dusk
Dusk
crawls up
from the earth
as daylight dissipates
darkness breeds
in the absence
Reduced to silhouette
I am aware of myself
Defined by light no longer
I am enlightened
I cease to exist
Consumed by inevitability
I sink into nothing
and everything
w hole
final fall
Leaves tumble free
from the melancholy trees
into their final fall
Children jump and dance
I sit yearning for the chance
to be carefree again
For winter's creeping near
soon their joy will yield to fear
to seldom reappear
If a moment they can snare
free from worry stress and care
they'll sit
and long for the way
it used to be
up into restless night
Here lies I
peering up
into restless night
Rain drops drip
from gutter to puddle
pip-pap-pap-pip
Mortality
first drizzles
then pours down
from dark clouds
that shroud
my barren soul
self-portrait
A sturdy wall
thick and tall
towers over me
never to fall
It was built
with time and skill
stone by careful stone
built to withstand
any tool's strike
season's bite
or storm's might
and time's relentless test
I would know
I built it
I exist in its shadow
And it
will never
fall
empty
He hobbled in
on Saturday night
awkward and alone
He wasn't quite right
His head too large
His body too small
He shuffled and scuffled
up to the counter
"A quesadilla and a Dr. Pepper"
He said
in words slurred slow
He turned
and doddered
to the long high table
against the window
It was too tall
His small shoes swung
far above the dirty floor
There he sat
Looking out
into the gray rain
waiting
for no one
to talk to
precious memory
Everyone is here
Raucous laughter resonates
up to the vaulted ceiling
to embrace the meal's
seductive smell
This is my favorite holiday
All of us together
sharing
remembering
joy
that won't last
Today's dream is
haunted by tomorrow
We'll move
They'll die
The home will fetch
a poor price for
my richest memories
But I won't go
I won't
They'll strip it bare
but I'll be there
on the cold floor
pining for the way
it was
good luck
The false summit
I let them reach
fools even me
at times
Its carefully curated vista
ample reward
for their efforts
Most
then
descend
but some linger
peering up
into heavy clouds
Lured by lore and longing
they proceed
through bitter wind and
biting cold
only to arrive
where they began
for the true summit is
impenetrable
truly
Its way a muddled maze
fraught with trouble
None have reached it
Even the learned
climb to no avail
their efforts cold and fruitless
"Perhaps there is no peak
just a myth
that there's more
to the mountain."
my way > yours
Standing at the fork
unsure the way
but sure
mine is better than yours
Crippled by choice
heed apathy's sweet
slow
voice
and break my own leg
then wonder
why I suffer
They offer to help
as they walk by
but I politely refuse with
"I'm fine"
for pride
and the self-made martyr's
sick satisfaction
So I sit
and waste away
Perhaps
one day
I'll stagger into the forest
between the fork
to find
what the wild holds
little pine box
The old dog walks a weary trod
His back, wracked by age's ache
sharply bows upward
His tired paws
scrape the wet cement
Through pain
he slowly surges onward
His happy eyes wince
with every step
His favorite friend
follows close behind
Dark sunglasses fail to hide
the cruelest tears
that sting her sorry eyes
For she knows
this dogged walk
is their last
hEARt
When I say
"I love you"
out loud
I really mean it
because I have to hear myself
say it
I love you
keep the light out
After you go
I return to know
the depths of my love
and failure
All I want
is to talk to you
like I see Them do
but I don't know what to say
All I want
is to free for you
but I grip the reigns
to keep me safe and tame
Let them in
but only so near
Let them close
but only so dear
Love is naked
Love is weak
Love is a need
for the broken
and meek
Surely mine is a life
for regret
so what now?
Speeding past
the hollow cemetery
I see him standing there
alone
beneath the awning
they roll from grave to
grave
His head is low
His hands are
laid to rest
on the cold casket
of his heart