Poems and very short stories based on daily prompts
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.