December/January poems

One

Falling like the autumn leaves
I drift upon the winter's breeze
Across the stormy, star-crossed seas
Into the land of death.
Writhing with every gust of breath
Fading out and turning brown
Whisked along the dying ground
For what was up must soon come down
Into the rivers, into the sea
Scattering pieces of me
In every known direction
The crunch, the dry inflection
Of being trodden under foot
Turning into dust and soot
Now distant memories
As I drift into the sea
Alone, alone and free
Now a fading melody
Heard only by the trees
Then forgotten just as me.


Two
Different shards of broken glass
Each with different flaws
A myriad of colors
Defying nature's laws
And creating fractured beauty.
For the strongest should survive
Or so we're always told
But there's kaleidoscopic glory
In that which isn't whole
But is made from many broken parts
Held together by hoping hearts
To form something so much more
Than merely strong
An imperfect perfection
Where all things belong
Each piece hiding another's faults
Covering each other's sins
For this is how beauty begins
When the truly divine has become small
To burnish the good that hides in us all
Replacing our failings with parts from himself
Finding beauty in ashes, turning sickness to health
By making the broken and imperfect whole
In a patchwork, a stained glass of souls



Three

Born into a golden maze
With ideas and passions, set ablaze
Yet despair is guarding every door
And death is lurking ever more.
Hope mingles with the fickle crowd
Their whispered mutiny growing loud
For depression holds the nearest shore
Tis death to cross, just death and war.
And war begets more sorrows
Until we number our tomorrows
Not looking to escape this maze
Just counting down the passing days
Until death calls us all for sure.
Then one night is born a cure
For every nightmare long endured
A gilded cage, no more, no more
Our puppet stage burned to the floor
For now born once in every breast
Beating new in every chest
A single child born in the dark
And so it is that life is sparked.
A single child, born once to die
Salvation comes, hope draws nigh.


Four
Come forth my darling darkness
Come forth my eternal night
Abyss that lives inside a heartbeat
The monster dwells just out of sight
Just there beneath the surface
Right there behind the eyes
Come now, fulfill your purpose
Unleash the storm so long inside
Come now hatred's molten song
And flood these veins with fire
Violence thrums within my bones
To be released upon desire
I feel now loathing's haunted breath
Come forth oh monster
I dwell in death.



Five
Grace
Is the face
Of all we'd erase
From our pasts
If given one chance.
We think it a dance
One twirl with ethics
Then facial prosthetics
Voila! One tango with vice.
Isn't it nice?
To wear more than one face
To flaunt that we're awol
So far out of place
To sally with demons
Then revel in grace. 
But in order to work
Grace has to hurt
Someone, somewhere on the way
For that's the condition
Of avoiding perdition
Of wrongs being changed
That to replace strains
Of our souls now riddled with death
Something perfect draws breath
Then rips from it's own perfect soul
To replace our pieces gone cold
To bring life into dark
That we will, on a lark
Throw back in it's face
That's grace.