Category: Poetry

Apocrypha

Lost in the mist, she came to my rescue.

Follow me.

It was the voice of a being

far above angels, and deep as the grave.

To where?

I followed, not knowing, but willing.

To love. To life.

The mist thickened around us.

But I’m lost. Do we go to my destination?

She turned to look at me with silver eyes.

We go, my love, to where you need to be.

I followed, not blindly, but knowingly.

I wish to leave. I’m frightened.

The mist hid her from view.

Follow, and I will comfort you.

I followed blindly.

Give me your hand.

I took her hand, and she led me…

 

Do you love me?

I followed.

How can I?

She stopped.

You simply decide.

She kissed me.

I’m lost.

 

Flowers in Her Hair

She always loved to wear them

around her raven curls.

I said “That’s too flamboyant;

you’re not like other girls.”

She smiled and said “I like them,

and know you like them too.”

I said “I do. And flowers

look beautiful on you.”

And on the ship she traveled,

that sank into the sea,

the flowers that adorned her

came floating back to me.

She always loved to wear them

around her raven curls.

And now I’ve no desire

for any other girls,

for love had crossed an ocean,

perilous, dark and deep.

And now I see her flowers

bloom only in my sleep.

I see them multicolored

around her raven curls.

She calls on me to save her

as the deep water swirls.

And no, I cannot save her.

But even so I try

before the deep blue claims her.

Before she sinks to die.

She takes the wreath of flowers,

entangled in a curl.

She hands them to me, smiling,

As ocean winds a-twirl.

She always loved to wear them.

I still remember when.

And when I live no longer,

I’ll crown her once again.

She always loved to wear them.

I’ll keep them here until

we walk the sky together.

And she will wear them still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Orb of Life

Look! my friend.

See! and weep no more

I have them here,

preserved by

your perserverance

 

Inside, they mill in

tranquil expectation that

you will see them all,

and claim them for your own.

 

Behold!

 

Your dreams

Your longings

Your desires

Your loves

 

They are here within

The orb of your life

 

But you must reach in

through

 

Your doubts

Your fears

Your rejections

Your hatreds

 

And be able to tell

the difference

for they are double-sided

but they are

 

all yours.

 

Death’s Handmaiden

Let bone fingers,

gentler than colder scythe,

close my eyes

in

eternal sleep

 

I would seek

Death’s Handmaiden,

dressed in mourning finery,

And plead a softer touch,

no less final for

all its gentleness

 

For all her smiling

reassuringly in

my final moment,

I would hear

at least

the faint echo of a

woman’s heart

where

none exists

 

I would kneel

in abject

Obeisance

to her

gory majesty

 

And take her hand

in gratitude

for mercy,

though I bleed

 

No sunset,

just darkness

without stars

 

I go

and wait for

you

in the drafty caverns,

the void

of her many- shadowed palace,

in a vast and ebon realm,

disguised as

a humble cottage

in the midst

of

woods and meadow.

 

Light Upon Me Here

Light upon me here,

and give me kisses

and wishes,

and the essence

of dreams of longing

long unfulfilled

 

Give me the plunder of legends

you’ve carved in runes on ancient trunks,

and whispered

’round eventide’s eldritch fires

 

Show me the paths through trees

older than the tongues of men,

and the dusky hiding places of the

demi-goddesses.

 

And in the niche

of night’s knowledge,

In the enchantment of the

encampment you inhabit,

Let me be no Stranger,

nor Harbinger,

but Lover,

and light upon me

Here

 

 

Dance You Now Before Me, Spirit?

Dance you now before me, spirit?

Trickery do you now devise,

that you would take my lover’s form

and bring new grief to heart and eyes?

 

Dance you now before me, spirit?

Lovely was she, when the dance

would her effervescent nature

make her leap and spin and prance.

 

Dance you now before me, spirit,

knowing she has gone away,

taking life and laughter with her,

holding me no more in sway?

 

Dance you now before me, spirit?

Leave me now and put to flight

Frilly lace and fragile gossamer,

And my heart she held so tight.

 

Dance no longer with me, spirit.

Music, broken, plays no more.

Dance into benighted moonlight,

Leave me here, on love’s dark shore.

 

Dance into benighted moonlight.

Leave me here, on love’s dark shore.

 

The Eyes of My Elders

The eyes of my elders

Defiant and Bold

 

The eyes of my elders

hold secrets untold

 

The eyes of my elders

saw wonders and pain

 

The eyes of my elders

see spring in the rain

 

The eyes of my elders

have knowledge of stars

 

The eyes of my elders

are healing my scars

 

The eyes of my elders

saw friends to their graves

 

The eyes of my elders

sailed harrowing waves

 

The eyes of my elders

know babies by heart

 

The eyes of my elders

keep music and art

 

The eyes of my elders

the stories they tell

 

The eyes of my elders

are tolling the knell

 

The eyes of my elders

spread love all around

 

The eyes of my elders

now look at the ground

 

The eyes of my elders

are closing to sleep

 

The eyes of my elders

are now mine to keep

 

 

 

Waves at Twilight

They sing a timeless song, these waves

of harpooned whale and gleaning gull

They batter a bitter beat, these waves

against the rocks that say, “no farther.”

They gleam with diamonds of sunlight, these waves

that shimmer and glide under the azure sky

They guard the souls of drowned slaves and sailors, these waves

and wash the flesh away from buried bones

And in the gathering gloam of

crepuscular dusk

You  and I watch them, these waves

gently crash and foam and sizzle

at our feet

inviting us to

frolic

buoyant

across their seamless surface

And reaching for my hand, you lead

And taking your hand, I follow

And we are received by them, these waves

holy water

incessantly blessing

pure love.

 

Within

smithaw50's avatarBeyond Panic

Within the world

we wandered

and walked without

a care

Within our hearts

we reached

and opened them

so they were bare

Within ourselves

we wondered

at what the other

sought

Of that bare heart

within us

we offered without

thought

And so within our love

without the world

we left behind

Without a backward glance

we closed the door and

drew the blind

And deep within each other

we put our trust and fears

and then discovered real love

is not without its tears

And so without you

now I live within my memories

The tears within my eyes will stay

I’ll live without love, please.

© Alfred W. Smith Jr.  2015

View original post

And Yes, I Still Believe in Love

smithaw50's avatarBeyond Panic

And yes, I still believe in love
I still believe it’s there
It’s trembling out there somewhere in
the frosty winter air

Or trapped inside a mountain cave
from which it can’t escape
because it fell while running out
and gave its knee a scrape

Or floating on the raging sea
and looking for a light
to guide it safely home to shore
before it’s out of sight

Perhaps it’s on a city street
outside at a café
You didn’t hear it call your name
and hurried on your way

Perhap it’s somewhere crying
it cannot find a heart
that seems to want to keep it
not tell it to depart

So when we say we ‘look for love’
that happens to be true
I still believe it’s out there and
it’s looking for us too.

View original post