poetry – Page 29 – Poétique

Ombragé

Panther spirit galvanized
Protection for the self startled
Out from the shell glowing black orb
Circling around claws out
Careful not to oversleep
Every reordering of words
As they reach the surface
Teach and nurture us
How to breathe
Learning how to walk again
On the same two feet
We’ve been standing with now four
Accounting days, months and centuries
Funny they should be so capable
Yet somehow disagree
The memory gap between
An imprint unforeseen by
Many who have never been
Outside of what was once before
For where they’ve lived till then
Is inside of what’s been cultivated

So two steps outside restored
Both dogs out the door
No more one foot in and one foot out
No need to hold onto the other
We’re not remembering in this
Moment it’s just learning
How to walk again
Familiar motions in a different way
Inner strength and the panther is
Invited with no cage
To guide to smell to lead astray
From the pattern of the past ingrained

Ingredients to be stirred in ways
We’ve yet cooked up to live; to crave
With all the recipes and notes
All the structures confidently
Confirming a free configuration
Of discovery and exposure
How to grab hold of the thing
We were always fighting for
But in the wake took time to heal
And could not rationalize
A halfway mark was tread
New beginnings toward the homestead
In the same satellite that was
Launched five decades ago
Regeneration of the womb
Outside the soul

Shallow

Letting go to arrive in the moment
Instead of spending time trying to
Figure out if it was possible to be
Enjoying it or not is the opposite of being
Alive more like trying to drive all the time

Small town fame never was what
He claimed he wanted more about
Recognition for his art and connection
But the fact of the story telling timed
Out and running for the door he found
An entrance into another world that
Had nothing to do with celebrity or being
Known or being busy trying not to
Break the wardrobe or the code

A forest of questions and concerns
Too recognized hiding behind bushes
Writing letters on the curb he would
Never send but also stamps were
Overrated and the concept of waiting
For a response was so outdated
Not like texting which got the point
Across but couldn’t really be interpreted
Correctly because the tone was all wrong
In the other persons head what a
Ridiculous conundrum connecting
But not really just putting gas in the tank

Afraid to actually be the self that is
Trying to climb outside for fear that it
Would become too easy for people to
Leave again it’s so intense asking
People to show up and so much that
It makes the whole world no more fun
Thirsty for rollercoasters and getting
Less close for people to disappear
Or disappoint no need to get that deep
Just dance full sweep food and then sleep

Underway

Little Misbegotten
Glistening grass in the underpass
The more captivating you are
The more captured they become
You strengthen ties
Build truthful lies
You think you have a connection
And then it dies
No one left to wonder why
People will do what they want
Whether you ask them to or not
Don’t move or you’ll get yourself
All wet and water hits the ground
No solid matter to be found
A touch of insanity and a perfect
Cast of foundation to
Disguise the blemishes
How convenient to be born with
Perfect skin and secretly
Beguiled behind the veil of
Misunderstanding and knots
Wanting to be Little Misunforgotten
Maybe people had grown tired
Maybe the yawns were legitimate
Questions to be answered
Were waiting at the foot of the stairs
But the approximate time
For arrival was undetermined

Crushing

When you look to smile
And you want different things
You want a kiss
To be close
But they are reminded of
Something special about this
Nothing romantic
But the smiles meet each other
Perfectly in the same way
For different reasons
No one is shy
Because both are
Smiling sincerely
For their own reasons
But also for different ones
Or not thinking of embracing
The other at all though
A feeling of warmth is mutual
The intentions are unclear
But the love is similarly
Evident even if for different
Circumstances puzzling
Reasons golden retriever vibes
But no clear explanation
If the other is feeling the same way
Or smiling for the same reason
But they are both sweetly coherent
Of the other

What kind of love is this?

Graveyard Drunk

Yellow trees are all around
On my knees fall to the ground
He left and when he exited
I gave it all up to the heavens
Like an angel walking round in dread
Halo cracked upon his head
Burning letters in the yard
Every attempt to make it was hard
Broken bottles in a bag
Carrying the weight of them
Nothing left to drink inside
Can’t sit up; open wide
His friend walks on a rescue path then
Went to a church around the bend
Not though because it was
Ever her chosen religion
Conveniently placed a street light ahead
It’s the thought that counts in the end

And nothing had moved much
Since he was born trying to grow
Up in a town that was torn and
He could feel that it was slipping away
Bottle after bottle everyday
Where he ended up in a graveyard
At the foot of a man he had never met
And his t-shirt read Grandpa
And so it went as he balled his eyes out
In the lawn and the man said a prayer
To hold him on and lingering he did
Again and fell asleep at his granddads
Headstone which he found finally
Not too far from the prophet
Everybody loved it was death and
Living sanctified rolled into stone

The leaves collapsed over his face and
Crunched that time of year it was
Not quite cold yet but things were falling
And the voice of his grandmother
Was steadily calling and he pulled himself
Up from the sanctuary of remembering
And drug his feet further to her
Rosy steps where he managed to
Knock on the door with what was left
And he found her arms and smile
Awaiting as he contemplated
In conversation her eyes like pools
Of blue across the gloom
Sitting in her living room she
Gave him words that he was embarrassed
To seek for to be coherent and
Perfect was better than weak

“Stop drinking!” she said,
“Why’d you do that?”
He couldn’t come up with a good reason
Instead he knew that his time with her
Would soon be up as the earth
Only gives us so many grades
And she kissed his face
And she kissed his lips
And she pet his head
And no longer than did
He weep in the way he would before
But he couldn’t unfreeze himself
In certain moments now
Because everything was
Still processing from before
And his tongue was tied
And his mouth was sore
And his heart was hungry
Begging for more
But he remained
And sustained the memory of
Her doorway and the moment
That she gave him words
Even after she was gone
Her voice could be heard

Time is fleeting in front of our eyes however,
He still remembered how to laugh out loud

Drubbing

Most people don’t understand my intensity
To be a fly on the wall where two people
Talk about you privately so you can
Discover your own truth
Away from the things that they
Are unwilling to say to your face
To protect your feelings
Or keep you from benefiting
From yourself; tell me

The message today is don’t give up
Choked up by the strains
It’s harder in your brain than it is in real life
Drubbing along without awareness
For the future blunders
Because how can we know
And you wake up and there’s
Another smack down
And what seems insurmountable
Is the next thing that you accomplish
That’s the turnaround

Even people that don’t move out of place
Can find tragedy knocking
On their doors blind or otherwise
Inhibited in some way

Poor underbrush burning
Like a campfire in the spring
Throw some self resentment
Onto the flames and turn the volume up
Perhaps there is a way to figure
It all out before the final clock ticks

Verdant green branches
Holding out for the lesser things
Are also supporting the cryptic rhapsody’s
That tug away at our heartstrings
And beg forgiveness for simply being

I can’t remember exactly what she said
Only that there’s more to life than this!

Money$ick

She made herself sick
Thinking about it
“Get me a towel,” she said.
She was handing out money
But having trouble recovering it
Her honesty was in her tears
And her hesitation
Mostly she just needed a friend
She was wearing glasses that
Had dragons on them poking out
Her house was big but
She was missing some things
No doubt she was an
Imposter to herself
A syndromatic cast about

It’s sad to be buying your friends
And at what cost
To be honest is the waver
When she crawled to me on the floor
To show me that she was wrong
Also that she didn’t mean to be
I knew she was sincere

I was ready to make deposits
Into those accounts for her
But she stopped me which
Made the whole thing believable
And although the signatures
Were legitimate it still appeared
To me that something was
Totally off

I wanted to help her out
In every way that I could
Still to hesitate was showing
Mischief on the horizon
Like a naughty comet
Shooting off to burn through
The skyline of affairs
What would be the consequences
Later to beware of

Losing balance comes with age
So did appreciation for the
Capability to make decisions
Even when the bitter winds
Ripped through your warmest garments
Felt like we were trespassing
In some forbidden land

The best move at this point
Was to draw her a bath
She would come around when
The tide turned and those
Questionable deposits could be
Another conversation burned
Into a different hour
An easier day

If time allows

Targeteer

Itty bitty moments for breathing
I reject my skin to be one of those
The terror of being hurt again
Was the beginning of the end
For caring to expose the epidermis
To the hateful words that were
Buried there from before by
Loved ones who only apologized
Afterwords never thinking
Their mouths turned into
Blood red volcanoes
What was he trying so hard to
Shut up for being outspoken
Like a broken cello
He was just writing down what
His eyes told him to
After that he couldn’t stop

It’s as if every gun on the planet was pointing
At him while in the barracks asking the Gods
To protect his spirit from it
Crass bureaucracy of red lines
Inspections and duties
« I never volunteered for this
And they keep giving me more shit! » he said.

Learning how to keep
Away from it personally
Being berated by the rules
Constantly thrusted
Ridiculously exhausting
Uncontrollably annoying city!

You can hear the echoes
Of laughter in the back seat
Almost as cruel as the telekinetic
Dreams that pretended to show up
Proclaiming that someone really cares
When they’re only a phone call away
But they’re manifesting cheap talk instead

It’s tragic to say but true
With all of it coming down
Like cats and dogs from the sky. Ouch!
It doesn’t mean that you’re going to die
So there’s that.

Jaguar spirit jumps out of the way

Bras De Rouges

Having to balance so many
Obligations in the brain
Takes a toll on the gut
Attempting to sustain
Astral projection strains

She looked like a goose
Standing there in her boots
They matched the feathers of her coat
And the wind was blowing
Her hair around as the line
Continued to grow
For whatever she was waiting for

Bank traffic and compassion
For inanimate things that no one
Has feelings for that’s me
Branches turning red after
All the leaves fall off
Persistently

Now it was all about patience
Enjoying the way the light
Travelled through the back window
How the cat was engaging
Speeding quickly past your feet
Loud noises that will be missed
When the house is empty
But peaceful and still

Purging everything could be the move
It was hard to hold onto everyone
Especially in a town for being so sensitive
He might have lost a bit of it and
Broke through onto the other side
Equilibrium was a gift and a curse
Standards are so individual
A loss for context is the culprit
Return to what you know
That’s the reality

Aspire to create a new hardihood
Nothing is fixed
It just feels that way

Flan

What you have to offer
Is really special
Like you, sometimes also
Brutally unaware
O how we are blatantly if the
Effect on others is
As impactful as what
An ornery child would do/be
Retaliate if their candy had been
Ripped away
Hello good-bye too soon

Shock to the system
Hits the shoulders and the chest
Then down to the knees and toes
Rug burn on the face
Instantly an immeasurable wave
Bodywork to jerk you in a state
Of whiplash left with your
Recuperating loneliness
When all he wanted was
To connect

The sound of seagulls traveling
With ears both on the beach
Now in the streets
Two very different locations
Incomparable temperatures
Similar sensations
Opposite situations
Shadows cast higher
Even at fifty-four people were
Resiliently skipping along
Capable of being childlike
That’s a wake up call
Another jolt to the system

Not at crying status yet
Parked but still running
Icy the cold had almost frozen
His right hand so the tears
Wouldn’t have been wipeable
Most likely they would freeze
On their way down his cheeks
But still not forlorn enough
To feel completely empty
Even though he had picked himself
Up off the floor for saying
Too much once on the farm
Isolation could prevent physical pain

Not having a consistent peace
Seeking comfort in the arms
Of second and third worlds
Made up families where his
Wasn’t always available
Typically running from the
Argumentative states of being

No one knew where the marks
Came from thankfully
The flan still came out pretty good
Attending school the next day
That was his assignment
It was comforting to know that
Some things were still passing