My first published words!

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Darkness 

can’t 

explain 

moonlight 

nor 

rain 

define 

the veil 

of Spring  

patterns 

hide 

in a 

dragonfly’s 

magic. Reason

roams 

the 

knife-blade-edge 

of a 

curving 

rhyme. Seize 

elbow room 

for 

your soul 

ride 

a dust mote 

to 

gossamer stars 

dance  

across 

a pixie’s 

muffled laughter

Irrepressible joy 

flies 

outward 

dances & 

yearns

    children’s 

laughter 

flung

    pearls  

spiral up

    a blanket 

of light, floating

     a river 

of breath, dreaming

    fledgling wings 

rise 

& glow 

are born anew

    starlight 

& wisdom 

& awe.

East wind

sighs & slides 

past lovers

'neath a silvered moon 

Races toward 

her sister 

flying 

from the West 

carrying

  playground gossip

     coffeehouse lies 

They join 

where dawn 

is born Sharing secrets

  weaving patterns

    lifting burdens we cannot bear alone.

Sun-dappled skin &

my fingers thru your hair, 

head tilted back 

as fairytales parade 

across the blue canvas

sky. Nourished 

by cheap wine & kisses 

without end, toes 

in lush grass. 

Our farewell picnic 

was a merman in my bathtub 

was naught 

but a dandelion dream.

Fold up your paper wings 

my love. Partake of 

sparkling faery dust. The time has come 

to whisper soft songs 

of remembrance 

& dance among dry 

wishes. Tuck up 

your paper wings 

my love. 

The time has passed 

to dream of us. We 

shall not fly again.

When the ragman knocked, we sat him at our table. 

(Scent of cinnamon & chocolate) on a clear, crisp 

night. After, he quoted Yeats in lilting voice, & Billy 

traded his precious cat’s-eye marble.  

Mother said it was the shock of a full belly 

that did him in.  

And then came the first color of autumn 

to trim the Faery Queen’s new gown. 

Though summer’s thrall still held her wings, 

the fire within sang out in music 

one could scarce deny. All danced 

that night, & mischief bloomed 

beneath the harvest moon 🌙

We were a 

vast velvet vault 

untroubled

by storms. Silken 

promises glimmered 

& grew—bright 

woven moonbeams 

desperate dancing, sincere... 

...chimera. Eons

tumble. Our duet 

dissipates. I huddle

outside the comfort

of your fiction 

the passion 

of your glorious deceit.  

If truth has to hurt

& beauty is pain

When love’s harsh

or cruel

or drives us insane

If faith plays us false

& hope is illusion

—fair comfort aloof &

fate in collusion—

I’ll hide in my sanctum

my dark secret lair.

Transmuted remembrance

may stave off despair.

Your secrets—jumbles 

of wisdom, indistinct 

laughter, passion unknown—

summon me

from cocooned pain. 

In the vortex of your soul 

I dance. Each step

foretelling love eternal. Yet

your spark 

was evanescent. Wrapped again

in shrouds of safety

I listen. Distant

echoes 

lodged in my heart.

Rhythms call 

from dreams of you. 

I pluck them from the stars 

transmute them into words, encased 

in briny pearls, carried 

‘neath eyelids 

shut against your absence—

bittersweet tears

left to rain 

into my coffee; 

vanished love  

carried back  

to bring you pleasure.

She tries 

to dress the part, but here 

nothing is romantic. Color 

carefully brushed over cheekbones 

accents the pallor 

beneath. Anticipation 

fades; sadness pulls 

at loose threads. She 

is a mewling litter of kittens 

in a dirty cardboard box.

Your melody— 

engraved on my heart 

like birdsong 

at dawn—releases Hope 

held captive in dark corners. 

Lace up 

your dancing shoes 

and tango through 

my secrets. Sing 

to me of long forgotten love.  

Today, out 

on the water 

ripples and waves 

the sand undulating 

underfoot, and every  

passing cloud reflecting 

memories of you and 

me alone wishing I 

could share the  

path you left  

too soon.

Fragile fantasy, a masquerade 

of dappled lies, lends

grace to tortured dreams. We fly 

on broken wings. 

Till truth, 

with swift & brutal sword, 

carves deep 

into our souls. Though 

we bleed, don’t  

let us wake; 

for we are naked & alone.

He’d come looking for a mislaid reverie. 

It was blue, 

woven of fairytales, 

he said. 

Embroidered with stardust 

& studded with grace.  

I shook my head.  

It was raveling at the hem, 

he admitted, 

but warm.  

I looked away.

I’m supposed to caretake fallen dreams, 

not steal them.

Whispers lie 

tangled in 

chestnut 

tresses. His words 

creep & cling; slide 

unseen

into the dark. Toxic 

earwigs crawl  

through her dreams, 

weave through her hair 

as it falls 

across white pillows—

bare branches in silhouette 

against the moon. 

Luminous;  

unsullied by worry 

unencumbered  

by guilt—sleek  

meteor across  

my velvet sky. Too close  

Charred wings fail 

remembrance

of flight. Newborn sun  

drops too soon 

into twilight. Echoes  

of love, subsumed,  

can’t escape  

the brilliance  

of you.