Selected Poems
In the past, while I was going through some of my most difficult times, I wrote poetry to help get some of what was going through my head down on paper in hopes that it would go away. It helped some. Here’s a few of the ones that didn’t absolutely suck.
#9
Equalize
Penalize
Realize
Educate
Ideate
Patricide
Matricide
Fratricide
Sorecide
Suicide
I decide
#15
My life in twilight does not reveal,
my world’s a twisted mass.
The shadow and the murk conceal
a great and deep morass.
In semi-dark I life my life,
my past in dreams emerge.
In terror, pain and rage I run,
to try to stem the surge.
Be good, don’t talk, don’t bare your life.
Mute, I relive my past.
Obedient to all I learnt,
the gag still holding fast.
#4
So much to say,
but the muse has left.
Fleeting glimpses,
an ethereal scent detected,
then a breeze carries it away.
It touches the heart,
then quickly retreats.
Intense behind timidity.
Lost.
Precious.
Sensed but not seen,
hidden from the mind’s eye.
Treasure and bane.
It’s here, it’s there,
it’s everywhere, then nowhere.
Softly it sidles in.
Then noticed, it flees.
Only a glimpse caught
to testify it was there at all.
#5
Words are my shield,
without them, I’m defenceless.
Words are my sword,
without them I can’t fight.
Words are my armour,
without them I’m vulnerable.
Words are my lance,
without them I fear.
Words are my mace,
without them I flounder.
Words are my steed,
without them I’m lost.
Words are my life,
without them I’m dead.
Words are my burden,
with them I drown.
#8
My words are precious to me.
The cradle me in their structure.
The defend me with their meanings.
The shelter me,
large and small,
obscure and common.
My family of words,
They allow me intimacy.
They grant me distance.
When they’re gone I’m bereft.
I grieve their loss.
When I have words
I have meaning.
#6
I look at Snoopy
The cartoon dog playing the vulture.
Looming over potential prey;
pouncing on the unsuspecting;
leaping on the unwary.
Playing at menace,
pretending lethality.
Giving up the role in favour of
the supper dish.
Would that human predators
were so benign.
#8
Reflections in a dark looking glass.
Peering into ancient fun-house mirrors.
Spider webs of cracks.
Distorting,
Stained by time passed.
Fogged and unclear.
Grotesque and misshapen silhouettes.
Familiar and alien.
Substance removed.
Shifting images in
moving perspective.
Clarity focused in tunnel vision,
piece by piece by piece.
Periphery blurred;
inherently incomplete.
Scrying into the long ago.
#9
The peace of my internal ice age
Layer upon layer of fallen snow
eons of frozen time
Lifespans of advancing cold
Grinding weight underneath
Waxing in the face of apathy
Counterpane for the terrain of my heart
Altering the landscape of my soul
Eroding the surface of my mind
littering boulders of fear,
of mistrust,
of anger.
Too heavy to shift,
Too massive to chip down.
#2
Distance granted by age
Eternity in an instant
Past, present, and future
Paradox of time and mind
Illusion of cries past
Merged into the clamour of the present
Fused into the din of the future
Scrambling for interpretations
Clashing in confusion
The chaos of the universe
In the microcosm of the mind.
#5
Looking out of the window
Awed by the prairie sunset
For me alone, yet shared with all
Great smears of pink and purple and orange
Daubed by nature’s hand on streaks of cloud
Displayed like a peacock’s tail spread wide
Reflected upon the snow
On into infinity
Overwhelming in its vastness
Lasting forever
Then the sun bid its last farewell
And darkness wrapped my world,
cotton around a china plate
#6
Peering in the mirror after
the first of the morning pee
Pillow creases embedded on my cheeks
Sleep puffy eyes glare out
between slits
Hair standing on ends
poking out
Looking like spider legs
A pile of straw raked up
Medusa inspired, unintentional art
Uncooked ramen noodles
broken in a bowl
#1
Open door
Shaft of sunlight peeks in
Grass moist with morning dew
Flowing gown, silky soft
Butterfly kiss
Dizzy, spinning in circles
Watch arms fly out
Fall down
Clouds, soft cotton, float by
Bee hums in flowers
Dance though water weeds
Water splash on rocks
Sun warm on face upturned
Big tree, green leaves
Shade cool, trunk rough
Climb high, rest on limb
Look down on meadow green
Flowers red, yellow, blue, white
Butterfly staggers from bloom to bloom
Rest cheek on rough bark
Breathe
Smell moist earth
Scent of pin, of leaves, of flowers.
