-
A HAUNTING
The ghosts that haunt my dreamsspeak in many languages, eachfamiliar, twisted deep inside me.I cannot answer for they do not listen,say they do not know me, know me well.I want to sit, to talk with each in turnbut I have no voice they can hearchoked off by cruel Morpheuswho only releases his grip oncethey have…
-
WORD LESS
Words that cannot be saidmust resonate, reverberatelike bumper car thoughts, caromingin the recesses of the mind,pinballing off psychic bumpers, threateningto tear free, erupt like lava repressed,ready for freedom, ready to cedethe anger so long held captiveeating away from the inside, nevercertain of the consequencesof that release from its prison.Words will not be said today,fear maintains…
-
RIDING A TIDAL WAVE
For how long had he been staring?He didn’t know, didn’t need to,time had ceased to matter,carried off on the gravitational tide.He had been walking for daysto get to this place, each stepa new beginning, each going nowhere.He knew he might seek solace here,knew he could never leave,here, now, was his ancestral home.There was a succulence…
-
READING PAUL MULDOON
Reading Paul Muldoon this afternoonI thought of you for no reason.It wasn’t your birthday, notthat you celebrate them where you are,nor the anniversary of the day you died.And it certainly was not becauseI was reading about Ireland sinceI never imagined I had Irish blood, andyou never went there, and when I didI didn’t know you…
-
OBSERVING
He stood alone, a stoic observerin the midst of the maelstrom,deaf to the cacophony,bathed in a golden silence.This was not a gin dream, hehad let go of alcohol and drugsfor they crowded his thoughts,forced them into places henever wanted to be, his dreamsonce his holy salvation and hea penitent to Saint Morpheus, whopromised him freedom,…
-
STEP RIGHT UP
They were lemmings aligning,ever impatient, always seeking.For some, it would be rejuvenation,for others rebirth, a recapture of youth.He was no mage, not Merlin, butthey gathered around his tablea lazy susan of desires, pleas, entreaties.All he could offer was snake oil, but theygladly took it as hope, an abiding faithin a cure for their existential condition.They…
-
STANDING AROUND
They said they would take a stand. They meant to take a stand but they never quite got around to taking a stand. That was the problem with taking a stand, you had to act, you had to stand. So much time passed they forgot they had said they would take a stand. Then they…
-
TWO INNER VOICES
Sit still and be quiet,don’t rock the boatblend in, be wallpaper,avoid being noticedkeep your head downsay nothing, or less Let them know you are herestand outmake noise if neededtake a standsay what must be saidtake the lead that is what it comes down todo you want to beor do you want to truly live?
-
UNSPOKEN
There is so much that hewould talk about, but dare not say.He knows keeping it withinis a recipe for pain and sufferingbut letting it loose makesthat pain and suffering a certaintyfor others and he is notwilling to do that to anyone.He laughs when he wants so muchto curse language for wordsare all he has and…