MASKED BALL:

Misty cobweb auras, caress lapping waterways,

Masked ball imminent, as day now goldenly frays,

Alleyways awakening, at shadowed purple dusk,

Exuding perfumes exotic, of rose, ambergris & musk.

 

Veined canals, of gondolas, gallant gentlemen & gems,

The masked Signoras flaunt, their carnival garbed hems,

Silently, softly sashaying, in fancy fans, frills & filigrees,

Kissed upon masked cheeks, by sweet Venetian breeze.

 

The old cobbles dusted, by secrets, silks & sacred satins,

Whisperings of passion, in words loved by ancient Latins,

Enveloped in vintage velour, velvets & home spun lace,

All loving promises duly broken, by every hidden face.

 

Mandolins, lutes, lyres, where strings are softly fingered,

Leaving stories upon moss walls, & songs so well lingered,

Magnolia scented belles, in bronze bangles & rich brocade,

Waltzing beneath old moons, as night memory begins to fade.

 

In those places of pretty porticoes, of poetry & old pearls,

Where carnival waves adieu, upon tears & saline whirls,

The ball bids farewell, upon emptying of wine´s red cask,

Until the turquoise moon returns, & dons her yearly mask.

 

 

INVISIBLE ILLNESS:

Pain, fatigue, dizziness & all at sea,

She suffers in silence & no one sees,

Fighting tough battles, all on her own,

And yet, nobody hears her lonely groan.

 

Garbing pain racked body in satin & lace,

Pale lips painted red, upon pallid wan face,

Outdoors she goes, with trials in her pocket,

Nobody knows, except those in her locket.

 

With smile on her lips, that are so well sealed,

Living in constant hope, to be one day healed,

On “How are you dear”? She answers every time,

“Thank you for asking me & I´m doing just fine”.

 

ACID:

She was acidic by nature & sour by name,

Mean-cheek-sucked-in, & lip-pursed dame,

Of grimaced face, & stomach tight knotted,

With her chest closed up, & her gut garroted.

 

She was all wrapped up, against cruel world,

She was bundled up, & in cold skin, en-furled,

Her toes curled bent, & her fists fight-balled,

With look of thunder & of storm well squalled.

 

She was of un-giving spirit & buttocks clenched,

She was deeply within her own hell entrenched,

Tear-stained eyes screwed up, & sour expression,

She was merely the victim of her sad depression.

 

 

SOUL:

There is a sacred place she goes to, every single day,

It is that place of still silence, where she goes to pray,

Where there´s no interference, by fussy hand of man,

Where there is no need to fret, to plot, or even to plan,

Where no noise is heard, & there´s no harsh glaring light,

Where nothing´s ever wrong, & all´s gentle & oh so right,

She goes away to that place, where she feels so very whole,

That place deep within her, that ancient Gods call the soul.

LIE:

She had been living a lie, since coming to earth,

Doing everyone´s bidding, since day of her birth,

Obeying one & all, her parents, also her teachers,

Upon knees to authority, of prepotent preachers.

 

To all the bosses & leaders, always kowtowing,

To those in know, her head always low bowing,

Upon her Crone-hood, said, “I´ll take it no more”,

And turning around, she walked right out the door.

SAFEKEEPING:

I want to press your lips between old pages of my history,

Your beauty, I desire to paint upon the canvas of my mind,

I want to pin your arms, to the golden stretch of sunbeams,

And to tie with silken webs, your languid legs to the moon,

I want to cage your dreams, in deep ocean´s sunken shells,

To enclose your heartbeat, within the hard un-cracked nut,

I want to store your blood, beneath seas, rivers & blue lakes,

Your saliva guarded, within safe dark vats, as old sweet wine,

I wish to spin your hair, into a blanket for my safe sleeping,

And your nails, one by one, as jewels, within my sacred etui,

I want your soft voice guarded, by the bronzed stings of bees,

Your smile, wrapped in velvet threads, deep within my heart,

As a pearl in oyster shell, I´ll wrap you, safely, tightly, snugly,

And I shall give you all your freedom, within my safekeeping.

WELCOME:

Welcome child, to your imminent birth,

The entry to your home, now called earth,

This place called life, has few simple rules,

Use them wisely, as your soul´s fixing tools.

 

Help every living creature within your wake,

Give more to this earth, than what you take,

Be patient with yourself & with all the others,

Remember, in life, we´re all sisters & brothers.

 

Love everyone, love everything, love one & all,

Pay homage on your path, through nature´s hall,

In the end, we´re all the same within God´s eyes,

Learn these simple rules child, & you´ll be wise.

 

DRIFTERS:

People come & people go,

Drifting by like wind & snow,

Running past, & as rivers, flow,

Some moving fast & others slow.

 

I do not see them, then I do,

I cannot touch them, nor can you,

As leaves in autumn, fluttering blew,

In this life, drifters, just passing through.

GIVE ME TIME:

Lord, I want no wealth nor riches, merely more time,

I want not what others want, just what I claim as mine,

Give me wishes of wander, to amble through my eyes,

Give me time to ponder, to make me grow more wise.

 

Lord, please grant me time, to softly pray & whisper,

To watch dewdrops upon red roses, iced & gently glister,

Time to gaze upon old moths, & dragonflies frail wings,

Give me time to merely sit, beneath moon´s golden rings.

 

Lord, give me time to stare, down life´s long & breezy hall,

To stop & look at all of nothing, yet to be able to see it all,

I want time to amble, wend & wander, & time to stop at will,

Please my Lord, I want time to be, & time to be merely still.

 

 

COMEDIAN:

Waiting, the stage is now set & brightly lit,

Rapt, the audience now in darkened seats sit,

The greasepaint is marked & in its right place,

Nervous, the grin upon the comic´s ready face,

Within his eyes is the theatre´s mocking glare,

Facing him, only the patron´s critical icy stare,

 The scraping of a throat & the tapping of a shoe,

Silence, then a jest, a jape & a forced joke or two,

Quiet, awaiting the clapping & acclaimed applause,

Alone, he waits & watches, maybe it is just a pause,

But no hands together, just the stilled bated breath,

Standing alone on stage, the comedian´s instant death,

Silence.

TEARDROPS:

Teardrops salted, & tasting of saline´s far oceans,

Recalling our lost pasts, of deep Atlantis emotions,

Teardrops of dew, glistening iced, upon petal & leaf,

Recalling our lives, when we were coiled within sheaf,

Teardrops of sweat, running off plume skin, fur, & pelt,

Recalling the cruel hunt, with all that fear we once felt,

Teardrops of cold rain, weeping from repentant grey sky,

Recalling sadness we see, in the child´s questioning eye.

FRIENDSHIPS:

Valleys & mountains, united in cleavage,

Clouds & sky, holding hands in drifting,

Sea & shore, caressing in sandy giggling,

Tree & earth, entwined in friend´s rooting,

Ocean & sky, kiss in horizon´s soft meeting,

Night & day, waltz gently in their melding,

You & I, together in destiny´s sly planning.

STRONG:

We overcome adversity & all that is wrong,

We keep getting up, because we are strong,

The knocks, the slaps, the road with bumps,

The hits, the blips, the cruel fist that thumps.

 

Bombarded with bad news, images & hurt,

At receiving end, of blasphemy´s spat spurt,

So often sick, ill, & so disappointed in love,

Asking, “Is anyone listening up there above?”

 

Kicked in the teeth by life, & all that it´s giving,

Ever questioning ourselves, “Is this really living?”

Yet we rise & rise again, so it can´t all be wrong,

Merely lessons learned, so that we become strong.

 

 

THE WRITER:

She would scribble with cheap blunt old pencils,

Upon used paper napkins, within old Spanish bars,

Where swarthy dark waiters served warm sangria,

In dirty, finger-pocked, & green-glass-blown jars.

 

Bundled in torn coat & fingerless, old frayed gloves,

She sold her scribbled poetry from grey sidewalks,

Hovering in lost memories, now gone & oh so cold,

In cobbled Latin quarters, where only Spanish talks.

 

She´d beg a pittance, for her dead & written words,

Where ageing whores of colour strut & slowly linger,

And when they swore at her, spat, & moved her on,

She´s show them one rude & very bejeweled old finger.

 

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO US?

I don´t love you, like I did long ago,

Within my eyes, only tears of woe,

I don´t love you, like once I used to,

I cannot love you, the way I want to,

I can´t love you, as I thought I was able,

I cannot share your bed, nor daily table,

It´s now merely habit, to hold your hand,

 I no longer want to wear your gold band,

My eyes don´t light, as you walk in the door,

Where are those days, when you, I adored?

My heart lies heavy, like a sunken old stone,

Words of love dried up & feelings now flown,

Our love was born, thrived, now turned to dust,

And now I ask you sadly, what happened to us?

DON´T:

“Don´t” said the rhino, please don´t take my horn

It is just who I am, & it´s exactly how I was born,

Don´t leave my baby orphan, by taking away my breath,

By killing me, you´d too, cause his young untimely death.

And the rhino wept tears.

 

“Don’t” said the elephant, please don´t take my ivory tusk,

Do not leave me dying, like lonely greying & broken husk,

My ivory is just for me, & should never by you, be worn,

Nor should it for any reason, from my body, ever be torn.

And the elephant wept tears.

 

“Don´t” said the ostrich, please don´t pluck out my plumes,

Do not use them for your dusters, your boas, or your brooms,

It is so very sad to die, merely to remove your gathered dust,

What is it about your killing that feeds your sad & thirsty lust?

And the ostrich wept tears.

 

“Don´t” said all animals, please don´t take our skins, furs & claws,

Do not kill, maim, or hurt us, by showing us all your human flaws,

We´re not put on earth as trophies, & not here for anyone´s game,

If you just leave us all in peace, then you´ll have no need for shame,

And the world wept tears.

 

 

COLOURS TO KILL:

She wore her colours to kill, in virulent venom,

Never pretty in pastels, nor a beauty in denim,

Garbed in the death-watch beetle´s terrible gall,

When she waltzed away to the raven´s dark ball.

 

Clad in the acid-green skirts, of the toad´s spat bile,

Tiptoeing through woods of autumn, so damply vile,

Her old lace petticoats, dripping in scarlet blood red,

With cobra´s hot gold, adorning her proud black head.

 

Her translucent skin, the colour of plasma´s pale death,

Her hair combed in the hue & ire, of old spider´s breath,

She merely wore all her colours, to kill those in her way,

It was who she was, how she lived & the way she played.

 

 

LOVERS:

When daylight cracks the sky with a smile,

Then the sun comes out to play for a while,

When the sun´s daily playing is all but done,

And he is weary with having all of his fun,

He then beckons his greatest love, the moon,

And with a tender kiss, he makes her swoon,

There is the briefest moment within their time,

When holding hands, over ocean´s mauve brine,

And waltzing over far flung horizons they go,

To the ancient tunes of sweet tide´s ebbing flow.

SO IN LOVE WITH YOU:

My great love for you is beyond all compare,

It is a wonderful jewel, very precious & rare,

I shall waltz with your voice on a million sighs,

I´ll sing your caresses, strummed upon my thighs.

 

I shall ride your dreams, upon a unicorn mounted,

Drink your kisses in cocktails, one by one counted,

I shall wear your sad songs, as brooch on my breast,

And within my grey hair, your sweet smiles shall rest.

 

All my longing for you, seeps deep through my blood,

Running through my veins, is your heartbeat that thuds,

You are my moon, my stars, you´re my eternal warm sun,

And within this love we both feel, us two, become one.

 

 

SHE SAID:

“I want nothing to do with this life,” she said,

It´s just for fools & mugs, & I´d rather be dead,

Nothing ever goes right & everything´s wrong,

It is the same old story & it´s the same old song.

 

 

“Child, life is your most precious gift”, God said,

You’re no fool nor mug, get that out of your head,

Nothing´s right & nothing´s wrong, it´s all up to you,

I´ll stay by your side, even if it´s the last thing I do.