Defiance

 
Gimpy gait he struts
though
solitaire without a shadow
down
rutted, rusted road snakes
restless,
weary ’round each bend.
Shifting shaky sand slips and slides.
His old feet fail,
fall faint upon it
stagger storm and strut
where
stones rock and pebbles pinch,
fault-filled gait crackles ‘neath each step
Still
Pounding onward, pushing forward
Past the slights the past portends,
Potent danger
Daunting dares
Dante’s depth.

       ~ ~ ~

A Short Story

Do you smoke? she asked.
Weed?
Yes.
No.
What then?
Cigars. Premium cigars.
That might be a deal-breaker, she said.
What deal?
Aren’t you looking for a relationship?
Not deliberately, he replied.
You’re not looking for love? she asked.
Is everybody?
Everybody I know, she said.
Everybody you know is without it? He asked.
Do you like me?
I don’t have much to go on. Why did you ask if I smoked weed?
We were talking about smoking, she said. Would it be a deal-breaker if I like weed?
Are we trying to make a deal? he asked.
What do you think? she asked.
Not any more.

                                   ~ ~ ~

Intersect

The season tries a different road.

Forked.

Which way to wander?

Am I swayed unto the summer,

Coerced there by the fall?

 

Vanilla picket fence runs ’round where

daisy blooms paint verdant meadow

stirred them ‘neath a southern breeze blows fickle,

pokes and pelts a restless heart.

 

I pray of thee
invite me pause

there rest aside you

whilst I dwell in thine embrace,

try snare each moment ‘ere it flees

where hearts like rustling rivers whisper,

their gentle spring come-hithers beckon.

 

Let them not be lost unto the night

there where him of her his silence pleas,

“Give thine hand to soothe mine sorrow,

rub me clear of all regrets and faded recollects,

unlike youth long gone to live in yesterday?”

 

Tangled tether ties us to our hopes,

new season sows them, bloom today tomorrow’s seeds

in fertile bed where guiding light assures

No need no more to wander with our youth.

 

            ~ ~ ~

‘Ere Dawn

‘ERE DAWN

 

I sweat an angst of present blackness.

Ebony chokes tight against my hurried heart.

Thoughts bitter bubble up breathe putrid ash
And drain a molten cornucopia.

Soliloquy

I beg a remedy quells all taint of fears.

Pray darkness light relentless shines the Truth of them,

Shudders, shakes and spits out all the lies they cannot hide.

I pray quick comes the roaring stillness tells the dawn survives.

 

~ ~ ~