The Crescent City

For the city that will never be the same…

An eruption of beautiful chaos
full of old world charm and grace
and friendly come hither gestures;
seduction by delicious sweet scents
Southern hospitality and
sweet saxophone jazz filling the streets..

Nearly five years ago
so much changed
In the course of one week
and you were nearly written out of history
by the masses..
a flaw in the plan
a black mark
easily forgotten..

yet as I watched the pillage and plunder,
devastation and tragedy,
I saw my kingdom fall
and I grieved for you..

so in times like these,
when you rise like a phoenix
from the rubble and smoke,

Like the lost city of Atlantis
your colors come to life
in flecks of gold
and brilliant blue
and I fall in love with you all over again..

The Wishing Well

I saw your shadow
hiding inside blankets of stars
in the world of dreams
while I was lost
inside the wishing well…

Beyond the clouds
the moon was dim
and I stared up
from my inky black prison
as all my truths fluttered around
in blights of dark feathers..

Then you shone through
like a lantern light
the flame burning in your eyes
while fireflies swarmed
around our faces…

…and now I have no fear
of the dark anymore.
The beacon shines
into all of my empty spaces…

Not ‘work-related’, but…

Sometimes I would sit
in that small half-hidden assigned station
as the cold air from the elevator
would blast me from all directions..
As the voices chattered on
Phones rang
keyboards clicked
and chaos ensued,
I’d retreat deep into the harsh glare
of my monitor
and explore my dark dream garden
of white hot illusions
and bright colorful
flowering desires
treading lightly through satiny bed
of overgrown crimson petals and thorns;
Wafting honeysuckle sweetness
kissing my senses..
Burning in tiger lily patches
of charcoal and flame,
Fences strung with
speckled ivy webs spun with budding wishes
and hidden secrets
infused with fantasy,
so that even when you weren’t there,
you always kept me warm..

Rita

I remember the scent in the air
the afternoon that I heard about you;
it was salty like popcorn
and sweet like your name.

It was never easy to hear it spoken aloud
without hearing the train whistles
and picturing a dark figure
on a lonely stretch of street

Stumbling towards escape? Towards home?
Not sure what you were looking for..

Your life was brief but brilliant
a candle’s flame infused with
cinnamon and cloves
and a few small hidden secrets
only you and I will know.

If only I had kept my promise…

Simple Explanations and Wishful Thinking

A few old ones I wrote in college..updated and/or modified, of course…

Simple Explanation

From your eyes I took
the fire that would burn me long
after you were gone…

Wishful Thinking

There are other worlds than these
that are calling me on
towards the blue moons
and neon midnights
where I sit in an empty theater
and pretend this doesn’t exist
cause I’m somewhere far
away from here
where the names flash on the billboard signs
and everything’s fine
so there’s no need to unwind.
Every street corner runs
on a different time
and whatever matters most
doesn’t matter at all…

Sub Zero

Imprisoned in the Snow Queen’s crystal palace,
Summer begs for mercy
from behind bars of icicles.
For now, though,
the ice castle reigns supreme,
locking away the balmy comforts
of Scorpio and Cygnus,
instead releasing the cold hunter Orion
to pillage and plunder on the dark horizon
while frostbitten winds howl like a pack of coyotes -
their calls going unanswered
in the abandoned barren landscapes
blasted by the arctic chills
frozen into space…

One Half

There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself. ~John Gregory Brown, Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery, 1994

At long last..the one I promised Val..:-)

When I see old photographs of you -
Bright mischievous smiles
full of childhood misdeeds
I always wonder what you dreamed
you’d grow up to be
and if even then you somehow knew
you’d be one half of me…

Sometimes I catch a glimpse
when you aren’t looking -
Your weathered hands
and weary eyes from lack of sleep,
and tease you for repeating
the same old lines
fathers usually say
and daughters nod dutifully
‘In one ear
Out the other..’
(how many times have I heard that one?)

I can’t believe
when you look in the mirror,
your eyes only see
a little guy
among giants,
an ordinary beaten down
rat in a maze,
an empty, half-forgotten vessel…

If you could only look through my eyes,
you would see the world…

The Last Twelve Years

When you recall the moments
do you remember
the magic of our laughter,
the spices of excitement
floating together under the same stars -
comforts in a sea of chaos,
or do you only see
snowflakes drifting in the pale moon
landing randomly in separate places
blending into the snowdrifts
and melting in the sunshine?

Nightspell

I love the echoes of night
the softly falling footsteps
on pillows of leaves
the cool autumn breeze
the candlelight
the ice clinking faintly
through the blood red of the wine glass.

I love the faint moonglow
creating shadows
highlighting crickets in the grass
like the spotlight
for a midnight show
and I draw back the curtains
once the stage is set.

I love to wrap myself
in its quiet comforting shroud
and stow away in secret
for a few hours more
If only I could collect the moments,
storing them away
in my pocket
to pull out randomly
when I need them..

Snowflakes

Peppermint kisses
light and soft against my cheeks
Winter missed me,too…