Knot

you are not my muse
but through your verse
sometimes
she speaks to me

i'd like to believe
sometimes
you can hear her
if my words are true

and though there is
a chasm of difference
between
there is a knot

of understanding

Games

when tacitly we move from play
to more insistent games
with invitations intimate
our fires we will allay
coquettish glances faux demure
and catching breath with bitten lip
arching back insistent thrust
and taste of paradise

Inspired by an Eric Albin g+ post

Grace Under Pressure

And though she's at one hundred feet
beneath the cresting wave
down where it's cold and where it's dark
despite the light of day
she hums a little ditty
as she calmly does her chores
mesmerizing topside with her grace
under pressure.

Damn ... she makes the rig look good.

Inspired by RC deWinter's After the Banquet

The Price of Freedom

the price of freedom? Vigilance.
Deterrence is the stick
I carry on my shoulder
and I've practiced quite a bit

but lately my arm tires
and my shoulder is quite sore
perhaps a little Vigilance
turned inward from the shore

a little self reflection
in directions too long dark
for stick was ... is a living thing
with mind in part it's own

and with it I should softly speak
lest it perceive from lack of care
though we are piece and part the same
the enemy is me

stats are at sea

heavy seas or doldrums
each have their own travails
though average comfortably between
truth is the mode is not the mean

Bittersweet Demise (timing is everything)

when viewed end on
the start and end
just cannot be resolved

the journey be-
comes indistinct
the lie of latter days

the bittersweet
lives in the path
and timing is the thing

never take for granted
those whose shoulders
we alight

whose grace in being early
paves the way for others' life
in the face of their untimely
bittersweet demise

Inspired by The Struggle by Michael French

True Sight

In barbershop with bosom friends
upon the soapbox I alight
and carry on practiced aplomb
pontificating on what's right
and more on what's just wrong

until my eyes the mirrors fix
which on opposing walls
telescope true sight to me
a braying ass
receding to infinity.

Inspired by Fergus Martin's When a Soul Turns Black

Nested Simile

civil veneer is stretched quite thin
in fact tight as a drum
which beaten gives a strident tone

like chalk screeched down the chalk board
in a friday post noon class
when weekend sizzles in the mind

like soda in a bottle shaken
church key poised above the cap

pastel balloon floats
gently down on

pin

Inspired by Karie Thoma's Photo Shoot

Late Autumn Afternoon

shadows longing quickly
for the colors
of the dying leaves

Inspired by Amy Glamos' Autumn light

Restless Explorer

life takes you not
where you desire
but where you need to go.

the destination
matters not
the journey's lessons do

and if you find
that where you are
is fully challenge free

faulty or not
your heart will know
it's not the place to be.

Inspired by RC deWinter's Solo Crossing

Cleansing Breath

cleansing breath to wash away
the worries of the world
worries manufactured by
non-sequitur agendas
of the sitting King his Queen and Court
and aspirants thereof

in through the nose slow, long and deep
now linger at the fill
stretching alveoli to surrender all accretions
of the poisons they've insinuated in the atmosphere

out through the mouth with building force
a hurricane to fill their sails
and send the ship of state to ply
seas over the horizon

while in the heady rush of breathlessness
the scales fall from our eyes
we recognize each other and
the primacy of kindness shown
in each and every act.

Inspired by M. Zane McClellan's Ritual of Smoke

Nightmare Symphony

somewhere between Gregorian Chant & adamant Greek Chorus
fitful dozing interrupted by discordant strains
eyelids snap open in the dark
the melody resolves into
another corporate nightmare symphony

unrealistic deadlines
questions not yet fully formed
dis-integrated data in a cacophonic mass

from which compelling storylines
arranged in three part harmony
by morning must congeal
with a crescendo that kicks ass

so yet another iteration
pornographic divination
in the boardroom may commence

and by day's end the pump is primed
for sequel nightmare symphony
fueled by toxic midnight oil
and cups of bitter, black coffee