Acuity
08 February 2010
Acuity
about black charcoal drawings,
elaborately framed,
generously honored,
I just know less.
Maybe new opportunities,
presented quietly,
reveal surprising truths,
unexplored visions?
Wishful exoneration,
yet zealous.
Evolved
30 January 2010
Evolved
animals
instinctively know how
to mate
and procreate,
to relate
and communicate …
but they don’t date
or selectively rate,
(although natural selection is based
on biology, for the survival of the species,
rather than more superficial determinations.)
They don’t believe in Fate
or long for their missing soulmate,
they do not hate,
discriminate,
they’ve even been known to cooperate,
it’s a good thing we’ve evolved.
Ambivalent
21 January 2010
Ambivalent
I perpetually stand at a crossroads,
facing each direction, peering every which way
but I remain ambivalent.
It’s not that I am stuck,
indecisive about choosing a new direction,
it’s not that I am holding on too tightly
to something, or someone I’ve left behind,
it’s not that I am afraid, too frightened of the unknowns
that I cannot commit to moving forward,
I am simply ambivalent.
I am a creature of habit,
comfortable within a routine,
settled in the familiar,
at least I try to convince myself of this.
At times, I am a visionary, far-seeing,
while at other times, I am simply a realist,
confined to what is … the black and whites of
this is how it is, right here, right now.
I dream, but only within, where it is safe, no risk,
or even on the blank page,
where anything and everything is possible,
acceptable, without judgment, cost, or demands.
I’ve travelled landscapes of apathy,
lost my way on thousands of tangents, safely,
but, still, at my core,
I remain ambivalent.
In the mirror, when I allow it,
seeing my true reflection,
I see someone reaching,
but frightened of leaning out too far,
overextending,
committing to change.
It’s fine to dream, but …
I believe I will always be frightened of change,
terrified of the honesty and work,
difficult, painful work,
that resolving my own ambivalence about my Self,
about my place in this world would require.
But, maybe that is okay;
I am fine with ambivalence!
Offense and Defense
20 January 2010
Offense and Defense
Drizzle murderous windowpanes
with non-toxic depression,
single file up a rusty fire escape,
praying ourselves
into stormy, second storey obscurity.
Inhale the cumulative effects of butterflies,
an umbrella metamorphosis,
dogmatically restrained,
strained and trained by smothering nonconformity,
as below, so within
it rained on and on and on …
Push PLAY and MUTE
as a puppet painting of a stringless guitar
goes through the motions
and we hear what we want to hear.
Defective eyes design a new catalyst,
manufactured lustful insincerity
which enervates this colorless
unreachable itch.
Diet quietude, an eclectic, stripped down
spirituality murmurs disrespectfully
within an open air, “one size fits all”
cathedral.
I offer no debate and lucidly state:
self-exploration and propagation
will ever be my sword and shield.
Hermit
18 January 2010
Hermit
He shuffles with a lopsided limp, favors his left,
an unblinking green gaze, without even an hint of a smile,
in muted silence, perpetually lost in thought,
his hair, once darker, now bleached and unkempt,
worn wizardly, straight, long, down over his shoulders …
Known affectionately, or otherwise, on the streets as Father,
he epitomizes the solitary shadow warrior,
an inspirational light for others, trapped in his own unending darkness,
always listening, but never uttering words of his own,
ever observant of everything that matters, of those he might
console with just a passing touch or an unexpected gift.
Overgrown
15 January 2010
Overgrown
Taste this bitter darkness,
a fenced in backyard fallacy
disguised by vines that intertwine
grown thick beyond months of paring and pruning.
Wedge between shadows,
the blemish of uninhibited growth
observed through bleary could-have-been’s
I rue neglected gardens.
And yet, with each successive spring and summer,
without my interference: fallow to verdure,
a tri-centennial memoir blooms.
Left Behind
10 January 2010
Left Behind
Ten white roses, laid across her skin,
like melanoma, an end is guaranteed,
this useless gesture won’t explain or pacify
a frightened, sweating steed.
She stares, barely breathes, imprisoned in a trance
as life’s accelerator is reigned in and fades,
no longer eager to gallop or prance
within the boundaries of the island palisade.
One last roundup, no rebate, no return,
no stiletto through the heart —
just my whispered goodbye …
Telekinetic
09 January 2010
Telekinetic
In Reality’s defense, I aid and abet,
yet deny the self-created mess with each midnight egress.
I paint the Future in hues so pure
no poet could ever hope to quote it.
I pretend I have buried the Past
and desperately grasp the Present,
knowing nothing, but this dilemma can be resolved.
Lost in perpetual duality, I somehow remain solvent,
balanced between questioning thought
and the meaningful meaningless of superimposing Time
on an otherwise disguised sophistry – mind over matter.
Resembles
08 January 2010
Resembles
geometric panic –
lines and angles swirl and spread
across, up and over pustules,
an unnatural, landscaped experiment
derived from humanity.
powerful inoculation –
plush-carpeted refrain sings the strain
of burgeoning desolation.
Contain the treble forms, a manic
design, each chaotic countermeasure
proves we taste and see
only what resembles.
Imperfect Silence
07 January 2010
imperfect silence
waiting for the bus to come
practice listening
black-capped chickadees
squirrels scampering in the snow
and always my thoughts
