The first hints of fall
a few golden poplar leaves
scattered through the woods

Fading spots on fawns
born early in the past spring
seen in mid August

Nesting birds grow scarce
as well as the fledglings' chirps
when young take to wing

At last morning air
carries a slight hint of cool
instead of moist heat

Trucks parked on roadsides
abandoned by owners
now scouting deep woods

Green winged teal arrive
first migrants through southern states
but hardly the last

Come to Tir na mBan, the fertile land,
Where women reign and rule the storm.
We'll feast and dance untill the morn'.
Here on the Isle of Women.

Grainne will welcome you with a gentle hand,
as fog rises from the ground.
You'll steal away into the night with hardly ever sound.
Here on the Isle of Women.

Etain shall teach you how to hunt,
beast and man alike.
Creeping and crawling through the brush untill the morning light.
Here on the Isle of Women.

Killing God

I worked at a drive-in theatre
years ago
before they died.
not a bad job
lots of movies.
Some tedious tasks,
I had to check every speaker in the field.
Turn up volume,
listen,
move to next post.
Turn up volume,
listen,
move to next post.
Turn up volume,
listen,
move to next post.
five
hundred
times.

Eight years, one month, eight days

Eight years, one month, eight days
after we met,
she called.

Eight years, four days
after we became lovers
she called on the phone.

Seven years, nine months, seven days
after our first fight
she called to improve her social skills

Seven years, eight months, seven days
after I had to go away for a while
she told me how alone she is

Seven years, seven months, seven days
since I came back,
bearing love and gifts
she told me of her losses

this emotion
races its run
like dull blades
pulling on the soul
I can see the flames
of our hot ghosts
wavering
even the mirrors
are cracking

and the maze is
growing deeper
and the water
is filling up the
silence
glittering like
stars when it
catchs light

Ill be swallowed up
soon by these
inextorable depths

and I welcome it

before me, there were trees

rocks and rain
and stars

with the passing of time
I have learned
to tie my days with the red thread
of sunrise
to dip my fingers in spring-cold water
of wisdom
to watch as warm wind visits
my window

outside my pane
a hundred smiles
are born from the strength
of just one vine

this life is
too brief a journey

There is a space that is filled with longing
To hear the soft tender song in your voice
A void created by distance and the silent’s
Inside my much torched soul.

Accepting, that freedom is not a state of mind
But how you live, and how it brings to you
A wonderful feeling, which is called peace.
Your center which guides your universe.

I reveled on the fringe,
gathered my skirts...

I loved to love and hated
my love of the tainted love
that drowned out the sounds
of drowning men in the sea of
modernity. I scoffed at excess
and drew perpendicular lines in the
sand, announcing myself the prophet
of the ages, an oracle of poetry.

Blind to an unseen gaze
stalking me in the dark alleys I'd ventured
I stumbled on the fracture of confused thoughts
steering them through an insane traffic
deaf to the sirens howling at me
amidst the din of
pendulous swings of my conscience

My seamless thoughts knew no bounds
on hearing gunshots and screams
waking up to read the count
of the Fourth Estate
I felt like throwing up
counting baked beans on my toast
gone rancid...

raj (sublime_ocean)
15aug2011

I'm including the original with the revision because I got a lot of good solid critique with this and want to compare the differences directly.

Hard Man

I wish I was a hard man,
who men look at in fear.
I wish I was a hard man,
who women palpitate for in fear
I wish I was a hard man
so friends wouldn't call for help
in the middle of the night
I wish I was a hard man,
so women wouldn't love me,
as a friend.
Then I wouldn't have the responsibility I have,
of love.

Hard Man