O

Are there words left to convey
The most Ancient of Days
Or is all we'd like to say
Now doomed to cliche?
Does nothing remain
Except for our stain?
Has the word been forgot
They'd receive and not mock
And could we call it back if we tried?
Has virtue curled up and died?
Are we left with it's husk
Is this moment the dusk
Of the goodness that's left in the world?
Are we utterly hurled
Deep into abyss
Is ignorance bliss
Could we be more than this
Are we lost in the frost
Inhaling time's cost
As ashes and flotsam in space?
I was just looking for grace
For misdeeds I cannot erase
Questions sprung into place
Like bars in a cage
To my impotent rage
Same story, next page
Always trapped in a maze.

N

Mercy my friend

I thought lost ere the end

My fugitive's face

That's the thing about grace

What scares us the most

Are the things we hold close.

I'm lost I suppose

If I was ever found

If I was ever bound

For somewhere, someplace else

In all directions I find myself

And I've never liked a one

Roulette without a gun

To find the least mistakes.

M

Everyone believes something
You believe in you
Expect I'll believe in me.
Everyone's got a creed
So I'll tell you what I believe:
I choose a constant, aching need
Over never-ending greed.
I perceive a force that's for us
Among the mighty chorus
Proclaiming we are all alone
Yet I clearly see a throne
And even more I see a King -
So I choose more than just a fling.
I choose creativity over destruction
Uniquely made over mass production
Order over anarchy, freedom over fear
I choose to be fully present here
And know a thankful gasp's not a pointless breath
I choose a mortal life over a living death
A future I did not request
But was gifted at a King's behest
Because love can triumph even over death.
That's what I believe.

L

In a moment time's suspense
Will unfog, unfreeze, unfurl.
Sleep will lose its last pretense
As lidded eyes uncurl.
Banked fires now from cinders rise
And last night fades to myth
Everything that's born must die
But child, remember this:
Hold fast to this last minute
Where undying dreams take hold
Bare your soul and all within it
For destiny calls the bold
To rise from hopes of slumber
While never losing dreams
To see but never plunder
The wealth a morning brings;
This pause among the chaos
This temporary void
This gleam amid the dross
This breath among the noise.
For night falls ever faster
And gray soon pulls its chute
But ere the day is master
We see the world in mute.

Scuttlebutt: Haiku Vignettes

So many questions:
Machiavellian thoughts
Hide answers away.

Padlocked clarity,
Practiced insincerity:
A lie that's told twice.

A blind man's foresight
Precious liminality
Bridges possible.

Riddles, reasons, why
Truth's the best established lie
A game lacking rules.

Sunscreen kills a tan
Ev'ry ground is sinking sand;
Pleasure kills a man.

Too many questions
Answers lie just within reach
But fear shortens arms.

Too many answers
Make living a fearful chore
Too little comfort.

Armchair sanity
A middle both round and soft
Our aspiration.

With such lofty goals
Hands doomed to tremble, reach short
It's said life's a beach.

K

Walking in the space betwixt
The blinding light, the angry mist
Just rambling down the brambled way.
A tree comes down across my path
Must brave the roses' thorny wrath
To continue on my way.
For life's too bright and death too cold
To walk established roads of old
So I have split the diff'rence.
Gouges, bite marks, a bloody sheen
As I crawl the wilds between
The aged divergent prints.
I thought the middle would be bliss
No trumpet blasts, no angry hiss
Just a quiet, tranquil place.
But there's nothing there, save musty air
And a barbed-wire heart in disrepair
In the waste and empty space.

J

I am inconsequential
I accept this as truth
For a lifetime of proof
Points solely in that direction.
One gnat in a swarm
One rat in a race
At least that's what I wish
When I have a face
For mostly I'm faceless, you see?
Unremarkable, Unmemorable
Easily replaced or forgotten
One feint and I'm so besotted
I fall for it every time
And then I'm left to die
The swarm one direction
Another, am I.
I know I don't matter
And I place no blame
All rejection's the same
After a while.
At least, that's what I say
In whispers at night
When the pain wraps tightly
About me.

I

A forbidden affair
Oh what could compare
With this feeling
Free-falling and reeling
An imbalanced trust
Liberally sprinkled with lust
Just one more hit
Then I swear I'll quit
Another toss of the dice
Just once or twice
Just one more vice . . .
The needle burns cold
All my dreams growing old
And I'm bought and sold.
Her kiss lingers sweet
A hint of deceit
A game of chance
Addiction's dance
Divine romance
Is sundered
I'm slowly pulled under
My veins turn to ice
Twice became thrice
Denials the price
For one little taste
One foot in waste
One foot in sun
What have I, what have I done?