[x]

DisheartenedI was so completely
in love with him

that my heart burst
from my chest

and threw itself
at his feet despite

my admonishment to
show some restraint.

It refused to listen
and so startled

my lover with its
frantic flopping

like a stranded fish
that he turned and fled.

My foolish heart
chased after him and

is following him still
while I sit here

with a hole
in my chest and

wait for both of them
to come back.

graspyou taught me
to cuss and to
scream in bed

I taught you
to laugh and to
make lasagna

you made me
yell at football
games

I convinced you
to walk in
the rain

you taught me
to trust my
body

I gave you
confidence in your
emotions

but still we found
that love isn’t
always enough

a lesson I wish
we had never
learned

faded polaroidsvoices echo down
the hall like playground
memories and school
pictures with bad haircuts

I listen to those
indistinct murmurs
and stare into the past,
remembering when

life was as simple
as bologna sandwiches
and names spelled in
alphabet soup

animal crackers roared
in our hands until
we bit off their heads
and made them be quiet

saltines and grape juice
served as communion
under the big oak, God
watching from the branches

in a world drawn in
black and white when
love was love and we
weren’t allowed to hate
(for fear of damnation)

I can smell those days,
taste the sweaty
summer afternoons
running through dan

talk to mehad I known the last
time you called that
we would never
speak again, I would
have talked longer,
kept you on the line
babbling about the weather,
asking inane questions
just to hear your voice
produce the answers

WordlessI’ve learned to
protect myself
from everyone
but you.

They throw words
like whetted knives,

guilt like balanced
circus axes,

tears like drops
of acid.

From these, I’ve
learned to retreat
behind walls of stone; eyes
as cold as glacial ice
hide the bleeding.

Yet from you, I find
no escape, your silence
a weapon I cannot
deflect.

No matter how deeply
I burrow into myself,
your muteness follows me,
wraps around me
like a shroud

until I find myself
without defense,
naked and helpless
before lips long
dead of words.

inflamedour bodies
writhed in
a month-long
wet dream

from which
we awoke

suddenly

and with
regret

effigyrummaging through an
antique hope chest, I found
a magic wand,
old and beaten up,
hidden in the folds
of my mother’s
yellowed wedding dress

I held my breath
and waved it over
my head, showers
of light erupting
like sun snow,
sparks melting into
my skin and making
me glow like
an April afternoon

and in two shakes,
I became
the woman you
always wanted

you suddenly
found me more
desirable than
any other woman
in the world

a goddess

and now you’re mine

but even as you
drift into sated sleep
among my pillows,
the warm vigor of
our love making
still fresh in
my weighted
limbs,

I find myself
weepi

heroesthey lived long lives
filled with hard work,
fried chicken, and
heart attacks

he gambled
every day of his life
and never missed
a house payment

she crocheted
and wallpapered
and never missed
The Price Is Right

they survived
the depression
Minnesota winters
a lost baby

and for decades
still smiled when
the other entered
the room

no one told them
that people don’t
love forever
anymore

WailJerked awake by dreams,
I lie in the dark and listen
to the long, deep wail
of a passing train, its
mourning disappearing
into tomorrow.

I turn back into my blankets
and wonder where it’s going,
rushing through the cold,
black night, its voice so
frantic and needful.

Its call echoes through
the silence and beckons
me to chase it as I
realize the frantic need
is mine.

JoeI thought I saw
you on the street today,
a six-foot shadow
from the past.
You were standing
outside Starbucks,
looking in (though I
wondered why since
you don’t like
java).

I hurried toward
you only to find
a stranger
in a black blazer
standing where
you should have been;

he eyed me with
alarm then with pity
as I backed away
from him,

so I went inside,
ordered a
Caramel Frappuccino,
and cried in
my coffee.

zenithI’m too
old to
dream of
forever

all I want
now
is you

one day
at a
time

rawtake back
your pretty love
words

tuck them
under your
tongue

kiss me
until my lips bloom
with bruises

scrape me raw
with your
blistering skin

and scratch
this itch until
it bleeds

fragranthe was an unscented,
Ivory soap kind of guy
who liked white socks
faintly tinged with Clorox

so when she drifted into
his life like a hint of mimosa
on a summer breeze,
he was unprepared
for mornings fragrant
with the tang of lemongrass
and brown-sugared figs

nights redolent with cherry
blossoms, herb-tinged eucalyptus,
honeyed pomegranates

but he learned that
sometimes life demands
hearts as intertwined
as tangled vines and lives
chaotic with living

uncontrollable moments
of loving without fear

even when afraid

forgive and forgethe begged
her forgiveness

and she promised
to give it

as soon as
she forgot

his name

Cease FireI’ve figured out how
to end our bickering.

I’ll buy my own bed.

Then I’ll find my own
house to put it in.

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suicidaldon’t want to die
so much as I
just can’t find
a good reason
to live

Three GlassesThree glasses
and I’m a little drunk.

Were you here,
I would melt in your
hands like chocolate
in the sun,

but you’re not here,

so I’ll have another
glass and pretend
to forget you.

HoodedA woodcutter’s ax killed my mate.
Her gentle life has fled.
Her senseless death birthed my hate.

I paced our cave when she was late.
Our pups slept warm and fed.
A woodcutter’s ax killed my mate.

Through moonless nights, I had to wait,
my search weighed down with dread.
Her senseless death birthed my hate.

Her grandma now becomes my bait
to lure the child in red.
A woodcutter’s ax killed my mate.

Retribution has become her fate
since my beloved is dead.
Her senseless death birthed my hate.

Her scarlet cloak my rage will sate
when her father and grief are wed.
A woodcutter’s ax killed my mate.
Her senseles

Good FriendsYou leave me a message
to come over, concerned,
time with a friend
will do me good.

I give you all the
reasons I can’t –
too much work,
fatigue, car trouble -

all the reasons
except the real one.

I’m weak right now.

Beaten down, discouraged,
I want more than a friend.

I need chills down my spine
and smooth, scented skin,
the taste of hard kisses and
overheated breath,
a deep voice in the dark
and long, slow sex,
a man’s warm length at my back
as I slide into sleep.

This is what I want,
and you would give it to me.

Wouldn’t you?

So (though you don't know it)
I can’t see you
u

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Halfhearted

by ~Blueskye27, Jan 12, 2009, 4:35:53 PM
Literature / Poetry / Romantic / General / Free Verse

I gave you my whole heart,
and you returned it
   in pieces.

So, I laid it out on the kitchen
table to glue back
   together,

but the calico jumped up
and stole some before I
   could catch her.

While I chased the cat, the dog
ate as many pieces as
   he could reach,

apparently preferring the taste
of bleeding heart to
   Alpo Chopped Beef.

By the time I gave up on the kitty
and sat back down to the job,
   big chunks had disappeared,

making it that much harder, like
putting together a puzzle with missing
   pieces and no picture.

So I patched it up as best I could, but
whether it will work again or not,
   only time will tell.

Halfheartedby ~Blueskye27

Literature / Poetry / Romantic / General / Free Verse

Just trying something a little different...

~Hitz-chan May 5, 2009

You really write amazing! I also write, and your stories are very inspiring

~atbarnett Jan 17, 2009

Very interesting...witty! I like it.

~Blueskye27 Jan 17, 2009 Hobbyist Writer

Thanks, Ann.

~atbarnett Jan 17, 2009

Welcome...how are things?

~Blueskye27 Jan 17, 2009 Hobbyist Writer

I'm a little overwhelmed with school yet, but once I get a few schedules, I'm sure I'll be better. You?

~atbarnett Jan 17, 2009

I've got a 3 day weekend, so I'm doin' good!

~Blueskye27 Jan 17, 2009 Hobbyist Writer

Me, too. Whoo-hoo!

My kids are so jealous...

~pseudometry Jan 15, 2009 Writer

I think the humour is very effective in this piece, given the subject.
My Grandmother always used to say-- you just have to laugh sometimes. If you didn't, you'd just cry.

~Blueskye27 Jan 15, 2009 Hobbyist Writer

That's precisely right. You've gotta laugh or you'd cry all the time. Your grandma's a smart lady.

~pseudometry Jan 15, 2009 Writer

Yeah she really is. Funny how you don't notice wisdom like that until you get somewhat older yourself.

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