Tender Point

Morning awakes in a drafty mood,
dark and sleepy,
when fibro fog slips under
her blanket
reaching down to cloud the source
of her pain.

Her head, neck and shoulders
are again unsure
if the day’s plans are reason enough
to move
her tightly knotted muscles
into a façade
of normalcy.

Her fitful sleep only provided
exhaustion
and her stiffened jaw
has difficulty concentrating
on the words needed
to explain her pain.

The slowness
in her depressed eyes
cries quietly for each ligament
each tendon,
every soft fibrous tissue of her body.

He pulls off her blanket
as she tries to stand
wondering where he is allowed
to touch her
today.

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When Shadows Don’t Match

My shadows
are supposed to stay
where they are put.

That is the law
of windows at night
and lawns when the sun
is tired.

Reflecting,
I must leave the darkness.

I will rip my feet
from the black socks
that connect me
to that distorted lie
in the carnival mirror.

I am not that girl.

I will put my socks in the washer
tumbling until
one is lost forever
and I emerge
clean.

Spill

There was
a resistance,
a hiding,
a secret place
I thought
you could not go.

The first slipped
almost skewered
on a quick blinking
lash.

My sleeve flew
absorbing
what it could
as my head turned
with a distraction
meant to fool.

But shoulders
are loud
and traitorous.

Guest Poet: Melanie Bishop

Poet, living and writing in NYC, sharing her work on her blog: Cassiopeia Rises

Behind Your Eyes

look, look deep into your eyes
behind the color blue
______rimed with darkness
a nebula world, one few know
few care, few will ever see

in twilight, your eyes open
letting in the nights shadows
_______shadows that fill you
shadows that complete you
weaving webs of deceit and fear

beware the dimly lit paths
aglow around you, drawing, pulling
_______like spirit lights on the moors
we will suck you dry and snatch your soul
no second chance, no escape

Extreme

extreme sadness
____heart empties
into river of tears
hardens
as your face fades
nothing, nothing left,nothing
no you ,no us
_____alone with
just shadows of where you once were

Deja Vu…..

old creaking joints
skin drawn tight
across skinny bones

lips once soft, smooth
pulled slightly apart
reveal yellowed teeth

hideous form caught in time
indurated, it blinks while dreaming
of tea party’s and lacy pink dresses

feeble, mind dull, it stops and grins again
my face, it’s face slid from it’s once firm place
a face that shadows me

useless, feeble, slow when once I know
yes, once I know I ran deer footed
and laughed, laughed out loud

when once I wore those lacy pink dresses
and danced the night away
trailing soft summer flowers

Fleeting

fleeting are our days
count count the hours as they pass
petals drop fore lorn

Bag Lady

Bags tied to an old cart
Again and again she stops
Garbage her only friend
Lonely and homeless
Agatha walks on unknown
Day after day seeking cover from the cold
Yielding in the end to the ice and snow

Did I Forget

did I remember to forget your kiss
drinking while softly singing your song
did I run out in the rain, too late
where now nothing but silent shadows remain
will you fade from my heart full of pain

Contact Melanie at:

http://cassiopeiarises,blogspot.com
beloved49@gmail.com

Photo by Patricia A. Hawkenson

Be Self-indulgent, Feel No Shame

You may have to think hard
to remember
boredom,
that lay on the couch,
curl up with a good book
lapse into nothingness
way of existing.

Ahhh…

Drink cocoa
slow.
Lick marshmallowy foam
off your lips.
Expect nothing
more than the turn
of another page.

Ahhh…

Let quietness seep
in with breaths
deep and warming,
hot mug to your cheek.

Linger.

Let only decadent words
pour from your mouth
when silent reading
can not be done.

Ahhh…

I Found a Mystery Egg

I am a prisoner
of Farmville,
trapped in walls
of colored bales
so coins and levels
can speed the deed
of harvesting plants,
and trees,
and God help me,
a hundred chickens.

You know my torture,
know my level,
my quest
for the next upgrade.

‘Till log in issues
temporarily stop
harvesting gifts
off my Live Feed.

So Tech Gods
solve the bug
sending farmers swarming
to their diamond dirt,
as the Devil seeds
a greedy need
for a hundred neighbors.

No more.

I have sold my farm,
chicken by chicken,
my voluntary commitment
for a Farmville detox.

I will be a prisoner
no more.

Rotten Apples

They say,
“Stay in your own generation.”

“Don’t embarrass us
with your attempts
to dance,
or dress,
or speak
like us.”

“It’s just wrong
on so many levels.”

Some things,
like age,
level up
not down.

Newton’s theory
may be as dead
as he is.

If I wait long enough,
fermentation
or Alzheimer’s
might let me
dance again.

Then I will say,
“If you don’t want
a black and bruised eye,
Stay out of my way.”

Chipmunks Hungry for Seed

Snow fell softly
into rounded mounds
then hardened.

Little critters
leave puncture wounds
as they scurry on.

They can search all day,
but find no food.
I am hoarding
my share.

Cheek cutting wind
turns my face
to find warmth.
I can search all day,
but find no affection.

I am snow,
dark shadowed
and blue.

So hardened.

Scar Tissues

Days blur weeks
into tear filled months
until the year is
gone.

I don’t know
how sick I am
until the medicine
works.

Then breaths deep
clear my head
until I can feel
again.

All I want
is to absorb it all
until we both can
heal.

In this second
there is only today
until tomorrow
infects.

A Triangle Has Sharp Corners

My life spins
like an empty bottle
when I am with you
remembering.

Unable to pour out
what you do
that reminds me
of him,
only a smile points
its way to my lips,
my guilty pleasure
remembering
what we did.

When I recognize
that smile on you,
I have to let
you drink it in.