Monday, June 20, 2011

Ichigo

Golden heart

Eyes of fire

Resolve of stone

Explosive desire

Protective vengeance

Righteous anger

Dangerous tenacity

No price too high for friendship

No risk too great for good

Room Frozen in Time (Haunted Hall series)

Quietly creaking, the door does open
Arctic wind assailing the senses
Burning pale skin red
Artificial health
Within the room ice covers all
Turning bare soles black
Moonlight from a single window
Insanely bright
A death-pallored ballroom
Crystallized flowers lay among frozen tables
Frost-chilled pictures line the walls
Mocking with silent glee
Memories of bygone torment
A lifetime ago
A few years past
Just yesterday
This morning, perhaps
Teardrops freeze upon corpse-white cheeks
Blood-red tracks
Black-pained feet slap the floor
Ever fast
Never slipping
Quicksilver's path
The door creaks again
Almost too heavy
Then slams shut
Echoing down the haunted hall

Moonlit Corridor (Haunted Hall series)

Dark & twisted
Slow & creeping
Down the haunted hall
Moonlight blights the path
Dim as deathly pallor
Blackened doors line the way
Demons & hellfire
Laughing & leering
Quiet barefoot padding on the floor
Shadows poison for the psyche
Silence slicing
Along the haunted hall
All doors shut
All doors locked
One hand holds the key
For all the doors are memory

Left Behind

Haunting echoes of the past
Moving pictures of the dead
Haunted still-lifes on the walls
Bring more emotion to the queue
A movie set to infinite replay
No reprieve allowed for one still here
I close my eyes
The movie plays on
Willful blindness cannot erase
The haunted memories of my departed
The theater of the past
Continues the show of a lifetime
For a lifetime
Day dreams and night dreams run together
Transcending all consciousness
Zombies from the past
There will never be escape
For one left behind

Nostalgic Prison

Hidden in plain sight
Forbidden places of memory
Knowing they are there
Knowing where they are
Makes no difference
Ignorance & misinformation
Are not the chains that bind
But rather is pain instead
Happy memories
Of loved ones since passed
Moments of fun & laughter remembered
Relived
These are what true chains are made from
Not steel or cold iron
But bittersweet nostalgia

Haunted Mourning

As tears mingle with ocean salt
Splotches of color float
Idly atop undulating waves
Peaceful as the night
Moonlight alighting petals of red
All that remains the mourning wreaths
To belie the heart's blood
Dark & rich
Forever stilled
Always haunting

December Rose

White caresses red
Slow & dripping
Silent as the moonlight
Darkness in the thicket
No witnesses to bear
Eternal rest to claim the beating of the breast
Beauty frozen in morbid stare
Not till the morrow comes
Will they find her there
A winter rose for all to see
December's child
Cut down before full bloom

Bearer of the Light

Note: This is not a religious poem. Its about someone whom I lost a couple of years ago, and the playful and protective light in his eyes still shines vividly through the pictures I see of him. But, I realize how easily this might be taken as a religious poem. So, I felt the need to clarify.

Light shines forth in death
As once it did in life
Though all that's left are pictures
Inanimation does naught to hide it
Try as it might
Death cannot stifle the light
Darkness waits to smother it
Wait, must Darkness, for eternity
Light will always remain the beacon
On lonely nights
Quietly mourning
Those left behind will see
And in bittersweet comfort walks he
The one who drove away monsters
Shattering fear as was his job
Once long ago in living color
Steadfast guardian
Patient sentinel
A whimper is call to arms
A tear is call to action
Bringing with him only the light
Golden warmth shining from twin blue pools
Steady as moonbeam
Sturdy as sunrise

Twisted Progress

Cold steel
Sharpened blade
Swinging swift & true
Sunshine glinting high
Sweat & nerves run deep rivulets
Muscles strain with hourly effort
Rhythmic forward motions
Eyes blind to consequence
Liquid thick & sticky
Creates mess upon the ground
Each stroke of blade does make a sickening crack
Dull as thunder
Coming forward is inevitable
Down she falls
Aged & proud
Dismembered for sake of convenience
Roots ripped asunder
Where once stood she
Tall & ancient
Now is naught but memory

Dearly Departed; Song for the Brokenhearted

Haunted pictures line the walls
Each capture a once bright light
That of a soul already gone
Dearly departed
The Earth mourning with those remaining
Within their own private world
Like a forest dead & dormant
Mummified roses trapped in wilted bloom
Haunted pictures line the walls
Long-gone figures smile & play
A moment in time to trap the soul
But not that of the departed
The souls of the mourning are those entangled
Strong & deadly branches
As if vines of steel
The Fates grin in gruesome gaggle, cackling mad hens
For eternity to mourn
Quietly gazing at what is now forever lost
Remembering what once had been
And what can never be again

Five Petals

Five-petaled flower
Quiet in your beauty
Let slip a dainty petal
She loves me
Now left with four
Let glide another to the floor
She loves me not
Three left to count
Let flutter the next
She loves me
Two left to see
Let fall this one, too
She loves me not
Now, joyous flower, one is left
Let descend one more
She loves me!
Alas that life is not a five-petaled flower
For in truth I know
She loves me not…

Familiar

Tiny friend
Furry sister
Dark companion
Traverse the plane with me
Until comes time
Too soon for me
For your veil to part
Energetic friend
Inquisitive sister
Happy companion
Wait for me
On the other side
When your time comes
To meet me when my own veil parts

Forbidden Taste

Chestnut eyes meet chocolate
Awkward romancing
Fiery spirits collide
Longing born slowly
Forbidden by society
Explosive passion
Secret meetings
Clandestine love
Only two know the truth
Seasons change
Lives in jeopardy
Sudden separation
Longing born anew
Invisible passion
Vanished lover
Dimensional gap
Sight denied forevermore
Love & passion in dreams alone
Never again in flesh exist
Tears create a sea
Until Death unites lost lovers again

Lady of the Glen

Asleep in the mist
Peaceful and tranquil
Lays the Lady of the Glen
'Neath the never-ending blue
Stars and planets look down upon her
White gown of spider's silken weave
Atop soft moss she lays
Surrounded by flowers wild
Man walks passed each day
Never realizing what they pass
They let her sleep
But not from respect
Rather through ignorance
As they rot the Earth
So too they do to Lady of the Glen
When she is gone
Man reaps the consequence
Yet still wonder not what they have done
Instead why their Heavens deigned not fix what they squandered

Religious Right

Confusion & lies force the masses to one side
No falsehood is too much
Keep their eyes wide shut
Keep their ears loudly deafened
Backwards logic makes sense
When spoken by politicians
Prejudice loudly touted as righteous
God & Jesus become convenient scapegoats for hate
Love & acceptance absent from religion
Good messages lost forever
Restriction, denial, excuses, hate
A deadly masquerade
Dangerous belief
Death & violence accepted
Religiously sanctioned
By any & all means necessary
Oppression, repression, destruction
All is accepted as long as religion moves backward
Even if religion's message is defiled
Even if sins must be committed
No price too great for hate

Seasonal Beauty

Emerald Hills
Diamond lakes
Sapphire seas
Topaz skies
All beauty must fade
As Gaea changes her gown
Making way for Autumn
But when beauty fades
Paths are made for new beauty
Emerald gives way to gold
Sapphire gives way to slate
Topaz gives way to opal
Gaea alone knows the truth
Youth and Age are two sides of one coin
Each hold their own unique beauty

Custom Made Hell

Purple stains her cheek
Swelling puffs her lip
Red blights her skin
Dripping down the alabaster
Knowing the consequences makes no difference
She cannot get away
Soft apologies
Quiet tears
Pretty words
Deft deceptions trap her here
Too weak without help
No help to be had
Doubtful hope saves her sanity
For the next day
When all starts over again
An endless circle to bind her to Hell
The only way out is that which led her inside
But the way has long since been barred
Locked in by her own fear

The Snow Queen

Dedication: This was inspired by and written for my good friend Alice. And despite the fact that she isn't really into poetry, I hope that she likes this poem. ^_^

On the snow-capped mountain she waits
At the peak where no human has reached
Silent and lonely as death
Howling wind blows around her
Yet still she waits
Gazing down to the snow-covered valley below
Snow and ice of her own making
A white flower blooming in otherwise dead terrain
Lady Snow waits for her lover
Every day in the same frigid spot
Away from her ice mansion
Dress of shimmering silver
Covered with a coat of arctic fur
Crystal tears slip from glacier-blue eyes
The path they travel is down snow-white cheeks
She knows her love will never come
But still she waits
Frost-white curls blown by blizzard winds

Woman in the Tree

Winter wonderland all around
Sparkling snow
Glistening ice
Bare trees
Dormant shrubs
Inside a hollow tree she hides
Quiet and pale
Dark curls fall along her shoulders
White covers her from neck to ankle
Doll-like dress of Victorian style
Graveyard gray eyes
Within the tree she waits
To be found by passersby
Strangers to tell her story
For not the cold was it that killed her
Rather a broken heart
Stilled by cruel betrayal

Haphazard Mourning

Pictures scattered along the floor
Ripped and torn
Like so much confetti
Porcelain spread across the table
Broken and overturned
Remnants of dishes and figurines
Wood hanging from furniture
Splintered and razed
As if ruins of a tornado
Glass sparkling over it all
Shattered and destroyed
Products of anger and frustration
Born of betrayal and dishonesty
Lone figure standing in the center
As if a goddess of destruction
All things of which are a product of earlier chaos
What now is all that's left
A life destroyed by the hands of whom the life belongs
A broken heart to blame
A friendship tossed away
Without this friendship all is lost
Or so the chaos goddess mourns

Sublime Decay

Golden rays shine upon the reeds
Cheerful and jolly
Boasting of hope and beauty
Water glistens beneath the reeds
But not with health
Black muck shines instead
Rainbows play along the surface
Eerie quiet
In this land once lush with life
Abandoned has it been
Death and disease
Starvation has emptied the everglade
No longer can it sustain life
All the plants wilt and weep
Soon all will be gone
And with it goes protection
Making human habitats unsafe nearby
But perhaps yet fitting
In some small way
For humans killed the marsh

Tiny Blessings

Dedication: Charlene Thompson
Unconditional love
Afforded throughout a lifetime
A precious gift
A lifelong friend
Eternally remembered
Forever missed
Little do mere mortals realize
The love is never lost
They wait for us
Silently following our footsteps
Watching over us
Silent, loving sentinels
Protecting us through the rest of our journey
For when it is our own turn
Our little guardians traverse the void to meet us
Happily showing their excitement
As we return to our final home
To lay in our laps
As did they once before

"I guess you don't really own a dog, you rent them, and you have to be thankful that you had a long lease." - Joe Garagiola

"If there is a heaven, it's certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them." - Pam Brown

Nature Forsaken

Each season when Nature changes Her dress
Time sees new splendor
Yellow-greens and baby blues in Spring
Hunter greens and sapphire blues in Summer
Brownish greens and crystal blues in Fall
Opalescent whites and sparkling blues in Winter
All of Nature's ball gowns more beautiful than the last
All wardrobe changes strategic
Time appreciates Nature's fierce subtlety
Those hiding behind Her skirts forget quickly
That though they suckle at her bosom
The Giver of Life is not forsaken without mortal sacrifice
The loss of Nature's everlasting beauty
Affords only the deaths of her dependents

The Quiet Reaping

Crystal blue high above
Gentle breezes caress the skin
Quiet colors drift ground-ward
Green, warm, and cool at once
Wild and tame, the scents of Fall
Silent, serene, caught in a moment of time
Burnished gold slants the sky at eastward angles
Nature waits, Her dress now changed
For Her children, long forgetting to notice
The Mother of All forsaken
The Bringer of Life to be soon snuffed out
For not in winter, but of ungrateful benefactors
Reaping what She's helped them sow
But forgotten is She when credits roll
The silent death brought upon Her
The silent doom brought upon us all
And from the wind a single phrase; "Reap what you've sown."

The Moore & The Golden Thread

Muck and mire cover the golden thread.
A quagmire of tar in that old and ancient of swamps.
All humans must traverse its terrain.
The path, the events that lead them here, even the amount of times the swamp to travel, vary upon unlucky person.
Golden thread, sometimes found, sometimes broken beyond repair,
Glows somewhere in thick, sticky black.
Oft, the golden thread loses its brilliance over time.
Once the thread is broken, it is just a dirty thread,
A reminder of better times and the final betrayal.
Whether lost, found, or broken...no one's thread emerges from within the unearthly depths of the bog unchanged.

Recollection Avenue

Quiet photographs which line the halls of Memory Manor.
Haunted reflections in Flashback River.
Battered buildings along Recollection Avenue.
Taking walks where leaves fall with pain long past.
Litter from pain still current line the asphalt.
Sidewalks cracked with pain brand-new.
Residences once shiny and new,
Now stand empty,
Dilapidated and battered.
Betrayal and anger long ago destroyed the pretty avenue.
Still today the razing continues with each new slice of Imagination's Dagger
Wielded by unsympathetic, oft well-meaning, oft hate-mongering,
Strangers and loved ones alike.

Happiness A Mirage

Forbidden in life
Forbidden in death

Happiness a mirage

Lonely in wandering
Lonely at home

Happiness a mirage

Forgotten in crowds
Forgotten by friends

Happiness a mirage

Hated in truth
Hated in deceit

Happiness a mirage

Lies for assurances
Lies for stories

Happiness a mirage

Despair at North
Despair at East

Happiness a mirage

Depression due South
Depression due West

Happiness a mirage

Beauteous Decadence

Petals wilt and tumble forth
Beauty still there in death
Grass on which they make their home
Brown and dead, green luster forsaken
Air which once held warmth and life
Gave way to cold and death
Life once apparent snuffed out at peak
No longer the sun sustains it
Dead petals, fallen leaves alike
All Part of Earth in different ways
Snow and ice cover land once lush
Morbid beauty which all admire

Lonely Heart

Trapped alone in hollow log, ice and frost close around all exits, driving out the air, providing small amounts of ironic heat.
The heat is simple illusion. Fake and a trick of the mind.
The cold creeps in around the heat, edging in along the black sides of vision.
Slowly drawing in the shallow breaths as air grows ever thinner.
Tears freeze along pale cheeks, delicate icicles.
Soon limbs grow stiff.
Consciousness fades to black.
Heart once warm and rhythmic, now as still and cold as ice.