Second Born

Folding in the lips and face,
A crumpled vision of divine grace,
First-air cry of fear and rage,
The moment forever set the stage,
You play upon.

Strong in will, tender in heart,
A teasing sprite from the very start,
An inner drive to test the love,
And know who you are a part of.
You play among.

Your words now flow, a joyful stream,
That pass through our protective seems,
Your every joy, your every sorrow,
Cuts us quick to the very marrow.
You play with us.

The pain you suffer in saving face,
Will be for you — a lifelong waste,
For when your smile infects your pride,
And your very soul opens up wide,
We play together.

A strong wolf cub you remain,
Fierce and loyal are your refrain,
Ever wanting to be fully grown,
We ever hoping the seeds are sown,
To play forever,
With you.

Bleed

World bleeds mystery
Aesthetic jabs soul
Azure sea, scarlet sky,
Eye holes behold
A spec of life.

Vapors embrace, conceal
Substrate presence in all
Spirit breathes the real
Clawing love in a free fall
Taste absence.

Void within reflects horizon,
Hollow prayers, raised fists —
Be the sacrament in this prison,
Be the embrace in the cool mist.
Enigmatic epiphany.

In broken heart, the self will bleed,
Paining cry in groans and whimpers,
Why does love not run to feed,
But breathes lullabies in whispers?
In the dark places.

World bleeds mystery,
Selves amazed and dazed,
Bow in a numinous gravity,
Pulled down yet to be raised
Reborn in mystery.

___
This is now my fist attempt to rework this old poem. It's a bit better...might take another stab at it again. Not near as strong as "Leaf"...my favorite recent poem...but what the hey. I wrote this about 10 years ago...never liked it originally, but thought it could be salvaged. Here is the revision.

Cheers.

-Michael

This is Love

Love, pain, and sorrow
Many fibers criss and cross
As the past taints tomorrow
Life is a weaving of such loss.

Though the shoot is fragile
And the wick smolders
I will walk the extra mile
Loving, though life is colder.

In woe, new hope enlivens
In the dark – a new light shine.
As life unfolds — love awakens
To the only one I call mine.

Many waters, many deaths
Cannot quench the burning flame
From the vows to my last breath
It will endure the pain and shame.

This is love,

My Rose...
____

About 4-5 years old

Faith, Hope, Love

Cocooned in a chrysalis of pain,
White gown bears a bloody stain,
The flower given for us to care
Petals wither, remain threadbare.

Bask in bitterness,
Numb in business.

Cocooned is but apparent death,
Life sustained from blood and breath,
The flower dies but a bulb remains,
Called forth again with sun and rain.

Closed to the healing,
Deaf to the calling.

One day, chrysalis will crack,
Emerging beauty from fragile sack.
Wounds inflicted from closest kin,
Now fissures where love seeps within.

Love's strange path,
The kiss of death and wrath.

Chrysalis crucifix unfurl the wings,
Beautiful One: sing, sing sing,
Till wounded hearts mend and forget,
To hate as a new dawn does beget,

Sweet, sweet balm,
From open, pierced palm.

World without end.

____

Another refitted poem...I'll have to think if it works any better than the original.

Easter Thoughts

May the Christ
...be raised anew
...in you
Though the darkness closes in,
and the chill clutches your dreams

May the Christ...
...be born again
...in us
Though the world is lost to sin,
and love is lost amid the screams

May the Christ...
...storm the gates
...in all
Though the wall grows dark and thick,
and blood pours like milk and honey

May the Christ...
...part the clouds
...in glory
Though world's soul is pale and sick
and reeks of the cult of money

May the Christ...
...touch your eyes
...in a baptism.
Love stronger than the grave,
Dance us all beyond the cave,
Into a light, into a love,
Evermore.

Fracture

Same stuff as the stars
Yet blowing like dust,
Fractured into shards,
Blown by every gust,
Forgotten.

Enfleshed God Breath,
Breathing in poisons,
Exhaling cold death,
Void of word or chanson,
Unsung.

Mind culled from matter
Content to lay in mire,
Fragile it will shatter,
Never to reach the spire.
Waste.

Threadbare souls resting,
Flesh dried and crimson,
Dry bones are nesting,
'Til a day will hasten,
Awakening.

___

This rewrite is better...by far than the original...I need to let it sit to see if I like it enough to keep it or if I need to rework it some more.

THE HUMAN SIGH

And the fountain has run dry
Too distant is the sky.
Weep in sackcloth and ashes
Bend your neck to forty lashes
Knowing none can hear you cry.

And the well is filled with dust
The heart is clogged with rust.
Blood in veins flows no more
And the soul is parched and sore
And none to watch you die.

And God's plenteous horn
Lost to eyes gouged and torn.
We drink of the poisoned source
And wonder, not feeling remorse.

In our graves we long to lie
Knowing how empty is...
...the human sigh.

Forgive

Numbed-Cataract Soul
Swaddled closeted and cold
Merciless, self pitied and old
Lifeless as dusty coal.

Tearless, joyless, cancered shell
Pain neither enters nor exits hell
Parched thirst that none will quell
Bloated small within a cell.

Hoarding pain as if a jewel
Bitter root the only fuel
A mask of wisdom plays the fool
Lie of safety so icy cruel.

Cease burning breath -- inhale
New air billowing beyond the vale
Lungs once coal now pink and pale
First step foal, so weak and frail

Life in death and death in life
A hope that stirs beyond all strife
Blood and bread in joy and grief
A penitent hope, a strong belief

Forgive

Groans

Mangled mantle begs stability
Cracked crust magma weeps
Hellish hoard scortch-scultps vitality
Gushing gasses moulding lava seeps.

Whipped winds violent as jealous lover
Blind bluster of circling rage
Crazed creatures all scurry for cover
Howling harpy storms from its cage.

Patient pacing stalking predator,
Rapacious reaper ever gains,
Mortal morcels angst does stir,
Stiffened and slacking in their pains.

Graceless grave swallows, consumes
Failing flesh and bleaching bones,
Salvific story engulfs dust, and blooms
Reborn-reformed hear the reaper's groans.
____

2 years old.

Love Dusk

Drunk and senseless to your kiss
Eyes accepting, loving, choosing
Days of sweetness
Nights of light
I your mister and you my miss
Finding my true soul in loosing
Me in you,
You in me.

Who turned the tide of love
Into a never ending ebb
Days of sorrow
Nights of woe
Pain so continuous, never enough
Of the searing-numbing stab
You to me
Me to you.

Home of withered cracling strings
Engtagle without warmth or embrace
Days of bitter
Nights of shade
Who butchered these angel wings
Clawed to shreds love's cherub face
Me and you
You and me.

Has death already done its part?
Can the grave further seperate souls?
Days of shadow
Nightly nightmares
No mending for the broken heart
No cooling the fiery coals
Of me to you
Of you to me.

Love dusk...
_____

About 1 year ago.

WHOLLY BROKEN

Hormones, soul-mates, aloneness,
Fate, providence, or foolishness,
Naive dreamers, blinded by bliss,
Sprinting headlong toward happiness.

'Twas I
Too small
Too blind
To heal my beloved.

Not death, nor divorce, yet parted.
Living the life of the broken-hearted.
Joy's ended before it really started,
Only have so much love alloted.

'Twas I
Too faithless,
Too closed,
To heal my beloved.

Deep grooves of familiar contempt,
A rose garden sorely unkempt,
Bedfellows that do not tempt,
Towards embrace--no attempt.

'Twas I
Too enclosed,
Too hardened
To love my beloved.
___

A couple of years ago...again.

BLITHELY

Despair
Like coal dust in the air
Breathed in and poisoning
Blank stare,
Tis all the spark between the pair
Two love starved souls sickening

White lies,
Like angelic statues in a park
Now feces and feathers encrusting
Heart cries,
So moanfull, mournefull, and stark
Ice where once was warmth and trusting.

Painless
Like a beast dumb before it's death
Eyes tight to an inevitable fate,
Mindless,
Passively exhaling soul and breath,
Numbness much colder than hate.

Gone,
Sweetest touch of my lover's love
Endless drought bleeds her dry,
Done,
Prayers then fist were raised above
I watched love and faith wither and die,

Blithely...
____

A couple of years ago as well.

Of Age

Freckled grin in Mother's embrace
God and gravy, the world is safe,
To every bump - a loving face,
A joyous life of uncommon grace.

Embryonic walls of peace sublime
Fractured by an ancient crime,
Soul awakes--another clock's chime
Welcomes to prison of every time.

In free-fall grasping, gasping air
Pained wakening to the nightmare
Reprieve in loving bloodied stare
Of one life that holds all that's fair.

Broken bodied--bloodied soul, save,
From the gapping mouthy hungry grave!
Healing through lashes of the slave,
Beams light,and life, to the dismal cave.

___

Also from a couple of years ago.

Sickness

The Sickness' full of painful stings,
Beloved thrashes at my words
Broken crumpled flightless wings
Hobbling dying frightened birds
Be we.

Long ago, love and life did crest
Now flesh and soul cannot feel
Now in demon darkness, pressed
Courage, joy, have lost their steel
Bedeviled.

Beyond salvation, beyond the cup
Of pardon, redemption, and renewal
Alone and dying, I wait to sup
In the hell of my own construal
Be me.
___

From a couple of years ago.

Ailes

Turn your face into the wind,
Do not bow to your chagrin,
For dark specters haunt your step,
To steal the dreams that you have kept,
Soar.

A lovely soul amid the scars,
In days of ruin and days of wars,
Not a victim of these times,
Stepping strong through hard climbs,
Breathe.

Midwife, mystic, artist, friend,
Beloved by many to whom you tend,
A smile, a presence, a solace word,
Often spoken, now to be heard,
Listen.

The candle burns upon the sill,
The Spirit breathes - peace be still,
All that is loved is never lost,
And specters fear whom they accost,
Rise.

Turn your face into the wind,
Do not bow to your chagrin,
For tears nurse a lovely soul,
Stories will yet fill up your scroll,
Live.
_____

For a friend, recovering from Cancer.