Thursday, December 16, 2010

Deep Space

grief
was a bitter
planet
a cold,
endless dark.
a sky
that rained
broken
glass.
a self-conducted
symphony of
misery
and
loathing.
grief 
was my 
exile
my punishment
my 
torture.
but that planet was
never my
home.
though in 
the still of 
night
in an empty
bed
i remember
the pull
of its
gravity.
long, long
before
love
sent
a rocket to 
rescue
me.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Bittersweet


far away
your voice
is 
far away
your lips
are
far away
your heart
beats

i miss you

yet i've done such an excellent job
of pretending i didn't

silly me,
i fooled myself
so thoroughly

then
it comes rushing
rushing,
the delicious wave
whenever i hear
you whisper
my name
all
the frozen wishes
m
e
l
t

and i drown, and drown

(again)

sweet misery, brutal ecstasy,
fire
bliss
tears
ice


(bitter, sweet)

Reincarnate

I walked across the ocean from Liberty’s island,
on top of the water.
The dolphins swam beside me, circling.
My head sleeping
while my body moved.

Sea foam tickled my bare feet.
Purple toenails like grapes, floating
above the deep blue.

I walked not knowing
only going, going.

Until I felt the pebbles of Ireland.
A fisherman dropped his catch, gasping.
He lifted his finger to point, mouth wide in wonder.
I had wings, wings of a gull.  It did not seem odd.
It was not strange to me.
It gave me courage
to 

ask him for food. 
His wife made a fine stew with fish and carrots and
buttered potatoes. Her weathered hands working
like a cello virtuoso.

I told them of the dolphins, and they drank plenty whisky,
singing songs that made my bones remember
centuries past,
a life long ago, whispered in lyrics.

In a cottage of stone we ate by a crackling fire and
I felt the dead kings. The dead kings listened.

I fell asleep on a tattered rug. My mind traveled 
high in the clouds over the ancient circles and ruins of
stone and green hills, sighing.

Time had no beginning and no end

I was not an angel on a tomb,
curly moss, covered.
I was molecules, 
flesh and bone,
alive and
home, a promise kept,
a dream,
living.