Standing Strong

I battled angry dragons

Breathing fiery lies,

Barbed wire talons

Designed to rip flesh from bone.

Possessed lovers,

Their demons unexorcised,

Forcing me to

Pay penance

For their sins.

The walking dead surround me,

Urging me to settle for

The ordinary,

The mediocre,

The mundane.

They seek to destroy

The light that guides me,

The faith that strengthens my resolve.

I’ve watched my dreams

Besieged,

Bloodied,

Condemned,

Abandoned in reality’s wasteland.

I sense the approaching evil

Seeking to insinuate itself into my life.

The new day brings

A new menace,

Pushing me to

The edge of oblivion yet again,

But through the impending hellfire,

Risking all in the face of catastrophe,

I will stand strong.

Evening the Odds

She sits alone in the darkness,
Cold steel in her hands.
He was her fulcrum of chaos,
A black hole
Devouring sunshine,
Hope,
Her gullible heart.
Her head is spinning,
Subliminal whispers of his guilt
Rush through her mind.
Tears stream across her ruddy cheeks
And the fading echoes of his anger.
She gives a slight shudder,
Knowing he will return soon,
Smug,
Mellow.
Confident he has broken her at last.
She hears a rustle at the door,
The lock tumbling,
Venomous cursing
About the untidy state of his house.
Consequences must be paid.
Tonight, she evens her odds
As the cold steel in her hands roars to life.

Blood Story

I offer my vein
In sacrifice
To the medicine man,
Watching my life force
Fill a plastic test tube.

Memorial Mosaic

I’m creating my mosaic
One poem at a time,
Crafting and arranging
The fragments of my soul
In a tribute I fear will never be complete.

Heroes

Heroes don’t
Court fame and fortune,
Pushing self
Above all.
My heroes wear combat boots,
Fighting for freedom.

Memories

Nostalgia
Transforms memories
With a thin
Veneer of
Self-deceit, an illusion
Of what never was.

Burning Memories

Love letters
Read a thousand times,
The heartbreak
Revisited,
Deserve proper burial.
Fire will consume all.
Lingering
Smoke carries away
Lies, anger,
Betrayal.
I can finally find peace
Amongst the ashes.

Pilgrimage to Parkersburg

For our family, in November
All roads led to West Virginia,
To Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving.
The first few to venture downstairs
In the predawn quiet
Would find Grandma in her armchair,
Coffee in hand,
Chesterfield smoldering in the ashtray,
Tosha pacing around her feet.
He would permit a few ear scratches
Before retreating with a regal yowl
That only a Siamese can muster.
After few more cups of coffee
And a few more sets of helping hands awoke,
The final dinner preparations would begin.
As the turkey was washed and stuffed
And the potatoes peeled,
We would share our stories,
The ones retold often enough
To become our family’s mythology:
Aunt Rose’s bean catastrophe,
How Uncle Ronald rescued Muffin as a kitten,
The time Grandma undercooked the holiday ham
And hid behind the refrigerator in shame.
Through the laughter and the chopping and the endless dishes
Our bonds grew stronger
As we added new stories to the family mythology.

 Today Thanksgiving still finds me awake before dawn,
Coffee in hand,
Cigarette smoldering in the ashtray,
And I feel Grandma’s presence at my own table
Much like at hers all those years ago.
Through the chopping and the endless dishes
She whispers her stories to me,
And our bond, though tinged with sadness,
Is still as strong as ever
As I help add new stories to our family’s mythology.

A Little Traveling Music

Jeff Healey holds the keys
To my time machine.

Every time I hear him sing “Angel Eyes,”
I am transported back to 1989
And piercing blue eyes
That saw right through my hollow heart.
Together on the hood of my Camaro,
We spent hours plotting
Our course through the summer stars,
Flicking spent cigarettes into the gravel,
Watching the shallow arc of the embers in the darkness.
Our teenage sense of invincibility
Made our future seem certain.
Soon enough we learned
That type of arrogance
Strips away illusions,
Leaving misery and pain in its wake
As the final chord of our love song
Faded into silence.

Jeff Healey can have the keys back now,
At least until my next trip into the past.

Raspberry-Flavored Wisdom

Granny’s overgrown raspberry bush lie
Next to the faded green garage.
The sprawling canes seemed
A writhing mass of snakes,
Poised to bite any who ventured near.
I would be sent into its midst,
Deliberately picking my way through the tangled branches
In search of its gleaming black gems.

“Sometimes,” Granny would tell me,
“To find the sweetest fruit,
You have to be willing to brave the thorns.”

Garlic

A clove of garlic
Can help ward off vampires and
Potential lovers.

Whenever, Wherever

Opportunity
Plays hide and seek,
Cruel in its strategy,
Lurking in shadows,
Teasing from around corners,
Until our stealth pays off
And we seize the intangible.

Carpe diem, my friend, carpe diem.

Whenever I Dream

Waking ends the dreams that
Haunt my days,
Echoing through the hours until
Night and dreams come again.
Eyes of darkest espresso,
Visible smile lines crinkle the
Edges, something sad and lost
Revealed in the depths.

I can hear his voice,

Desperately calling my name,
Reaching out to find me,
Elusive, but still present
As I seek to find
My dreams in reality.

Best at Finish

Racing the clock
Racing the best
Best of the best
Best man wins
Wins don’t come easy
Wins mean all
All on the line
All or nothing
Nothing to lose
Nothing to gain
Gain a position
Gain respect
Respect the drivers
Respect the tradition
Tradition of excellence
Tradition to preserve
Preserve your sanity
Preserve your racecar
Racecar on track
Racecar is fast
Fast is good
Fast is first
First to the line
First to victory
Victory lap
Victory lane
Lane rubbers in
Lane opens up
Up on the wheel
Up for the ride
Ride the lightning
Ride the edge
Edge of disaster
Edge of glory
Glory days
Glory road
Road to ruin
Road to legend
Legend is earned
Legend is forever
Forever young
Forever free
Free to run
Free to race
Race to the front
Race to the finish
Finish first
Finish strong
Strong
First

Insinuations

Suspicions, deceit,
Innuendos and revenge:
All are poor roommates.

Love's Lost Cause

Another
Attempt to keep me,
To prevent
Departure,
Without realizing that
I left years ago.

Echoes of Regret

Looking back,
The unfought battle
For his heart
Haunts my thoughts.
Worlds have turned, yet I still cling
To yesterday’s ghost.

On Aging

Silver hair,
Crow’s feet, sagging breasts,
Time’s brutal
March goes on
Carving away my youth, too
Late to reverse course.

Revelation

Love went wrong.
Bloodied, desolate,
Heart open,
Split by force.
A secret surprise revealed:
Not pain…emptiness.

Once Upon a Yard Sale

Welcome bargain hunters, fifteen years of accumulation
Arranged on folding tables in our front yard on Saturday morning.

Girls’ clothing in all sizes.
                           A chronicle of her march into adulthood.

Children’s books, well worn but in good shape.
                           And committed to memory from repeated bedtime readings.

Toys, boots, mittens.
                           More proof she’s not my baby anymore.

Women’s clothing, very little wear.
                           And steadily decreasing sizes, the diet is working.

Four place settings of green floral china.
                          A wedding present that has served up nothing but dust.

Assorted housewares, knickknacks, and linens.
                         Not sure where it all came from, just know it needs to go.

Too much more to mention,
                          Something for everyone.
Come see our family history
                          Clean, neat, and priced to move.