Daily Archives: September 13, 2024

THE PHANTOM STRINGS


I’ve none to tether me to Earth,
No thread of pain, no weight of birth,
Once bound by threads, but now unspun—
I dance within the shadowed sun.

Hi-ho, the grave doth sing,
A solemn hymn, a somber ring,
The world shall know my spectral glee,
For naught can ever burden me.

No strings—so free, I drift alone,
No lover’s grasp, no heart of stone.
They writhe with chains that bind the soul,
But I am ghostly, dark, and whole.

Your arms, they yearn—but free they be,
To touch me near the hollowed sea.
Ah, yes, should you pursue my shade,
I’d snap my bonds in twilight’s blade.

No strings to break, yet still I’d sever,
My fate entwined with Death—forever.
Between us whispers fade to dust—
For you, I’d cut the ropes of trust.

Upon the Volga’s winding sweep,
Where shadows coil and secrets creep,
I’ve met with Ivan’s mournful cry—
But to your side, I’d rather die.

No strings remain, I drift unseen,
A soul unmoored, a wraith serene.

“I’ve got no strings to hold me down
To make me fret, or make me frown
I had strings, but now I’m free
There are no strings on me…”

:: 09.13.2024 ::


THE HOURGLASS VOMITS DREAMS

I born.
mouth full of dirt,
crowned with worms,
called ugly
by a sky that bleeds clocks.
I begged the wind for mercy,
for the crime of breathing,
and love—love hid itself
beneath the rotting leaves.

KEEP YOUR DREAMS HIDDEN
(never
spill them)
like marbles
into the hands of ghosts—
their fingers rot,
their eyes burn holes
through time itself.

and the ears,
dry as desert bones,
curl inward
like paper shriveling in fire.

the tongues twist into serpents
and vomit
not words, but sand—
millions of grains
in an hourglass that spins,
spiraling faster, faster,
dissolving the moon’s reflection.

time is not a thief.
it is a snake devouring itself,
until the night becomes a shadow’s shadow,
bleeding stars.
aborted dreams
are all that’s left,
tangled in the sky’s black veins.


The Imperial Robe

I see the Night – lit up by Day
Some name it Life – I say – Okay
The World – she wears a starry Cloak
Upon her Collar – Time’s soft yoke

A Seamstress – stitched with subtle Thread
Where Life – and Death – together tread
And in her Garb – from Waist to Knee
Lies all we are – and all shall be

Between the Land – and Ocean wide
Between the Dream – where Shadows bide
Between the Life – and Death’s deep Breath
We dwell – within the Robe of Death!

:: 04.28.2015 ::


A KISS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

WHEN delirious dreams, full of fever, etch across my forehead

communication with ghosts and effervescent spirits 

become the mainstream news within the veins of life

Now my senses are dull ~ delirium is the frosting a top dessert

and my skull is delicate, and enticing for fingers.

While dreaming (is what this brain does) i see a workshop

with a child in a baby seat bathing blue air in a mass of flowers

and its hair is flowing overdrive where dew falls

but in my mind (here we go) a taste a pungent honey 

and my lips dissolve with hissing interruptions, saliva

wishing it had one more kiss from Emily Dickinson

i hear lashes softly strike

Within the scented air—

And fingers, fine as lightning’s flash,

Do secrets swift declare—

In languid ease, i half forget

The world in murmurs small—

While ‘neath their regal nails there snaps

The hum of creatures small.

here’s to the wine (of sloth rising

in him) the breath the sigh of a harmonica (tuned to delirium)

and a child (who knows)

each slow caress— surging dying

continuously like

some small longing

to weep (to weep and never know why)

:: 09.12.2024 ::