A Ritual While Camping in the Wilderness

let us shake off the dust 

of our civilized lives 

and dance naked in the firelight, 

arms outstretched,

only the nonjudgmental eyes 

of the moon watching us.

shed our inhibitions

and the shackles of doubt,

casting our fears 

toward the heavens.

drink of the power 

of the earth and cosmos 

and enjoy the freedom 

most only find in dreams.

~~~~ This poem was inspired by a prompt from Poetic Asides asking for poems about camp/camping. This also was inspired by this week's prompt from Carry On Tuesday.

Laying Poetic Tiles

© Daryl Edelstein

I scrape the barnacles from the hull of life
And shards of humanity fall around me…
Brittle words from the tongues
Of austere women sipping their tea,
The recollections of flinty old men
Drenched in yesterday’s glory,
The simple joys of sidewalk chalk drawings,
Winding roads and long lingering kisses.
I gather the fragments close to my heart
And draw them into my creative cocoon,
Burnishing the rough edges,
Mixing feelings and phrases in a blur,
Binding them together
In my own quirky view of the world
To be shared by those willing to read.


~~~ This poem was written in response to a prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads featuring the photography of Daryl Edelstein, specifically her photos of the mosaic art of Isaiah Zagar.  I also utilized this week's word list from The Sunday Whirl and the prompt from Carry on Tuesday.  Be sure to check out the links for some more great poetry!

Dreams of Tuscany

Last night I dreamt of Tuscany
Like many nights before,
My frail heart seeking refuge
On that crystal azure shore.

The streets and land are foreign
But I feel that I belong,
For I know that he’ll be waiting
With his guitar and his song.

He whispered, “Cara mia”
With an intimate embrace,
His dark eyes so familiar
But his smile I can’t quite place.

He sings his simple love songs
In a tongue that I can’t claim.
When translating the music,
The emotions still the same.

He leans in for a tender kiss
As night is fading fast.
He plays a final song for me,
One I know will be the last.

He sings “Con Ti Partiro”
As he fades into the mist
And I wake up holding nothing,
Lips still trembling from his kiss.


~~~ The poem was inspired by the prompt from Carry On Tuesday this week (yep, the second one from this prompt) which was "Time to Say Goodbye," the English translation for the title of the Italian song "Con Ti Partiro."  I will also be linking this up with dVerse Poets Pub for Open Link Night.

Greeting the Goddess

Wrapped in the chains of expectation
And the intractable whims of others,
A lost wanderer struggling through
The morass of my daily existence,
I’ve squandered opportunities
To drink of glory, of victory,
Talents relegated to obscurity,
Forced to conform by my own insecurities.

It is time to say goodbye
To my indigenous doubts,
The string of demons that visits
Only to dampen my spirits
And fill my eyes with elaborate deceptions
Meant to further impede my faltering footsteps.
No longer will I tremble
In the face of the rituals of despair.
I will live my life with intention,
Significance placed on the journey ahead,
Not the immensity of the mountain I must climb.
I will keep on until I plant my sacred flag on the summit,
Embracing the goddess that dwells within my soul.


~~~ This poem was written in response to several prompts...the prompt from Carry On Tuesday this week was "Time to say goodbye."  I also used this week's words from The Sunday Whirl and Three Word Wednesday.

Vampire Dreams

Vampire by Duniax at deviantART

I had a dream he was a vampire,
A blood-sucking assassin
Whose piercing fangs linger at my neck,
Draining my life-force a drop at a time,
Weakening my defenses,
Preparing me for his final treachery.

My eyes flutter back to consciousness
And I feel his breath at my throat,
As another drop of energy leeches away,
The divide between dreams and reality
Blurring just a bit more.

...Before I Wake

Evil stalks my dreams,
The restful peace I seek
In the quiet of my room denied
As unseen beings swirl around me,
Half-specter, half-shadow.
They see right through me,
My dreams, my fears.
Hands reach out to me…
Clawing…grasping…
Attempting to drag me
Away from the safety of my bed
Into pits of unspeakable torture.
The terror permeates my psyche.
Sulfur and brimstone overwhelm,
Filling my lungs with toxic fumes
As I struggle to keep my sanity,
Wondering what else might lurk
In the oppressive darkness.

Between Darkness and Light

Copyright: James Rainsford, Used with Permission 

I walk the divide
Between darkness and light,
The darkness a magnet
Drawing me closer,
Wrapping me in metallic cool.
I long for the light, to dive in
And let my soul be cleansed,
Ready for rebirth, for redemption.
It’s a solitary journey,
One I know we each
Must negotiate in our own way.
I struggle to keep my balance,
Knowing that if I can persevere,
The best is yet to be.

Shadow

A little shadow of yesterday
Is all I have of you,
A lingering thought
Dancing in the light of memory
That cannot be eclipsed by my present.

The Long Pause

Everybody knows you cried last night - jenbeez

She spent years trapped in limbo,
Trouble wrapped around her
Like a thousand writhing tentacles,
Squeezing, choking, suffocating.
She cannot blame some accident of fate
Or some menacing faceless stranger
For a plight caused by her own hand.
That bad decision mars her existence,
Keeping her trapped in her personal hell,
Not allowing her to step forward
And claim the life she was born to live.
She’s paid a hefty toll on this journey,
Confused emotions forced her to settle
For extended misery instead of happiness.

Overwhelming as it seems,
I know she still has plenty of resources,
An untapped strength to spur her on,
To handle the hard choices that face her,
To escape the sadness permeating her life.
Tears are not a permanent tattoo,
Only temporary tracks to be wiped
Away from a hopeful spirit,
One recharged with a new focus after a long pause.
Once again she will drink of joy’s libation
And realize life at its best is poetry;
That’s all she could ever ask for.

Seeking an Answer

Image by Ben Kokolas

Her search for an answer
Took her beyond the edges of the map,
Down roads paved with more questions.
Grief is her companion on this trip,
A cumbersome stray dog
That never quite sheds its feral nature.

The murmur of reluctant voices
Pelt her senses,
Silent taunts that only cement her resolve.
The dense smoke of days gone by
Wafts around her,
Seeping through her cracks,
Obscuring the view rushing by her window,
Masking her constant pain.

Grief invites her
To drink of his sorrows,
To lose herself in despair.
She refuses the distraction,
Continuing her search for an answer,
Still questioning how
The man who so easily entranced her
Could slip so easily from her life.

Seeking Power

If I had the power,
I would stop all the clocks
and save this night forever,
the two of us lost
in a cosmic whirlwind,
insulated
from the cynical eyes
of the world.

If I had the power,
I would cleanse
The anguish
From your soul,
Erase your memories
Of the careless ones
Who neglected
Your tender heart.

If I had the power,
I would capture
The glowing embers
Of your dreams
In a jar,
Keep them safe
Until you were ready
To pull them out
one by one
And follow them
To your destiny.

If I had the power…
But I don’t.
The only power
I possess
Is the power to love you.

Waiting and Remembering

I spend my time
Waiting for my coffee
With the other
Monday morning customers.
They are oblivious
To the girl
With the ransacked soul
In their midst.
My eyes are filled
With visions
Of him,
Of her,
Of them…
An endless nightmare
Replaying over and over
Until their faces blur
Into a whirling fog
Of betrayal
Wrapping itself
Around me,
A belt of treachery
Paralyzing my emotions.

The line moves forward,
And his pleading
For that second chance
Rings in my ears,
His denials
Of the truth
I plainly see
Tangled in the sheets
Of my bed,
As the crowd
Around me laments
The upcoming colder weather.

The line moves forward again,
And I return to
The long hours of weeping,
The hopelessness of living
In a world tinged with regrets,
The knowledge
I would gladly trade
For the blissful ignorance
I lost when I walked
Through that door.  

The line moves forward yet again,
And I find myself
At the counter,
The clerk’s smiley face sticker
Mocking my own stony expression.
He tries to engage
In his usual gentle flirtation,
But his charms are
Completely wasted
On my ransacked soul
Lying lost in my own
Confidential melancholy.

Permafrost

Photograph by Richard Schear

This is not the life I wanted,
Frozen in an arctic embrace,
A terminal chill seeping
Beyond my bones,
Freezing me from the inside out.
For years I’ve bundled myself
In cynicism and pain
But found no respite
From the cold,
Only an insulating barrier
Banishing any warmth life may offer.
I could never see the way
To melt my frosty heart
Is not to merely stand near the fire,
But to dance in the flames and
Surrender to the inferno.

Dark Destiny

I was born a seeker of the desolate,
Wandering in fields where
Serenity refuses to grow.
I possess a permeable soul,
Absorbing fresh shocks of anguish
That leave my feet frozen to the earth.
The depth of true despair
Is a flame that still startles
With its twisted misery,
Distorting reality,
Warping interactions.
And yet, knowing all this,
I continue in my mission,
For tomorrow is another day,
And another chance for redemption.

Sweet Temptation (A Gift for Snow White)

Adam by try to touch at deviantART

Do not be afraid, 

My dear,

I mean you no harm.

I am merely 

A poor grandmother,

Stopped to rest 

On my way home 

From a magical orchard.

You see, 

My child,

Inside the gleaming 

Crimson skin

Of this apple

Lies a secret:

Magic lives

In its juicy flesh.

I can tell,

Sweet girl,

From your graceful carriage

And genteel manner,

That you were not born

To toil in servitude

In a dark cottage

Such as this.

Do you really believe

That is all there is for you?

I thought not.

Your dreams,

The wishes your heart makes,

Can all come true,

If you only

Take a bite…

Urgent Clocks

Our insistent alarms

                                        And the first rays of sunlight

Send us scatterings like cockroaches,

Chasing the who

                         the where

                                        the when,

Propelling us forward

 In our agitated race for survival.

We forget our need to

S l o w    D o w n,

                            Breathe,

Enjoy the now.

Phantom Hope

A specter haunting my dreams,
He travels on the wings of the night,
Invites me to come fly hand in hand
To the space between the stars,
A whisper in my subconscious
Echoing through my bleak days,
A reminder that even phantom hope
Can sustain a broken soul.

A Confession

As I was
Lying in my bed,
I tried to
Remember
The reasons why love ended,
Why we split apart.

Forgiveness
Never came.  Angry
Poisoned words.
Denials of upcoming regrets…I
Was lying then too.

One Wish

A shooting star
Flickers in the sky,
Magical sparks
Trailing through
Endless emptiness,
The wish it carries
A ray of hope
For a lost soul
Wading through their own
Endless emptiness.

The Cruelest Game

Come to me, my darling,
Wrap your arms around me tight.
Pretend that you’re in love with me
If only for tonight.

I’m standing at the crossroads
And from both ways I see pain.
I don’t know how to walk away
And find real love again.

I know there is no future
In my world of make-believe.
With you I’m always honest,
But myself, I just deceive.

When the passion fades away
And emptiness begins,
I plot my next move in our game
And know I’ll never win.