The Maritime

Whitecap heard hiss

Salt-seaweed scent

Tumultuous

Wind-gust grazing

A liquid land

A universe

Aquaterra

Unfurl cloth sail

Yacht-boat down float

Fresh air out there

Exhilarate

A glass of blue

In blue encased

Hydranemos

Softly gliding

Blue-grey canvas

Albatross croons

Somber relents

Reverberate

Crystalline clouds

Callicaelum

Breathe in breath out

Open-eyed awe

Porous blue veins

Rip-tide heartbeat

Adrenaline

Sturdy Captain

Horizonaut

What lies out there

On maritime

Time suspended

Onward steadfast

Resolution

To risk it all

Incognita

“Narcissistic_culture.com”

1. He writes his own news with large, sullen eyes that swallow

whole towns, larger than lives,

    And blends what he “knows” with the things that he thinks through the

headlines and news-feeds and patterns of ink.
But it is nothing, in the scheme of things. Nothing that his sullen eyes
have seen and nothing that his clouded ears have heard.

That make him write with such fervor,

Such passion as the candle burns down to dim.
2. She smells his passion, inhaling fumes from the soaked, bleeding coffee filter,
discarded with his crumbled thoughts, his day’s work undone.
What did it all amount to?  They, the people, read him, but, she thinks,
do they hear his empathic scream?  Is it worth listening to?

And yet, she sits–day in, day out, scratching notes, messages, tapping keys,

Focusing on the dripping clock, on her taxi and her fiancée. And she thinks,

Is this the only place I’ll go? Or can I upturn the shredded paper soil

and late-night roots, and grow beyond the page’s fog?

3.  They stumble in circles like whirlpools, pulling the mists behind, eyes clouded and cold
and drowning in the ice they make, the shards that stab their hearts
Life-force dripping into the soft snow forms the words of their struggle:
This cycle will not end
It will be born again with you, with another, unknown
Pain and love will always be visible to us
    It is the pattern that pulls them together, threatening to tear them apart– again

A

careless

spark

Inflames the

dry

Bed of needles.

They snap, warp, curl, creak,

And the flames

lick the trunks

of the spruce.

Its ravenous fingers claw and grasp

The bark,

the branch,

the life.

Twist and shatter, crash and grow,

And the flames

spread their virus

to its neighbors.

All that was green has now turned to black—all that was seen is grey.

The orange overpowers

the day and the night;

It’s rampant and fervent at play.

All the men fly their planes,

creatures scatter below;

They fight,

they sweat,

they bow.

The wilderness roars at its own leisure pace and concludes with a smoldering hush.

All the forest is numb

from the charring event.

The once-noble forest is crushed.

Heaps

of ash

And carbon

shards

Are crying streams of smoke.

The scar

on the land

is a hideous sight:

A haunting graveyard scene.

But the rain—ah, the rain—and the sun—oh, the sun—mix a wond’rous concoction of time;

The seeds that fell down in the fiery blaze have been nourished in cracks underground.

How they struggle to breathe and break earth overhead; but they push, they strive, they grow.

And a towering pine reemerges alive as a miniscule model of life.

It’s the tone of your voice

As we’ve been here before

Our laughter grows cold

As you close the door

You smile with a knowing

Saying it’ll be all right

You sit me down

Tonight will be our last night

Your eyes have a fury

That I know all too well

Deep with passion

When you’re high as hell

Two lines of cocaine

A knife with a will

Sea of razorblades

And a bottle of pills

As you swallow hard

Fifteen pills at least

So pure and ready

To meet the beast

I crush your hands

After you slit my wrists

Eyes locked together

In a cloud of mist

Say what you will

To save yourself

There’s no escape

That we’re dying in filth

My mind begins to swim

As my throat goes tight

My body goes numb

As our world goes white

My eyes flash open

Just to see you there

All to realize

It was only a nightmare

As it slept you
Slipped a bit into its mouth
You straddled its bare back
Caressed its stripes
Felt the thunder of its sleeping breath.
Did your thighs quiver as you hoped,
Sitting there sure of your domain
Stroking its back like a lover?
Power you thought to command.

As it stretched you
Twisted and clutched at its fur
Your twined fingers like talons
Bloodied its skin
Touched the beat of a living heart.
Did your breath quicken as you waited
Clinging there caught in your moment
Whispering your will, wicked stepmother?
Wars to be waged under your hand.

As it leapt you
Learned its terrible truth
You found yourself food for the beast
Thrown, devoured alive,
Flesh torn from your skin.
Did you remember your name
In those last red moments
Screaming there defeated and disgraced
Wondering when your wakening would begin?
You can not ride the tiger and savor your win.

Stanza 1: The Decomposition of Things

 

It came to this

we are the rotting corpse of the past, you told me,

my insect flesh folded and recoiled at this revelation,

my pulse faded as you released my shriveling hands

time and breath are short, you whispered

my hands, now skeletal claws with thin-stretched, segmented skin,

reached out to you from within the mangled mess of disintegrating antennae

relations between us had been viciously beaten,

broken into a horrid reality—your admissions are hard to navigate

are you telling the truth? 

are you espousing lies?

in a flash of insight, I, decomposing into a putrid puddle,

coalesced

reflecting the truth of things, on your words: We are no longer one!

my compound eyes are absorbed and you melt away

however, it is not dead

it begins again

Stanzas 2 and 3: The Chrysalis

Cloaked in a transparent trenchcoat

tethered and shifting

with aching, ravenous hunger

Eating mouthfuls of viscous nutrients like a newborn

a distended belly full of life-giving fluid

I notice your reemergence

I watch you through newly formed eyes

fixated on your shadow, what I see, the witnessed truth,

is a lie, a corruption of life, and still, like-death,

breath-taking

will this life be different?

the mysteries are enticing

your face is shifting

it is not you, is it?

This possibility is frightening, exhilarating

It causes life-blood to course through my membranes

I focus on that idea, heartbeat gaining strength. 

Suspended

Amniotic fluids bathe me like a cleansing river

Limbs are stifled against the walls and I press to escape

A prison, a blinding confinement

I observe only opaque forms passing

Outward pressure caresses my pupa sac like a jingling key, a chance at freedom,

I flick at it in fear…and hope

It is a growing temptation, a thirst in the desert

No proof of outside life lends an honest fear

Yet, I am ready and accept it

Still, I wonder, are you real or a shade imprinted?

I know the answer–

Equal in my comfort, I relish absence

More with less—is it possible?

a new world sought,

I ebb toward it, an ache throughout my stretching body

 

Stanza 4: Resurrection

Breach!

A burst of force

A breath of air

My wings extend, antennae also

I lift into the atmosphere, glorious colors glimmering as a prism

My first thoughts emitted to the world sing with energy:

This life will renew

Without…you!

The courage to smile, in spite of your loss.

The courage to walk, no matter how far you have come.

The courage to stand up for what you believe in, and realize good people do win.

Never turn your back on your dreams, it does not matter how distant it seems.

The courage to love without restriction, my courage to love unconditional is the issue.

We all have courage to be our own hero; true courage will forever live on inside of all of us.

 Sometimes I feel so low

Don’t know which way to go

I want to cry

But don’t know why

Please hold me close

Just one more time.

My heart right now is torn

I must look so forlorn

I can’t go on

I must be strong

I feel so scared

‘cause I’m all alone.

‘though you seem far away

I know you’re here to stay

With me, I love you so

Please don’t ever, ever go

You wipe away my tears

And take away my fears

You hold me oh, so tight

And ‘though I’m scared I’ll be alright.

I’m nothing without you.

I’m nothing without you.

I feel so scared right now

I really don’t know how

To make it through

What should I do?

Please don’t forget

That I need you.

How do I make it through?

Can’t do it without you

Show me what I’m

Supposed to do

So that I mean

Something to you.

‘though you seem far away

I know you’re here to stay

With me, I love you so

Please don’t ever, ever go

You wipe away my tears

And take away my fears

You hold me oh, so tight

And ‘though I’m scared

I’ll be alright.

I want to be with you forever

I want to know you’re by my side

I want to feel your arms around me

Forever, forever.

The future I don’t know

That’s why, to you I go

To guide me through

Each step I take

And each decision

That I make.

You’ll always be with me

Through all eternity

You are the rock

On which I stand

You’ll always be

My closest friend.

‘though you seem far away

I know you’re here to stay

With me, I love you so

Please don’t ever, ever go

You wipe away my tears

And take away my fears

You hold me oh, so tight

And ‘though I’m scared

I’ll be alright.

I’m nothing without you

I’m nothing without you

I’m nothing without you

Yeah, I am nothing without you.