These poems reflect upon various stages of romantic relationships.
I use bizarre intuitive rhythms and unique metaphor, trying to avoid the “typical love poem,”
while exploring one of the oldest of human creative subjects.
Two Skies
When in love, optimism lets us believe each sunrise seem like it was made for us. This sensation is caught in “Two Skies,” where romantic play is likened to the striated patterns of a multi-colored sky.
two skies, we might be
one spirals over the other
stuttering bodies welter, spin
victims to gory golden murder
bleeding stratus knives stuck in
and glaring killer is the sun
crashed through the window twirl
dizzied from a blood race won
like man invading woman’s world
Some Weird Forest Within
Lots of earth and nature scenery creates the image of a fading memory of a loved one in this effort.
where trees strain out
as nerves, disguised cells
that screech as flocking fingers
burnt amber’s hidden memories
frail fossils in their burying
sapped, they’ve lost their skin
turned flint-hard as heart, or skeletal
basic, as old wood can look like bone
Iron Flower
If you have ever known someone too independent and “strong” to accept help, or too scared to be vulnerable, then you might relate to this poem.
blossom
sheds sepal
flower doesn’t
need people
i water feel
she only needs steel
Invasive
The heart is an ecosystem, and love a feared pollutant, in this work. Nature imagery is prevalent once again.
its murine scrutiny creeps the meadow
like clustered furry stumps of hormones
where only insect introspection’s welcome
vermin whose fickle feelers tasted
that parliament of brooding mice, elected
voting in favor of space, instead
Her Dark Waves
Seeing through the rough patches is essential in sustaining a relationship. In “Her Dark Waves,” the ‘hero’ survives these trying times by riding them out like a surfer.
smooth sailing ’round the corners of her face
capsized by the torturous tempest of seaweed frown
remember he’s just tending garden, willing clown
court jester torn between the sand’s laugh
hanging tense like struggling to find balance
occasional surfer to her dark reign
Gemini
“Gemini” uses the astrological sign as a starting point for a playful exploration in how two individuals’ different totem animals might get along together.
when wolf and crow
go out to play
instinct and mischief
will have their say
no pack or murder
black, or gray
just twins of fur
and feather led astray
Fulcrum Tongue
Time and ocean imagery combine to suggest a sense of urgency in “Fulcrum Tongue.” The first person subject feels time is running out to convince someone that they could have a relationship.
these makeshift eyes
hammer sheets of pure will
like the monitor or merrimack
you’ve hidden beneath the
playful current of your back
where my hands submerge
as prelude to vulgarity
Entwined Horizon
Two Skies
Some Weird Forest Within
Gemini
Entwined Horizon
In “Entwined Horizon,” the horizon line is viewed as a nest of tangled lovers. Nature and Nation metaphors are combined to relate the romantic union of two people.
swimming fingers ride sweat tributaries
threading down your primal spine
equips these lands fertile for planting hands
like skin-touch landmine eruptions
on this entwined horizon
Blood Light Maybe
Medical imagery mixes with natural scenes, producing a sense of anticipation in the voice of the poem’s inquiring subject.
my blood is spicy and metallic
flows like circuitry, or city’s arteries
clangs in the coroner’s bottle, but
responds to traffic signal stimulus
like urban defibrillator symmetry
Spiral
“Spiral” uses a lot of oceanic metamorph to describe the sense of pining away for someone.
or adrift, left speechless, ashore will
resort to sigh language, moored to you.
wrap your whole being, your legs your arms
around me, spiral-shelled tight, certain
circling like you don’t want me to leave
She the Sky
“She the Sky” is meant to evoke the blissful feeling of a warm summer evening.
for what timid night prefers concealed
is revelation in her crescent smile.
while her scattered suitors creep in guile
and can only echo what they see.
wind’s anticipation fondles clumsy
canvased stars, like pointillism.
Sister Moon
This poem relates the tension of feeling the urgency of time in one's quest for romantic love.
the moon’s grace wears a pale gold face
but your shyness can’t fool me, your highness.
and the closest you come
is the daze of wind’s breath.
Like the Carnival
The end of a relationship can be like a merry-go-round, without the “merry.” This poem is no different.
steam wants to be remembering
her laugh was summer sex
sticky, just hangs in the air
melts you to an asphalt stain
for someone else to stroll into
Building Up
A bridge is used as a metaphor for the support one person offers another, while various natural building materials refer to the structure and formation of that relationship.
subtle likeness entrenched, enmeshed.
at peace this nest, the ego idol
given up, lifting purrs like wrinkled leaves
that flop like fish, their windy perch
parched and sapped, the hanging limbs.
winter’s past they reach at last
this branching out.