another from "Sonnet"

silence is no more silent

than the thrum of blood

heard underneath one’s breath

in a thick moonless forest

listening intently for the next

twig snap to anticipate her approach

(february 2012)

Rhyme Pattern: ababcdcdefefgg

patience

is

a direction

--

another dance

before the night is done

circle slowly

around the room

think again

what might have been

--

intent

--

emerson’s eye

forms the circle

the first space

--

my life

in conversation

at table

with friends

strangers welcomed

wine flows

glasses clink

words weave

between

warp and woof

--

near the garden

a hint of roses

edges towards me

a presence

on the periphery

like a trace

of laughter

after

she has left

the room

--

fear weaves

like frost

--

we each bow down

to smell a different rose

I am other

--

and of course

he had heard

it all before

the stock lines

falling from lips

he longed to kiss

so what the words

meant escaped

unchanged by context

falling between them

like bricks to a wall

--

again a condensate forms on the glass

and a fog pulsates along the back fence

one of our cats slip between the pink ladies

hoping for more than our safe offering

--

within his sarcophagus

this tomb of words

he hid from the love

which would approach him

until he vanished from himself

--

a rabbit a few laps away

from the protective briar

sits still as his death

near a dandelion and waits

for her to notice him

--

true to himself

the chameleon’s skin

becomes him

--

we merge

from "Sonnet" (Lines 1-14, tenth syllables)

(December 17, 2011-February 21, 2012) 

from "Sonnet"

true to himself

the chameleon’s skin

becomes him

from "Sonnet," (work in progress, line 13, syllable 10)

(February 2012)

from "Sonnet" line 12, Four poems

Frenzy

as if ariadne

unwound multiple

threads through

possible passages'

turns in time

to choose all

at once

--

then he waits for the moment

it takes the bud to open

a hesitation between heart beats

only in the tense demarcation

of the word left unvoiced

--

silence is no more silent

than the thrum of blood

heard while holding one’s breath

in a dark moonless forest

listening and waiting for the next

twig snap to anticipate his approach

--

Decision Point

a rabbit a few leaps away

from the protective briar

sits still as his death

near a dandelion and waits

for her to notice him

from "sonnet." (work in progress, line 12, syllable 7-10)

(February 2-12)

Eros

a slow lateral drift

days go by

and then you  are gone

from "Sonnet," (a work in progress, line 12, syllable 5)

(February 2012)

from "Sonnet," line eleven

risk

a relative

analysis

more a will

to lose

one’s life

for a simple

kiss

--

each of your actions parse

long branching lines

like sentences

streaming across a razor’s

grammarian edge

each word spliced

obsessively to my life

--

look

my heart

unfolds

--

petals

fall

--

kneeling

on this garden path

I gather

what’s left

like soft flesh

to my hands

--

slowly

my fingertip

traces

the curve

of your breast

--

I follow what’s left here

like hounds hot on the scent

baying across a marsh

are these trails real

or am I distracted

by my own desires

--

so many layers to sift through

years of fluid sand

slowly swallowing with each step

all who blindly blundered into our past

--

he drowns in puddles

of his dreams

--

within his sarcophagus

this tomb of words

he hid from the love

which would approach him

until he vanished from himself




from "Sonnet," (a work in progress, line 11, syllables 1-10)


(February 2012)

from "Sonnet," Four poems

Paranoid

through the frozen fields wolves prowl

I walk alone in the dark

afraid of each breath

--

true to the array before us

each crystalline spark

manifests its own harmony

we must walk slowly

through this field of fireflies

to feel these darkened wings

flutter across our faces

--

and alone

randomly

seemingly

without

reason

my eyes

well up

and I

weep

deeply

for days

--

again a condensate forms on the glass

and a fog pulsates along the back fence

one of our cats slip between the pink ladies

hoping for more than our safe offering

from "Sonnet," line 10, syllables 7-10)

Three More Poems from "Sonnet"

one august day

we trudged

up the path

to the top

of bread loaf

mountain

how do you keep going
she asked

over his shoulder 
he said 

I think of something else

--

conversation’s

never about

the topic

--

translation

equals

metaphor

a simple

geometric

congruency

to speak

is metaphor

to our reflection

what

are we

saying


from "Sonnet," (work in progress, line 10, syllables 4-6)


(February 2012)

Five Poems from "Sonnet"

Echos Down the Hall

she imagines a story

from minutia to another

who spins it out again

--

thus the spider drains the fly

--

worn from the struggle

and loss of support

I once again pick up

the scraps of my life

and start to sew

--

she pricks her finger

and watches the blood

form a red bead

she thinks as in a dream

of moving but can’t

yet does anyway

she winks and wakes

as if by a lover’s kiss

to a world already here

--

and of course

he had heard

it all before

the stock lines

falling from lips

he longed to kiss

so what the words

meant escaped

unchanged by context

falling between them

like bricks to a wall

from "Sonnet," (work in progress, line 9, syllables 6-10)

(February 2012)