Stained

Words stained in viper's blood,
Those daggers chill my bones.
Love's her wild sharpened sword;

Wash hands and quit nature's role --
Cold separation's ill-equipped to reign,
But no music or lines await next act.

No more

Brings me to my knees
Predators and thieves
How they draw me now
With slight and humble bow
I submit and take my leave
Though they crawl beneath my sleeve
Biting and stinging they allow
No footprints so mark this wintry vow
From sunken state hungry to receive
Her open arms, only then will I believe.

Hellish

Texas went and took my name
Muted my lips by October's hand
Chased me into inferno with painted face
And left me choking on monstrous err
Texas went and took my heart

flounder

call me a creator
and I'll call you a thief;
paint me in muted blur
and I'll walk in blue relief;
carry me by guilt's remainder
and I'll fill pockets with my grief;
lead me north of man's evader
and I'll stumble in last belief.

Quake

Limbs carry me numbly as these wolves eat free
The error of my ways, the fumbling frazzled me.
They scold and teach across life's gusty sea;
But my frail heart meets death soon and simply.

Drowns True

Fetch the captain and ready the crew;
Those eyes of beauty no longer greet symmetry
What sealed his heart – our memory drowns true,

Never ashore merely left to a swallowing sea  –
The good compass misguided by a rose

Cast

trees and
hills i climb

all inside

valleys and
canyons i dive

all inside

Leave it

Mama, make for the road
That winds and bends
In the half-light, Mama
In the half-light,
Make for the road
That winds and bends, Mama
Remember me.

In me

Robins falter with
deflated breasts

In evening’s echo

of muffled cries

Winds lift and drop 
their feathers.

Warning

August stole the spirit and blew out the flame

Plight

Bind my hands and cover my mouth

Land me on friendless ground.

The chosen path shares no light

Oh, but for the rose I once knew –
I anchor in my plight. 

She Sighs

Past the chime
She wakes
And oh, she sighs.

Directions given,
Whispers, "Mama..."
And oh, she sighs.

Goes delicately
But then, but then – 
And oh, she sighs.

Seek

A patch in autumn's quilt
Thread in yellow, red, orange
Written for the traveller,
Hemmed in life's impression
The secrets nature drops.

Shake

fallen, yes I've
fallen

lost my honor and

smudged 

the course.

in with muddle

my hands, my words

they shake.

Here

Time's gone now,
And took with him
The friend I
Knew so well.