This Valentine's day won't be like that

This Valentine

She said this Valentine's day won't be like that
The words create the presence of a ghost refusing to fade
But time ticked by has softened the edges
Of the tiny blades of remembrance from such words
She said there won't be any despair in my bed
It sounded like hope as much as a promise
But it was just another urge created in ether – wishful
Now they feel like old wounds and have new associations
Beneath a sky plenty of yet unacquainted stars

– equusignis

It had wispy clouds

Hey Hey Hey

He was staring at the sky
It had wispy clouds
Then the thought came to him
Or was it a memory
She said we are Neruda – I mean a Neruda
It caused a smile and he felt it even though
They had not yet met in person but he could feel
The pixels of her words on screen vibrating
In some unseen place inside of him
He fished out his camera
Uncapped the lens and slid the cover
Into a coat pocket the inside warmth
Felt like the caching of a secret
He clicked at the sky the shutter was percussive
In his head she said hey hey hey
Hey I love you
He lowered the camera
Replaced the lens cap
His hands now cold and a little numb
And turned away from the memory

5 February 2008

Floating World

Between earth and sky
there is a floating world
unseen by the likes of
who walk by day.

Beneath earth and sky
there is a kingdom
of ghosts of those
who haven't let go.

In the distance between
him and her, there leagues
that yet to be walked and
wows yet to be exchanged.

November 28, 2009

equusignis

Linen

It is my left hand that reaches
Reaches for a form that is now
Only memory though so vivid

Reaching for bleached coppery
Wires above the warm pillow
Gentle breath against the linen

How I want me to be the linen
To be part of breath taken in
To be the life in melancholy breath


October, 25 2007

Swords and Cups

Write some words,
Make them soothing;
It's only morning.

Flip some cards, toss some stones,
Light the incense, inhale the smoke.
Drink the tea, it's much too hot;
Scalds the tongue but doesn't hurt

As much as what lingers.
There's the eight of swords
And three of cups;
The magician is so out of place.

Write some words,
Make them soothing,
Make them healing.

October 23, 2007

Outside the window the night is still cold

Stray

From another point of view
perhaps the truth looks different;
perhaps the hues will be warmer.

Outside the window the night is still cold.
Sky hides the stars from me
so my thoughts don't stray to her.
Sky tells me, "Find the warmth in clouds
and I'll cleanse you with morning's rain."

October 17, 2007

poised for autumn

all senses poised
for autumn
like a leaf on edge

october 13, 2007

Like Gunpowder

Below a splotched sky
He needs tea like gunpowder
To hold against images
Lingering from last night's
Dreams like she lingers
In his consciousness

Feeling flighty

Early morning
Chill of autumn
Tea grows cold fast

Feeling flighty
Feeling nomadic
Images of deserts

Turquoise then shells
Some place to find
Warmth for the heart

October 11, 2007

Today I Drank Jasmine

I picked up these artifacts;
they made me think of her.
that night I drank tea;
ginseng oolong with friends.
Today I drink jasmine
and choose a quill to suture
words knowing she is gone.

October 9, 2007

– equusignis

Limbs or crooked lines

Collision

Thinness or is it shallowness?
Limbs or crooked lines
against a thick flat grey;
a ceiling that reflects
as much as it shelters.

Branch or forearm?
Appendages
that have purpose –
how do such organs compare
with the spongy grey

that thinks or the red
pulsing lump that feels?
There are so many
extremities like a thousand
souls reaching out, each looking

for a new flavored Nirvana.
And they are all related to
two particles crashing
into one another in the vast
traffic jam of this universe.

(May 12, 2007)