The Poetry Marathon

oh dear

oh dear

oh dear

dear me

what a time we’ve had

on this long journey

to neverland

I am lost to you

and sometimes me to you

traveling through time

I come upon you then

and now

sometimes I don’t know when

or who

or how.

when memory fails

and I see my mirrored self

unrecognizeable

forsaken by my own mind

I wonder why

and sometimes I wonder

who she is

that woman reflected there

so old but with a glimmer

of me

when I am young

dear me

dear me

dear me

O dear please don’t mind

for she will disappear

and you will once again

dwell upon the mystery

in the picture on that shining wall

I adorn my body

for you

await, yearn

your touch

my hair brushed to shine

glory pinned

so you can let it spill

to lay like sea foam on your chest

gowned in diaphanous silk

draped in velvet

hidden delights

to entice and tease

upon my tender lips

a ruby red stain to tempt

and tantalize, beguile

fire an unquenchable flame

in the warm light

of glowing embers

my eyes devour you

let spill my soul, my love

Our drumming hearts

beat in quickened tempo

hands explore, possess

bodies hot with desire

And in the cresendo

of desire quenched

we bathe in tender adulation

entwined, skin-to-skin, satiated

love is not love

when it demands reciprocation

begs or bribes

love is not love

when it manipulates

demands or commands

love is freely given

with hope but not expectations

a heart laid bare for plunder

On my way to heaven I stopped to say hello

You were going the other way

I thought you might be

for a while we traveled together

and you tried to drag me down there with you

astonished at the gates

I saw there were no flames

no broiling heat arose

no wisps of acrid smoke

sulfuric on my tongue

white vapours played like shadows

against the wall dark

reflections of soul-sucking vampires

and cold so deep I felt its pull

and pulled away

let go your hand

before I ventured forth

too close to turn

though you would drag me there

against my will

I chose redemption

safety, a heart full of glory

joy overflowing in the light

Jack London was called to the wild

where I will not go

for the wild is too wild for me

a woman who sits on cushions

soft, pillowy, pretty

looking out windows

to the mean streets

where blood runs

hot in warrior gangs

and money lust

throws up towers

that scrape the sky

so high they diminish the clouds

shadows fall upon the innocent

and from above the elite look down

basking in their stolen sun

beautiful views

sequestered there safe

while we below fear the day

linger where you belong

safe, secure, secluded

I am the mighty one

the leader

venturing to greener pastures

stay in our nest

snug, serene for me

let it enclose you

think of it not as a prison

but as a refuge

I am all you need

all you need

you’ll find in my arms

under my protection

and if I must at times

exact discipline

to keep you safe

bow to my wisdom.

I am woman

a thousand pictures

of you and me

together

apart

they don’t tell our story

not the truth

the love they witness

is not the love we feel

No camera tells our story

the heat of your kisses

tongue against my neck

my breast

love whispered

in hidden corners

behind closed doors

lost amid the milling crowds

under weeping willows

by sweeping rivers

where we meet and melt

arms and hearts entwined

for a time

the one we know

the two we are

the three we shouldn’t be

she from whom we

shelter the truth

that our love though true

is as wrong as it feels right

a thousand perfect pictures

tell our lies

multitudinous shades of grey

layered between the spectrum

from red to blue to yellow

tell lies that hide our true colors

you walked in my shoes

they didn’t fit

you tripped

you fell

you walked on

pulled yourself up

you crawled for a time

sat for respite

blisters scalded

oozed and healed on heels

and toes

they didn’t suit

but you insisted

you would wear them in

take my place

take my man

my son and daughter

and now you cry

and don’t know why

he left you for another

big shoes to fill

it’s not you

nor is it I

it isn’t her

we that cry and rail

are not to blame

it’s he that seeks a wearer

of ill-fitting choices

lies to himself

and us

God’s wringing hands

tell the story

and the news is not good.

Headlines in the Heavenly Express

shock and dismay but he cannot be persuaded.

God’s will prevails in paradise. Amen.

“Decimated by greed

the jewel I created cannot survive

though I gave my son to save it,” says He

“I have called upon Lucifer,

gifted him all human form

to do with what he will.

Salvation was offered,

they turned their backs.

Heaven will not welcome them.

They destroyed their home

and seek to commit their sins

in the pristine heavens I bestowed.

Let them burn in hell with Lucifer

and in their suffering

repent without salvation.”

city rain paints rainbows around haloed lights

splashes colors that confuse in the addled dark

Iridescent, luminous, neon screams

hurtling through streets saturated with primary hues

streaming whites of glaring headlights

blind us to what might come

drizzling drops, rivulets forming streams

red streaks along the pavement

obscure, abstract visions in a deluge

colors fade with the dissipating storm

a world that changes green to stone

returns once more to ashen grey