Tension

Making lace,
Like cross-examination
And well-paced drama,
Is all about one thing:
Carefully-balanced tension.

The strings and wires,
Fingers and wrists,
Must be positioned just so,
Tug here,
Give slack there,
And if coordination
Is met
– Gears in a watch
Turning and ticking
To the eternal circadian rhythm –
Then two hitches
Become one stitch

And there’s just
That little bit
More lace
To adorn her wrist.

A Strange and Beautiful Thing

Flickering cursors,
Green and red,
Dancing across the screen,
Up and down,
Left and right,
Comment and question,
Comma and em-dash,
Connection and correction.

Friday nights on
Googledocs
Can be a strange
And beautiful
Thing.

Another Brick

I’m sorry
Is worn around the edges
From timeless repetition.

I don’t know what to do
Is a little sharper,
Newer,
Clean lines and stark corners.

I love you
Is razor-sharp
And blood-stained.

Each is
Another brick
In a newly-rebuilt
Wall.

Anymore

Each tear is a searing needle
Digging deep into the soul
Every memory a traitorous
Tether, binding free will.

Lightest brush of the fingers,
Tingles remembered. Dancing.
Dancing across the skin.

Simple embrace,
seeking comfort.
Fitting together
Just like before.

A stolen kiss
Quiet whispers.

I can't do this anymore.

Betrayer

Raindrops fall like cat’s paws
Across the slate roof,
Felines circling the house
And waiting for prey to emerge.

Children,
Small as mice,
Grey and hunkering down,
Noses twitching
For the faintest hint
Scent
Taste of the enemy
Linger at the windows and doors.

Officers in black –
Armbands in black, white, red,
North and south,
East and west –
Clutch guns and stamp
In the cold,
Breath misting the air,
Impatient racehorses
Waiting for the firing
Of the gun.

The cat’s meow
Is a smile and a nod,
An affirmation and a sign,
Six points of gold
And the end of a child’s smile.

“Yudas,” says the child.

Betrayer, his mother screams.

Gifts of Life

Give me life and give me hope,
New beginnings and
Springtime joys.

Give me air and light,
Bright days and
Starry nights

Give me freshening winds,
Dancing waves and
Soaring birds.

Give me majestic pines
Wooded hills and
Rocky slopes

Give me vast deserts,
Shifting sands and
Scorching earth.

Give me frozen ponds,
Drifting snow and
Misting breath.

Give me a world of wonder.
Each day a gift and
Each night a dream.

One on One

Ivory on ivory,
Ten fingers on forty-eight keys,
And more songs
Than one man
Can imagine.

White on white,
Ten fingers and two hands,
Two fists against a gi top
And his best friend’s
Skin.

Peach on peach,
Fingers and vials,
Acid spilled onto the gap
Between lab-coat
And gloves.

Red on white,
Blisters and blood,
An entire wood floor
Laid out end to end,
A new home.

Don't Remember

Don't remember how once
You thought to fly,
Buoyed up on the warmest drafts,
Circling higher than you dared imagine.

Don't remember the giddy dreams,
The impossible visions,
Of what might have been.

Don't Remember.

Forget the gentle touch.
Forget the whispered word.
Forget the shadowed gaze.
And forget the sweetest kiss.

Forget.

Forget it all.
For the sake of sanity
And self preservation.
Forget what you had.

File it all into the past
Neatly ordered.
Every thought and wish and dream.
Keep it safely forgotten,
Labeled carefully in your mind.
Let it collect the dust of time.
Become yellowed with age.

Until you forget it was ever there.

To the Ground

A hundred steady pairs of feet
Marching left-right one-two
To the beat of synchronized drums,
Banners whirling behind them
Wielded by practice hands,
Horns and trumpets blazing abroad
A victorious army marching onward.

All it took
Was one pair of feet
Marching right-left
Two one
To send the whole thing
Crashing to the ground.

Project # - 80 Poetry

I know you probably expected it from me sooner or later, but poetry is the challenge this week. Open write or closed form. It's up to you.

Have fun and hope (for my sake) that the posting is better from me this week.

Overview #79: Travel

Okay ready for my epic fail to be over with! I only got out one piece and it was rather pathetic. So I will scrub this week and do better next week. The winner was Nagi so you can pick your prize!

Overview #79: Travel

So I didn't make it every day this week. I've decided that rather than backdate posts I miss, I'll take the days I get and lose the days I don't. I tried to stick with the Seraph-verse and Dagaz as much as possible, because the choirboys and girls deserve love, and the Dagaz will likely be around until I die. I spent most of my focus on trying out the characters in different modes of travel, partially to see what those were like, but in the end it all came back to how traveling affected the characters, how they interacted, whether they liked traveling in a given fashion at all. It was enlightening, about the choirboys and girls. I even got a bit songfic at the end. Not a perfect week, but a decent one all the same.

And...since I was the only one who played steadily this week (I know Xylas is having internet woes in Afghanistan) there's no good reason to pick a winner. Let there be competition next week!