Flowers for the dead, red as the blood you spilled,
Roses so beautiful in their essence
Yes in this symbolic gesture, they ring end
Spelling the conclusion of life’s very meaning

Red mixed with white, making a soul cry out
Drops of tears run down my cheeks
Tears of mourning, tears of loss
The dark creeps in, shattering pain rules my heart

I look down at your face, so peaceful, so serene
Contradicting what surrounds you
Tears begin flowing, unchecked, unstopped
Would you open your eyes one last time?

It's time I turned my feet for home
whence I've been gone too long;
the journey started with first light
and now the day is nearly gone.

The many trails I've walked upon
have all had twists and turns.
They've carried me through mid day's heat
and past cool evening's somber ferns.

At dawn's first light, my pace was firm
my step was sure and strong
but as the sun dips beyond yon berm
tired legs don't stride so light or long.

the night is speaking
its shriek whistle
pleading to the blue hills
wrapped in its gauze
its quilt houses in their
peeling paint
and sunscorned brickworks

feeding the industry
the machinery
and humanity crawling
in its worm speed tracks

the river swerving
where we baptized bathed
and watched fall blazeworks
in cold clear dusks
dipped toes in summer
sweet days
and fell in love
on bridges
riveted with a pace
that melded time

Forces of nature, that’s what we are, you and I
You are the water, gentle yet tumultuous
I am the fire, hot yet can lose all control
Together we are unstoppable

You are the breeze of reassurance whispering in my ear
I am the touch of life that stirs in your soul
Together we face the forces that engulf us
The forces that come together and collide

A collision that is felt at each encounter
A force that is so soul wrenching yet much needed
That it leaves us both breathless
You are my shelter, I am your salvation

Darkness beckons to her, its long reaching fingers
touching her to her very soul
its the darkness to which she may not surrender
no matter how much sweeter the prospect

darkness invites her to come, and rest
darkness promises her to eternal, blissful rest
it assures her that her troubles will be left behind
no more pain to be felt, no more ties to bind

How can I encapsulate
all which I feel
like fitting the universe
through the opening
of earth's gate

words are insufficient
to paint the clarity I see
as if asking,
why do birds fly

on my coldest day
when warmth
seems so far away
you come as the Sun
on a single golden
Ray

with slits for eyes he peers inside
those dusty corners in his mind
until he sees with certainty
the depths of his humanity
now laying there disheveled on the floor

remembrances of hoops and hurdles
leave sour tastes, like milk that curdles
and though he doesn't know it yet
this is a day he'll not forget
for it will be unlike those gone before

he said someday he'd go south,
away from the gaunt faces of
the men and women in his town,
all the young pretty ones
worn out and obese
by the time they turned
twenty five

far beyond the
whining relatives,
whose crops had failed,
the weather too hot
or too wet for success

Disciples of emotion
Protectors of innocence
Children of passion
Baptized by pain
Artists of the soul

Their heart speaks
In words of truth
That exposes
Heals and avenges

No army can defend
The artillery of a pen
No general can outwit
A mind bathed in knowledge
No politician can speak louder
Than words from a soul

Isolated from rationality
Labeled by society
Inspired by agony
Kept in their hearts

Torture system
Stretching cracks
Snapping bones and breaking backs.

Daily grinding
Rusty chains
Deeply flaying marrow pains.

Poison potions
Slyly nursed
Drunk to quench a dying thirst.

Vital organs
Slowly fed
Bleeding toxins to the head.

In confusion
Happy dreams
Drown the sound of harrow screams.

Withered muscles
Flapping flesh
In the graveyard maggot creche.

Bloated bodies
Crawling flies
Spilling out of hollow eyes.