The Shape of Water

we do not need words

we do not need a shared

written language

we have eyes that truly see

lips that speak a common tongue

a shared palate for the aroma

Saffron and Chestnuts

I pity you

you with your

narrow definitions

of beauty

constrained

by the notion

that a woman

Altered Carbon

I pinned my phosphorus heart

to the crisp linen sleeve

of my mourning suit

where all could see

your initials

carved deep

Dream Catcher

This piece was inspired by lines of a poem written by Auroraboros in response to a Three Day Quote Challenge.

 

dwelling in this

dark

delicate world

I have sat sentry

all hours of the night

listening, with intent

Ice

the ice jam of words

long lodged in the back of my throat

has begun to melt

syllable by delicious syllable

that tickle going down

roil in my gut

Wish for Wings

you stand with your back to me

vulnerable

silent

I, transfixed

by how your wings attach

to blades of shoulders

For want of wings

the shortest distance

between two points

a straight line

the textbooks tell me

my restless legs

trace these strong diagonals

Blinded by the Light

night turned Armageddon

on a guitar pick

flashes easily mistaken for fireworks

eclipsed neon lights

further fall of civilization

F Words

Fatigue hangs on me

like heavy ornaments

on a late February Christmas tree

branches brittle and bare

needles dropping to floor

Marked

We were more than fingerprints

brushed across each other’s wrists

we loved recklessly

and deeply

A Tale of Two Towers-Christine Ray & Eric Syrdal

Locked away in stone tower

rest of the world

fades

becomes dim memory

time loses meaning

becomes shapeless

days

nights

Erosion

knowledge pours over me

ice cold waterfall that leaves me

stripped bare

raw

pieces of the woman I used to be

washed away in the relentless flow

illusion of control and mastery

Requiem for Wonder Woman

Reached for basic black today

red, blue and gold hang untouched in the closet

lasso of truth forlorn in the corner

too heavy for tired arms

outlines of a plane

just visible in the driveway

Nautilus

I travel spiral path

bare feet sinking deep into soft sand

circles twisting ever tighter

as I navigate this nautilus

walls curved and translucent

Am I Already Gone?

in my deepest dark corners

worry chews at my belly

I fear that I have already

given in

to complacency

Tripped

I stumbled

over our history

didn’t mean

to leave it on the floor

where anyone could find it

Moment of Transformation

You ask me when I knew

that ink flowed through my veins like blood

the moment I understood that truth

simmered in the cauldron of my belly

conscious

alive

Poetry

A response poem to Davy D’s question What Is Poetry? on the Go Dog Go Cafe

---

it is a stir

an ache

rising from my core

growing in urgency

pushing to my surface

gasping hungrily for air

Ordinary Magic

Moonlight and shadow

Play against my walls

Trace my curves

Reveal my secrets

In this backside of the night

Owls swoop by my open window

Vulnerability

a size-too- small

turtleneck

clinging to my skin

compressing my chest

leaving my contours

in stark relief

exposed

I become

Tears

Saline expressions

of ancient grief

crystalline drops

quiver

rest briefly

before slow roll down

Poetry in Motion

Your palms remember

warm silk of my skin

when they travel the contours of

my curves and edges

Your lips remember

my coffee scented kiss

Crystalline Memory

We fell into memory

like sea salt into soup pot

crystalline structure

losing integrity

dissolving

into warm liquid

Wings

some days i am new-born dove

fragile

wild eyed

unprepared

wet, delicate wings untested

trembling heart beating rapidly

Recklessly She Declared Truth

Thank you Davy D at the Go Dog Go Cafe for this morning’s inspiration

---

recklessly she looked deeply inside

saw fire and ice in her heart

smelled iron and cooper in her blood

felt moon and ocean tides tug her soul

knew the hum of words

crawling under skin

Clay Vessels

Inspired by A.R.Frederiksen’s .Ceramic Bodies.

---

Empty hands
Long to caress and mold with sure fingers
Vessel to hold feelings
Spilling out of awakened heart

Moonlight’s Magic

It is only in sleep

That she is fully visible

Able to be deciphered

In her unbuttoned

Unzipped state

His eyes are open

Moon’s captured light

Subway, Study in Black

I sit motionless

among strangers

surrounded by steel and glass

united in suspended animation

in moving darkness