that's mrs. mediocrity to you

i watch the sound of you
make shapes in the enemy of sky
and you shift change until I lose
the voice behind your words

this earth is cold and grey
and i stand motionless
as you scream
your quavering dance
through a wind
filled with knives and
stinging nettles

your flight is the map
of all things living
and i raise my arms

briefly

thinking perhaps i could
cut in
learn to waltz
or at least

follow

but I am no angel and
you have black wings

i have fingers and toes
and this listening heart

and we both know

this is always and never

even as you land
on the corner of my shadow

pecking code and
marking melodies

neither one of us
is free

::

This post is part of Reverb 13:

Day 2: What made your soul feel most nourished this year?

::

.

this year,

and every year before it,

it is always

simply this:

words

.

you were whispering something about vestibules
and i kept staring at the cloud that
reminded me of promises

music played softly in the corner of reprieve
but my feet stayed restless and
the anklet i wore like a young gypsy girl
jangled with pale pink impatience

you circled that white elephant for hours
pretending to ask for forgiveness
with a smile that’s always loaded

because you know how much i need deliverance
even as we both admit it is never yours to offer

and i kept throwing shiny bits to the curb
gifts for crows to covet, gather, hoard
this ring, that sequin, those tomorrows

your voice in my ear was a sunset of description
and i had nothing but rhyme to gift in return
but you kept wrapping and i kept smiling
at those clouds always changing

ever dancing

mirror making

i listen for the space between splashes
and wait for the mystery of fountain

water is everywhere and i’m afraid to drown
one drip of silence at a time

but this pool on the floor just keeps growing
rivulets and fingers spreading stain

i dip my thumb in your aged chalice
still thirsty for all you cannot give

in this room i read the chronicle of empty
and everything you feed me tastes of salt

my heart drinks you in and spits lost longing
into the dusty veil of open corners

this is the mud we wallow in
though later we’ll leave footprints in the hall

as the laughter of thunder echoes lightly
and rain keeps running down the wall

.

.

.

.

Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night – join us!

it’s not my soul i want to show you
though blue is never hard to find

not my heart that opens
petal by petal

nor an hourglass ticking beads
of broken glass and burnished
mirror

i lay on the ground and stare at sky
to see the everything of nothingness

but there is no cloud
to hang my string from
and i find
i don’t want to be tethered

i embrace eternity’s grace
even as it leaves me

barren

open

whole

i’ve moved past something
without even knowing i was turning

and if i lay here long enough
the sun will bleach my bones

i find this comforting

the dance that began in my feet
has found the window of my eyes

i let the music fly
sigh dry
cry high

this
is what i want you to hear

this is the year
i learned to sing

.

.

.

.

Linking up with the fabulous dVerse poets for Open Link Night – join us!

.

life

.