors, taking no pleasure In the million perfectly-chisled Cheeks alighting each moment to melt My cheeks of basalt. They turned to tears, Angels weeping over dull natures, But didn't convince me. Those tears froze. Each dead head had a visor of ice. And I slept on like a bent finger. The first thing I was was sheer air And the locked drops rising in dew Limpid as spirits. Many stones lay Dense and expressionless round about. I didn't know what to make of it. I shone, mice-scaled, and unfolded To pour myself out like a fluid Among bird feet and the stems of plants. I wasn't fooled. I knew you at once. Tree and stone glittered, without shadows. My finger-length grew lucent as glass. I started to bud like a March twig: An arm and a leg, and arm, a leg. From stone to cloud, so I ascended. Now I resemble a sort of god Floating through the air in my soul-shift Pure as a pane of ice. It's a gift.
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39.3k
Love Letter
ever since i was young, my gaze was drawn skyward. i could tell you the story of orion, and how to brush bernice's hair, before i could tell you that two plus two equals four. i know more about our vast universe, than i know about many of my friends. if you are not well acquainted with a pisces, let me give you a bit of an introduction: we are compassionate, imaginative, we adapt to whatever is thrown at us, and my personal favourite, we are unfalteringly loyal. however... we are full of self-hate, prone to laziness, we are escapists and horrendously easy to manipulate. i believe my horoscope today is complete ******** i do not feel utterly lovely, i know i will not score a date because no one feels for me romantically. i've nothing to flaunt. the horoscopes are saccharine lies, but, those traits? those are me. my soul is ancient, i feel the pain of struggles i have not faced, or rather, have not YET faced; i will split my soul in two i will break my bones i will give every drop of my blood i will breathe my last breath for those that i love. i spent two years of my life giving my heart and soul to a sagittarius. philosophical, adventurous. i admired him so. but his negatives-- inconsistent. overconfident. careless. he was a burning house. my mother, also a pisces, when all was said and done, told me to stay away from those sagittarius boys. they're dangerous for wary, fretful fish like us, who ask 'from what bridge?' when we are told to jump.
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Aug 17, 2014
Aug 17, 2014 at 11:02 PM UTC
pisces (don't trust a sagittarius)
[Verse 1] Monster sized swag; not modest bout my splendor Marvel at the flag and I'm the ultimate avenger Buck Rodgers, D-Bird yep I'm the number one contender, So I gotta uphold this rep of bein uncontrollable so I'll take the lead, I hold the world beneath my feet I'm a fiend, elite Haze so cloudy cause I be blowin Swisher Sweets Drug addiction is my disease It's my expertise See here's the masterpiece: Raps lobotomize I'm traumatized since 1993 [Verse 2] Victimized by the lies of this trifilin enterprise You can front but you can't hide There's no fault behind your eyes So I hope this insult will suffice It should come as no surprise A grin will spread across my face From side to side My ***** mouth will mesmerize hypnotized, memorize the words that escape my lips I'm a degenerate unabridged uncut You're a ************* **** Go hang yourself from a bridge Here's a rope, I hope you choke ******* ******* smoochie smoochie Only chains you got is Gucci Y’all basic brothers rep that set But fake like that 2chi [Verse 3] man I get so high, Now watch me get higher Watch me take flight As my wings soar skyward You know I'ma fighter So watch me take my place As I eat this rap game up and then spit it in your face Now pass me a lighter see me rollin while I bake I mean I'm not a pastry maker, but I still bake for the sake My rhymes are so ill They're gonna make you sick I be tweetin on my twitter While Betty Crocker ***** my **** uh [Verse 4] Reid between the lines son and please proceed with caution Alien splittin kilos, I be one tweaked ****** martian I'm five steps ahead and these haters ****** forfeit You four feet tall and I'm so high I'm in ****** orbit Make these snitches sleep with fishes How ****** vicious spittin mischief ****** trippin out these hypocrites Dishin out these disses which Bein inconsiderate in this fast paced game of chase But if I wanted to catch your drama I'd just go check my facebook page *****
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Nov 11, 2013
Nov 11, 2013 at 3:30 AM UTC
Masterpiece
[Verse 1] Monster sized swag; not modest bout my splendor Marvel at the flag and I'm the ultimate avenger Buck Rodgers, D-Bird yep I'm the number one contender, So I gotta uphold this rep of bein uncontrollable so I'll take the lead, I hold the world beneath my feet I'm a fiend, elite Haze so cloudy cause I be blowin Swisher Sweets Drug addiction is my disease It's my expertise See here's the masterpiece: Raps lobotomize I'm traumatized since 1993 [Verse 2] Victimized by the lies of this trifilin enterprise You can front but you can't hide There's no fault behind your eyes So I hope this insult will suffice It should come as no surprise A grin will spread across my face From side to side My ***** mouth will mesmerize hypnotized, memorize the words that escape my lips I'm a degenerate unabridged uncut You're a ************* **** Go hang yourself from a bridge Here's a rope, I hope you choke ******* ******* smoochie smoochie Only chains you got is Gucci Y’all basic brothers rep that set But fake like that 2chi [Verse 3] man I get so high, Now watch me get higher Watch me take flight As my wings soar skyward You know I'ma fighter So watch me take my place As I eat this rap game up and then spit it in your face Now pass me a lighter see me rollin while I bake I mean I'm not a pastry maker, but I still bake for the sake My rhymes are so ill They're gonna make you sick I be tweetin on my twitter While Betty Crocker ***** my **** uh [Verse 4] Reid between the lines son and please proceed with caution Alien splittin kilos, I be one tweaked ****** martian I'm five steps ahead and these haters ****** forfeit You four feet tall and I'm so high I'm in ****** orbit Make these snitches sleep with fishes How ****** vicious spittin mischief ****** trippin out these hypocrites Dishin out these disses which Bein inconsiderate in this fast paced game of chase But if I wanted to catch your drama I'd just go check my facebook page *****
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63
The belated summer sky is alive with a  D r a g o n f l y ballet Beneath,.. the rain parched sod lay sullied, cracked open by an unsated thirstiness awaiting the painted autumn days and the cleansing rain's renewal A lace-winged hatch rises skyward — meandering  airborne — drifting upwards like a burst of dust dissipating in an invisible cloud of eventide's silent breath Darting shadows hover above a seeker's curiosity     just this side the   softening sunset backdrop A synthesis of fluid motion   – darting kinesis –     swift agile fliers steal away over the thirsty pond; their mesmerizing beauty enchants as the dimming dusk falls silent —- embellishing the unrelenting ending    another summer's  imminent curtain call; reminding how inexorable-time is only a contrived human notion, a recurring extrapolation   of passing  seasons Heightening awareness: how we too are only passing through these unholdable moments    coming to know     we cannot stop    how life unfolds The raindrops will quench the pond's aching thirst again one fall someday...   — hereafter — there will be another beauty of dragonflies some other eyes will see preying on another burgeoning gossamer-winged hatch           and another beckoning autumn when the dragonflies hover below the gazing totems      in the treetops Jesse Stillwater ... September 2018                                                 .
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Sep 19, 2018
Sep 19, 2018 at 12:52 PM UTC
Ballerinas in the Waning Summer Sky
The belated summer sky is alive with a  D r a g o n f l y ballet Beneath,.. the rain parched sod lay sullied, cracked open by an unsated thirstiness awaiting the painted autumn days and the cleansing rain's renewal A lace-winged hatch rises skyward — meandering  airborne — drifting upwards like a burst of dust dissipating in an invisible cloud of eventide's silent breath Darting shadows hover above a seeker's curiosity     just this side the   softening sunset backdrop A synthesis of fluid motion   – darting kinesis –     swift agile fliers steal away over the thirsty pond; their mesmerizing beauty enchants as the dimming dusk falls silent —- embellishing the unrelenting ending    another summer's  imminent curtain call; reminding how inexorable-time is only a contrived human notion, a recurring extrapolation   of passing  seasons Heightening awareness: how we too are only passing through these unholdable moments    coming to know     we cannot stop    how life unfolds The raindrops will quench the pond's aching thirst again one fall someday...   — hereafter — there will be another beauty of dragonflies some other eyes will see preying on another burgeoning gossamer-winged hatch           and another beckoning autumn when the dragonflies hover below the gazing totems      in the treetops Jesse Stillwater ... September 2018                                                 .
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51
I'm tested everyday, Tempted to throw away The sanity that's kept my mind at bay If inconveniences are shadows, then troubles are ink-blotted water trickling through the canals of my temporal lobes which causes me to follow any thoughts of failure instead of success better to wallow in bed then get dressed I almost forget that I am blessed. I aggress the trickling pain by staring skyward like a man seeking the opportunity to fly soaring above the problems that cloud the eyes
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Nov 5, 2012
Nov 5, 2012 at 6:20 PM UTC
Resilience
The keeper of illumination Aye, the keeper of the light Safety first, his fascination Dusk to evening through the night. Aye, the keeper of the light, Every season, every day Dusk to evening, through the night He tends the beacon, shows the way. Every season, every day Climbs thirteen flights of thirteen stairs He tends the beacon, shows the way The Fresnel lantern he prepares. Climbs thirteen flights of thirteen stairs Skyward, toward the landing high The Fresnel lantern he prepares Lighthouse beacon must not die. Skyward, toward the landing high Strike the match, produce the spark Lighthouse beacon must not die. Guides ships safely through the dark. Strike the match, produce the spark Safety first, his fascination Guides ships safely through the dark The keeper of illumination. Phil Lindsey 6/25/15
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Jun 25, 2015
Jun 25, 2015 at 9:29 AM UTC
The Lighthouse Keeper
the earth is curved - sure y’all knew that.   but to get to the Northwest, Interstate 84 ain’t le route plus directe nope curve north to Ontario, wave to Bex as I cross over London and Toronto, also can’t recall which poet from Rochester hails, or did they shuffle off to Buffalo? Crossing Erie, Huron, and Michigan Great Lakes all, brings to mind my mother’s birthplace, Last of the Mohicans, and the three years I did in the Cleveland Penitentiary, where sun was illegal and baseball was a pretend play of cowboys and Indians but by god, it made me the penitent fella I am today Look skyward to Montreal, yes, there he is, the Leo Priest, the baffled king, blessing this poetic meet ‘n greet trip with a smiling unsurprising hallelujah Apparently some US citizens still can traverse O Canada, even if one forgot their passports, and are not PNG’s (Persons Not so GREAT) over Minneapolis shed a tear for Diane, a poet- gone-missing, and wonder if you reader come from St. Cloud, Fargo or Duluth, Bismarck or Aberdeen, surely they still speak poetic English there in a twangy metering methodology  - well, message me asap wow there really is a Saskatoon! the pilot asks us to lean left in our seats to help turn the plane so we go to Portland and not to Vancouver... me thinks he might be a touch Rockie Mountain High, considering we are at 30 thousand something Imperial, as he walks the main cabin with an oxygen mask and a huuuuuge grin see the distant Cascades through a crack in the shuttered windows, must be close to “the coast” (as if, harrumph, there were but one) ah, words in the clouds, ripe for the plucking must be getting close to Oregon, where poets grow on trees, woody words like **** and log-float poems down the Columbia to the sea gonna drink me some poets under the table cause this trip I ain’t no driving and I am already “flying” ‘n scribing and arriving on a high tide and a good wind
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Jun 7, 2018
Jun 7, 2018 at 5:47 AM UTC
Songs of Going to Oregon: No. 2 But Who Knew?
the earth is curved - sure y’all knew that.   but to get to the Northwest, Interstate 84 ain’t le route plus directe nope curve north to Ontario, wave to Bex as I cross over London and Toronto, also can’t recall which poet from Rochester hails, or did they shuffle off to Buffalo? Crossing Erie, Huron, and Michigan Great Lakes all, brings to mind my mother’s birthplace, Last of the Mohicans, and the three years I did in the Cleveland Penitentiary, where sun was illegal and baseball was a pretend play of cowboys and Indians but by god, it made me the penitent fella I am today Look skyward to Montreal, yes, there he is, the Leo Priest, the baffled king, blessing this poetic meet ‘n greet trip with a smiling unsurprising hallelujah Apparently some US citizens still can traverse O Canada, even if one forgot their passports, and are not PNG’s (Persons Not so GREAT) over Minneapolis shed a tear for Diane, a poet- gone-missing, and wonder if you reader come from St. Cloud, Fargo or Duluth, Bismarck or Aberdeen, surely they still speak poetic English there in a twangy metering methodology  - well, message me asap wow there really is a Saskatoon! the pilot asks us to lean left in our seats to help turn the plane so we go to Portland and not to Vancouver... me thinks he might be a touch Rockie Mountain High, considering we are at 30 thousand something Imperial, as he walks the main cabin with an oxygen mask and a huuuuuge grin see the distant Cascades through a crack in the shuttered windows, must be close to “the coast” (as if, harrumph, there were but one) ah, words in the clouds, ripe for the plucking must be getting close to Oregon, where poets grow on trees, woody words like **** and log-float poems down the Columbia to the sea gonna drink me some poets under the table cause this trip I ain’t no driving and I am already “flying” ‘n scribing and arriving on a high tide and a good wind
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53
I went fishing with two witches Out in my new boat There was me, the witches Two black cats, and a little pygmy goat We sat out on the water The small odd group and me And in the first few hours Not one fish did we see The witches looked on skyward Grabbed hands to cast a spell They said that this worked wonders And then they both did yell Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew Suddenly the water around the boat Started to steam, and then it did boil The sun disappeared, the sky went all black And the clouds went the colour of oil The witches both gathered the nets on the boat As the fish came on up from the deep They were out of the water and up in the air And through this the goat went to sleep Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew Fish were around us, high in the air The witches waved nets as if mad The cats didn't move nor did the goat It was the best catch that I'd ever had After a while the sky turned to blue The witches sat back with a look We'd netted hundred of fish from the lake Now, they would have to be cooked Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew I took the boat in, and docked on the shore With our fish all strung up just for show Everyone there asked what bait did we use? I just smiled, for they weren't set to know I go fishing with witches at least once a week My freezer is full and then some Their spell is amazing, it works every time They say it loud, and fish come Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew
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Aug 1, 2016
Aug 1, 2016 at 2:57 PM UTC
Fishing with Witches
I went fishing with two witches Out in my new boat There was me, the witches Two black cats, and a little pygmy goat We sat out on the water The small odd group and me And in the first few hours Not one fish did we see The witches looked on skyward Grabbed hands to cast a spell They said that this worked wonders And then they both did yell Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew Suddenly the water around the boat Started to steam, and then it did boil The sun disappeared, the sky went all black And the clouds went the colour of oil The witches both gathered the nets on the boat As the fish came on up from the deep They were out of the water and up in the air And through this the goat went to sleep Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew Fish were around us, high in the air The witches waved nets as if mad The cats didn't move nor did the goat It was the best catch that I'd ever had After a while the sky turned to blue The witches sat back with a look We'd netted hundred of fish from the lake Now, they would have to be cooked Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew I took the boat in, and docked on the shore With our fish all strung up just for show Everyone there asked what bait did we use? I just smiled, for they weren't set to know I go fishing with witches at least once a week My freezer is full and then some Their spell is amazing, it works every time They say it loud, and fish come Icarus, thickarus, giraffes and wild dogs Lizards, and giant gnu Bippity, Boppity, snakes and we wish An airborne callipoe stew
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52
Based on a painting, "Nuclear Puppies", by Julie Nagel, 2001 You’re a mutant, you know— got funny dog babies sprouting out of your head like they were ears.  Those copies of your face look up at a sky of ashy gray, perked and tense.  Are you listening to yourself?  What choir of dog-eared deformities sings to you?  Maybe they should have howled louder before we dropped The Bomb. Maybe the yellow caterwaul of their melting butter bodies would have stayed our hand. I doubt it though.   This is what we do. We burn things. We tinker, adding and subtracting until what’s left is blasphemy—until what’s left is you.  A yellow almost-dog, a sagging body with melted flesh where there should be fur. Sad monster; beg your alms from the atomic Frankensteins who made you. Your skyward eyes are bright, still happy anywhere but here.  But your abominable body lies here staring into gray space with Alpo still sticky on your nose, wet, brown snow.
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May 8, 2014
May 8, 2014 at 12:11 AM UTC
Nuclear Puppies
|**“lead into gold, good into dear, mortal into immortal” (where poems come from)”**| you charged me with crimes three times three, sorcery and witchcraft and doing god’s work plead guilty three times three not that I was successful, but a complex, candied marvelous failure not in my possession, the sorcerers spell, my dross and wordy dregs all sit sidelined, perchance perhaps, if you search with a leaden patience inhuman, you might just find a minuscule golden vein there’d unmined turning good into dear, an “anyone can do it” miracle, when you whisper with just one kiss those forever words, don’t be afraid, say it low and slow, I love you, and “I only want to be with you” and dare it to be become dear mortal into immortal, an order tall, for one knows his hiding places for all too human pockmarked weak, but having been charged and found in guilt, no one proffered evidence but they wanted a unambiguous unanimous verdict and proof is such an old fashioned truth notion happy accept your accusations and since confession is the best soul medicine, with glee, here and now reveal how immortality is achievable breathe poems  constantly instantly throughout the orifices in the skin cells and pore’d orifices you were god given; it is how we immortals communicate with what cannot be seen, yet drunken heard when spoke aloud taste the poems in and on tongues you can’t comprehend, the sounds fly skyward after infiltrating your eyes, then you can see your own immortality anointed rising all nonsense you plead, indeed, only immortals truly cherish and envy the human ability to create nonsense, the place where poems come from *******
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Aug 4, 2018
Aug 4, 2018 at 2:31 PM UTC
lead into gold, good into dear, mortal into immortal” (where poems come from)
|**“lead into gold, good into dear, mortal into immortal” (where poems come from)”**| you charged me with crimes three times three, sorcery and witchcraft and doing god’s work plead guilty three times three not that I was successful, but a complex, candied marvelous failure not in my possession, the sorcerers spell, my dross and wordy dregs all sit sidelined, perchance perhaps, if you search with a leaden patience inhuman, you might just find a minuscule golden vein there’d unmined turning good into dear, an “anyone can do it” miracle, when you whisper with just one kiss those forever words, don’t be afraid, say it low and slow, I love you, and “I only want to be with you” and dare it to be become dear mortal into immortal, an order tall, for one knows his hiding places for all too human pockmarked weak, but having been charged and found in guilt, no one proffered evidence but they wanted a unambiguous unanimous verdict and proof is such an old fashioned truth notion happy accept your accusations and since confession is the best soul medicine, with glee, here and now reveal how immortality is achievable breathe poems  constantly instantly throughout the orifices in the skin cells and pore’d orifices you were god given; it is how we immortals communicate with what cannot be seen, yet drunken heard when spoke aloud taste the poems in and on tongues you can’t comprehend, the sounds fly skyward after infiltrating your eyes, then you can see your own immortality anointed rising all nonsense you plead, indeed, only immortals truly cherish and envy the human ability to create nonsense, the place where poems come from *******
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43
Another night staring skyward where           Every creaking shift fills the world                     And the ink-black sky's toothless maw, Shocks and aftershocks of sound           Where a moment's discomfort swells                     To a frenzied crescendo, incessant, Pressing against skin from within           Until a saint's patience would break                     Like lips parting for a stifled sigh. Midnight falters and fades to dawn,           Surrenders to the unconquered sun                     Who, grinning wide as the horizon, Watches the twisting, turning world           Tear away from night's dreamless womb                     Sleepless, stumbling away in a daze.
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Oct 25, 2018
Oct 25, 2018 at 9:51 AM UTC
de profundis (triadic)
#(a travelogue) He stared down through the unbroken silence lapping the shoreline Water skippers dart around the rocks and windfall driftwood settled juxtaposed in cattail reeds and emerging broadleaf sprouts A petrified heartwood timber lie fallow waiting bare barked, hushed like a pining lover’s      timeworn love seat,      rubbed smooth as      the crystalline waters      of  half-moon lake Lingering for a while  ―   like a hidden stalker, a perched wildcat waiting for the full moon’s   swooning spell to saturate the thickening dusk quietude;      arousing the urgent      call of the wild — exhaled from the held breath of the wilderness nocturne     on half-moon lake The stillness was scattered with the soft downy hairs of the sleeping cattails,  and the newly shed catkins a spring gust bestrewed from a tall resin birch tree nigh the Sitka willows      He  sat  quietly ...      time out of mind ― tossing his eyes up into the sky; taking the time to read the stars ― catching  them  each  again as they fell into his gentle hands, to show him who he was Seeing their sparkly tracers   trail-out above the cattails,      from a distance they resembled falling stars unable to perceive their own renaissance ― plashing lightly upon the still-water      on half-moon lake A lone shadow glides stealthily near mid-tarn,.. swimming   enchantingly with the grace      of a blackswan Appearing to glance shoreward at the glowing low stars rise and fall, as his eyes twinkled skyward over      the moonlit lagoon ― heavenward of its moonlit ballet; the lone sleek dark shadow      slipping through      a faint circular ripple stirring the smooth as glass waters ―   disappearing like a fleeting moment      waning deep aneath      a subtle silent wake. When all the clear lines blurred, he knew it had been so long ...      but hearken ! … an interceding      long drawn out wail        echoed  a feral ache      across the stillness,      breaking the silence ― as the shadow reappeared;      his tears surrendered to the undulating call of the wild; he felt the spirit of the sole Loon,      as black and white      as the moonlit night, stir deeply in his wanting heart ―      lay bare the silence in lengthy yodeled psalms to the god of the moon Diving down deep yet again, keeping the light he’d been given, vanishing into the lifespring sanctuary of half-moon lake harlon rivers ... May 2018 travelogue: 4 of some more
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May 21, 2018
May 21, 2018 at 2:36 PM UTC
On half-moon lake ☽
#(a travelogue) He stared down through the unbroken silence lapping the shoreline Water skippers dart around the rocks and windfall driftwood settled juxtaposed in cattail reeds and emerging broadleaf sprouts A petrified heartwood timber lie fallow waiting bare barked, hushed like a pining lover’s      timeworn love seat,      rubbed smooth as      the crystalline waters      of  half-moon lake Lingering for a while  ―   like a hidden stalker, a perched wildcat waiting for the full moon’s   swooning spell to saturate the thickening dusk quietude;      arousing the urgent      call of the wild — exhaled from the held breath of the wilderness nocturne     on half-moon lake The stillness was scattered with the soft downy hairs of the sleeping cattails,  and the newly shed catkins a spring gust bestrewed from a tall resin birch tree nigh the Sitka willows      He  sat  quietly ...      time out of mind ― tossing his eyes up into the sky; taking the time to read the stars ― catching  them  each  again as they fell into his gentle hands, to show him who he was Seeing their sparkly tracers   trail-out above the cattails,      from a distance they resembled falling stars unable to perceive their own renaissance ― plashing lightly upon the still-water      on half-moon lake A lone shadow glides stealthily near mid-tarn,.. swimming   enchantingly with the grace      of a blackswan Appearing to glance shoreward at the glowing low stars rise and fall, as his eyes twinkled skyward over      the moonlit lagoon ― heavenward of its moonlit ballet; the lone sleek dark shadow      slipping through      a faint circular ripple stirring the smooth as glass waters ―   disappearing like a fleeting moment      waning deep aneath      a subtle silent wake. When all the clear lines blurred, he knew it had been so long ...      but hearken ! … an interceding      long drawn out wail        echoed  a feral ache      across the stillness,      breaking the silence ― as the shadow reappeared;      his tears surrendered to the undulating call of the wild; he felt the spirit of the sole Loon,      as black and white      as the moonlit night, stir deeply in his wanting heart ―      lay bare the silence in lengthy yodeled psalms to the god of the moon Diving down deep yet again, keeping the light he’d been given, vanishing into the lifespring sanctuary of half-moon lake harlon rivers ... May 2018 travelogue: 4 of some more
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88
You were always reaching. Even as a child, you stretched your arms skyward You tugged at loose threads and string Let yourself unravel, tucked into nests by birds Even now, you still yearn Reaching for something invisible and miles away Your rose-tinted eyes haven't learned That as long as you love, the ache won't ever go away
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May 24, 2015
May 24, 2015 at 10:06 PM UTC
Longing
It’s kinda pointless The purpose was clear as its intention But still, it was kinda pointless It was like when a kid lets go of his balloon. The string slowly evaporates from his hand As he covers his brow looking skyward to the horizon He let go of his first lover because maybe that would make his wishes come true Or maybe he let it go so a part of him could touch God. It was kinda pointless. Our on and off again two month relationship Every two months or so I would create every insecurity that my poetic lips could fabricate Twist and turn on my restless nights in one way street fashion But those other every two months Were magical I could write a million poems about your body if only my hands weren’t too busy touching it I would memorize the way your footsteps walked home incase I ever needed to find you And every song on the radio was our love song But for another two months I let you go officially And I guess that was kinda pointless *** now I pointlessly think aimlessly for why I did it Maybe I just didn’t want to see you evaporate from my hands again Or maybe it’s *** I thought if I let go of my first lover, my wishes would come true Or maybe it’s because when I’m kissing you, I feel like I could touch God And that just scared me But when a kid lets go of a balloon, He thinks he’s done with it, but he knows he’s never gonna get it back. But God, damm it, I want it back. I want a reason to smile and know I’m smiling for a reason I want something to hold my wrist, to go on adventures with Making love with you was never pointless, and no, I don’t regret it. In fact, it was flawless. And I’d be skipping for days, waiting to do it again But the feeling was lost. We let it evaporate from our hands. We let our emotions escalade and we lost it. Sacrificed it to a summer’s day Watched it float into one of God’s crevices Letting go you, was like letting go of a balloon. I’m forced to watch it drift away but I never, ever, really saw it pop. When you let go of a balloon, it kisses the sky. So I kissed you good-bye in hopes you will reach new heights.
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Dec 27, 2012
Dec 27, 2012 at 11:27 PM UTC
Balloons
It’s kinda pointless The purpose was clear as its intention But still, it was kinda pointless It was like when a kid lets go of his balloon. The string slowly evaporates from his hand As he covers his brow looking skyward to the horizon He let go of his first lover because maybe that would make his wishes come true Or maybe he let it go so a part of him could touch God. It was kinda pointless. Our on and off again two month relationship Every two months or so I would create every insecurity that my poetic lips could fabricate Twist and turn on my restless nights in one way street fashion But those other every two months Were magical I could write a million poems about your body if only my hands weren’t too busy touching it I would memorize the way your footsteps walked home incase I ever needed to find you And every song on the radio was our love song But for another two months I let you go officially And I guess that was kinda pointless *** now I pointlessly think aimlessly for why I did it Maybe I just didn’t want to see you evaporate from my hands again Or maybe it’s *** I thought if I let go of my first lover, my wishes would come true Or maybe it’s because when I’m kissing you, I feel like I could touch God And that just scared me But when a kid lets go of a balloon, He thinks he’s done with it, but he knows he’s never gonna get it back. But God, damm it, I want it back. I want a reason to smile and know I’m smiling for a reason I want something to hold my wrist, to go on adventures with Making love with you was never pointless, and no, I don’t regret it. In fact, it was flawless. And I’d be skipping for days, waiting to do it again But the feeling was lost. We let it evaporate from our hands. We let our emotions escalade and we lost it. Sacrificed it to a summer’s day Watched it float into one of God’s crevices Letting go you, was like letting go of a balloon. I’m forced to watch it drift away but I never, ever, really saw it pop. When you let go of a balloon, it kisses the sky. So I kissed you good-bye in hopes you will reach new heights.
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I: In which I amid the whirring lights and emerald felt drift through a raucous flashing casino searching for a table with an open chair so I can finally start to play the game II: In which all of us are together again at last for a family gathering— Thanksgiving supper, perhaps— and, as we greet each other, I happen to glance skyward, unthinking, and notice that clouds of a turbid cumulonimbus gray are beginning to coalesce overhead. I look up again and notice that they have spun into dozens of funnel shapes, each of them starting to reach down for us like the ashen fingers of Death. We huddle down in the cellar, praying the storm will pass.
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Apr 2, 2017
Apr 2, 2017 at 7:00 AM UTC
Two Recurring Dreams
Secret wish stands hidden in cliché riddled green patch this neon bird mocks red capped garden dwellers serenely seated bookish girl half-dead fern leans towards hot pink beacon salvation bent crescent moon casts feathery palm shadows with curved arms against the bamboo fence lifting earthbound desires skyward.
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Apr 24, 2014
Apr 24, 2014 at 11:02 PM UTC
Pink Flamingo
~ *A fire built within We come together we break apart A wind that blows past and does not return Carnival of light moving colors in the overcurrent Where is heaven above? You'll only hear the hummingbird skyward bound Before finally combusting somewhere in the upper atmosphere The resulting cloud is probably still up there — more proof that it pays to shoot for the stars* ~
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Dec 21, 2021
Dec 21, 2021 at 9:22 AM UTC
Circuit Breakers
She was the rain when I was spring but summer became I, alas it was just a fling Naked branches in a dendritic pattern fastening on to leaves as Fall fell. But drives away the soft snow the blizzards unwanted a stormy winter unexpected Skyward, the dark side of the moon drawn to the faint traces of light - continuously teased the edges of the forgotten surface obsession consumed I to start a spin I grow to become the hunter only to see the chamois conquering my struggle like an insect trapped in the strings of the eight legged she beast beating a rhythmic tune signalling a tell tale heart the end of me no bang only a cleaver silently shushing with an overdrawn whimper and repeat.
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Aug 6, 2014
Aug 6, 2014 at 3:31 AM UTC
Monsoon Season
On a thin ribbon of light unfurled from unseen heaven direct to her parted robe and disquieted ear comes an angel’s voice, the dove’s winged companion, with words foretold in the book now slipping to the floor. What hunger fires our flickering imaginations, that require Grace come wrapped in velvet purses- with proof of the child’s purity dripping from tables and prophet encrusted walls? I think they had it all wrong- Fra Angelico, Veronese, van Ecyk, and even Martini with his gilded apprehension. I prefer a scene without unblemished lilies- no fine linens, puffing cherubs, or embroidered pillows on display. I picture her instead at her daily labor- pulling on a ***** rope at the village well. With calloused hands, she draws her trembling reflection skyward, when, announced by the slightest breeze, a stranger appears. Before their eyes meet, a bird’s flight distracts her- water splashes from the bucket washing the dust from her feet and soaking the tattered hem of her robe. His silent glance holds her only for a moment. In the distance, a voice calls out, “Daughter!” She turns, sets off, bowing to her burden. A cloud’s shadow melts in the heat of the road. Tom Spencer © 2018
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Mar 15, 2018
Mar 15, 2018 at 8:30 AM UTC
Painting the Annunciation
Clash. Zap. Thunderclap. Orbitals charged with electricity collide - feels like  crossing the streams let's - smash atoms like Adam and Eve, pierce fiercely with particles blown white hot from my accelerator Insatiable Like  trying to fill up a black hole, so i accelerate her excite her, ignite her, my touch lights her on fire combust. a cloud of ecstasy like Co2  rises higher I've got my eyes on your ions take a picture it'll last longer? snap a photo digitize her particles turned pixels tilt their head skyward transcendant enlightenment, released it inside her E=mc^2 , i can please you at the speed of light we just rewrote the big bang theory and this time we got it right opposites attract and charged sparks fly we might not touch but ion be ****** if we don't try I'm a ****** intellectual I love your body AND your mind.
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Apr 5, 2012
Apr 5, 2012 at 2:13 PM UTC
****** Intellectual
When first I saw you, you were lying on a green bank laughing at the sky as you watched the clouds scud by and you saw all kinds of shapes in those clouds and gasped in awe as the myriad of birds soared and wheeled through the clouds. Your laugh skipped across the distance between us like magical notes from a faery harp. The sunlight lit up your golden hair making diamonds out of the shafts of sunlight as you turned your head to and fro making the sunbeams dance to your tune. And about your head was a halo of white lilies … When next I saw you you were hand in hand with your love walking into the sunlight from the grey stone church. Your brocade of white entwined with golden thread sparkled like a million gems. Your face was bright and alive with smiling eyes and your golden hair fell down around your face catching the sunbeams. And ringing out their joy, the church bells pealed for you. And in your hand was a bouquet of white lilies … I saw you again on that same green bank laughing with joy as your golden child frolicked in the warm summer sun, her childish laugh mingling with your own in angelic harmony. You grasped her up and, wheeling her skyward, faces upturned, letting the sunbeams play around you and then, holding her close, you sank to your knees cradling the babe, letting the love flow out and around you both. And in the child’s small hand was grasped a single white lily … The next time I saw you you were quietly sitting in the late summer sun comfortable in your chair watching the golden sun flame red as it sank below the distant horizon. Your golden hair now not so vibrant and your face etched with the many years of your long life yet when you smiled at the glory of the setting sun, the sparkle of your eyes was not dimmed at all. And around your feet grew a field of white lilies … The last time I saw you I gave you my hand and, with fingers entwined, we walked away from the sombre crowd whose tears flowed like pearls as the stark white coffin was lowered into the ground. And looking into your face I saw you again as you were that first time, your golden hair that fell as rivulets around your now pale, sad face. I took that face in my hands and gently kissed your lips, no more than a whisper, like a gentle spring breeze teasing the blossoms. Still hand in hand, we looked back at the sad scene and then turned and walked into the light. And all about your grave lay white lilies.
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Sep 10, 2012
Sep 10, 2012 at 5:12 PM UTC
White Lilies – a gothic love story
When first I saw you, you were lying on a green bank laughing at the sky as you watched the clouds scud by and you saw all kinds of shapes in those clouds and gasped in awe as the myriad of birds soared and wheeled through the clouds. Your laugh skipped across the distance between us like magical notes from a faery harp. The sunlight lit up your golden hair making diamonds out of the shafts of sunlight as you turned your head to and fro making the sunbeams dance to your tune. And about your head was a halo of white lilies … When next I saw you you were hand in hand with your love walking into the sunlight from the grey stone church. Your brocade of white entwined with golden thread sparkled like a million gems. Your face was bright and alive with smiling eyes and your golden hair fell down around your face catching the sunbeams. And ringing out their joy, the church bells pealed for you. And in your hand was a bouquet of white lilies … I saw you again on that same green bank laughing with joy as your golden child frolicked in the warm summer sun, her childish laugh mingling with your own in angelic harmony. You grasped her up and, wheeling her skyward, faces upturned, letting the sunbeams play around you and then, holding her close, you sank to your knees cradling the babe, letting the love flow out and around you both. And in the child’s small hand was grasped a single white lily … The next time I saw you you were quietly sitting in the late summer sun comfortable in your chair watching the golden sun flame red as it sank below the distant horizon. Your golden hair now not so vibrant and your face etched with the many years of your long life yet when you smiled at the glory of the setting sun, the sparkle of your eyes was not dimmed at all. And around your feet grew a field of white lilies … The last time I saw you I gave you my hand and, with fingers entwined, we walked away from the sombre crowd whose tears flowed like pearls as the stark white coffin was lowered into the ground. And looking into your face I saw you again as you were that first time, your golden hair that fell as rivulets around your now pale, sad face. I took that face in my hands and gently kissed your lips, no more than a whisper, like a gentle spring breeze teasing the blossoms. Still hand in hand, we looked back at the sad scene and then turned and walked into the light. And all about your grave lay white lilies.
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At spawn of first light Darkness embarks into the recesses of hibernation And so begins the blinding incline, the inevitable blonde coiled wreaths frustration is on the rise forces a discharge so multiple and emanate, the skyward black shrinks back from panoptic reaches, into a delinquent weakened rumor When this daily task of ridding the black ends a victor The climb continues upward in a high sky setting Consequential over the mornings painstaking labors Wiping from his brow, in a waving motion To release mists over global hydration By welcoming this morning dew, the earth is one more day new and can take great relief in this rebirth Assuring all parched famine will gain resolve taking in their absolve
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Nov 6, 2018
Nov 6, 2018 at 12:15 PM UTC
Spawn of First Light
Your eyes burned and danced between First blue then green, then blue The driftwood fires, beachfront pyres, Your essence clashing too. Cracking, burning, twisting with The knowledge close at hand The truth within the salted seas That lap and brush the sand. I had placed you there and you Like sun-bleached ocean wood Went willing trapped up in my grip Although you understood... The mark those waters left upon Your brittle, scorched treebones Your twisted fingers skyward With your back against the stone. And somehow I, though conflicted, danced Around you both between Consuming and devouring Both fallow earth and sea.
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May 13, 2015
May 13, 2015 at 3:07 PM UTC
The Driftwood, Fire, and Sea (rhymed version)
Skyward glints, another hint from another sun, London runs down, daily commute over and out. And how the weekday work is coming to an end, but what do they work on whilst 5 in the evening? Spreadsheets saved in significant folders, word documents in for a week on Monday, presentation notes to be written, rehearsed, re-wrote and printed? ‘Beds, beds, beds, prime town centre property To Let’ Broken brick buildings sit, they belong to internet auction sites and in estate agent windows. There’s no flow in this town no more. Whatever river of commerce that once ran through here has moved onto, and into, another course, oxbow lake suburb by Government force. It rains in the North. Jewels in the tarmac, rings in the walls, stars behind the factory noise, sound hidden behind an all-car-call. My broken skin, my broken hide, months of thought, a hunger for home. Far flung, further thrown, back to the up-north-hometown, hometown of the known.
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Nov 11, 2012
Nov 11, 2012 at 12:06 PM UTC
HALFWAY BETWEEN HOME & HOME