Some Poetry from a Hundred Years Ago

BROKEN & BLOODY

How you stole your way into my life
is a mystery, even to me.
I'd lost track of the barricades
I'd constructed over the years, shielding a heart still breaking
from a love and a half ago.
You leaned against nothing but the sky
as it reached the rest of what there was.
Laid back, you slid through life
like a blade on ice.
Something about you
a sculpted face
designed at the hands of infinity,
ravaged with character.
Was it magic or a game
one without rules.
Whatever it was, it is no longer.
For my heart lies nearby
broken and bloody
Too long under your knife.
Yet something about you lingers
probably always will.
You took it all back, Indian giver.
Yet nothing ventured, not a thing gained.
I just caught my breath
Though you've been gone
Forever.

Untitled

Stolen innocence is what I cannot get back.
It was taken from me, taken.
What can I do now, but listen
to the demons that live inside my head
and purge my heart of hatred.
But first wish him dead, because
his death might set me free. 

MY LOVE

Your smile, the one I feel in love with in another life
it betrays you, for in its lines and creases is proof
proof someone else occupies your thoughts
proof someone else is held in your glance
In your arms and in your smile, the one I fell in love with
in another life.
my love, where are you when we make love
Whose face do you see instead of mine
Whose name do you say in the solitude inside your head
Just now, I have noticed you hiding
behind your smile
the one I fell in love with in another life
the one I forgot, last night
the last time you held me.


 THE MIDDLE OF ME (prayer for a voice)

Fly away!  Get away from what stifles you, whatever is holding you back. Be wary of those who tell you who or what you are, or especially who or what you should be.  Take charge of your dreams and what images you see.  Take charge of your life.  My hopes for you, the child, the muse within, have only the ends of the interminable earth, the heights of a dreamy, cloudless blue sky as limits.So go!  Be you, whoever that is.  Know that happy endings exist, sometimes only for effect. Know that life is seldom fair. Know that sometimes, most times, it is difficult, but know that most things are possible, most times. Know that people are mean, and just as many are kind and openhearted.  And know that it is dreams, the process of imagination that life is about.  And the sky, the earth, the crashing waves of the ocean.

Take risks, my child.  Please don't let my fear stop you!  The fear I feel was forced upon me by poor judgement, misconceptions and lies.So I feel stuck.  Not you.  I'm counting on you to do the work.  You go push the limits, fall down again and again, but get back up for when you are on your feet, you can move forward.  Sitting in one place, it is so easy to just look back.  Take big huge steps.  Go and don't be afraid, although it is alright if you are.

I am stuck, but I am setting you free.  I'll try and follow.  Know that you are so loved.  Know that you are mine, yet I belong to you, as well.  You live inside of me, a breath.  A muse.  Inspiration.  I call you the Middle of Me for you are.  So go!  Write.  Speak. Do whatever it is and say whatever it is your voice tells you, for your voice can do and say in equal measure.  Go now.  I'll protect you.