Verse: Webs

I watch
helpless as
you engrave me
with your lapidary lips

embroider me
with a spider web
of sweet saliva
upon my belly

and I shiver
as you whisper
in my ear

'Maybe
if I put it
this way
you'll understand

ecouter
et repeter

Je suis
tombe en amour
avec toi.'

Haiku: Mad moon

Lulled by countless stars
but how can I find sleep with
the moon in my bed?

Haiku for the moon

(Inspired by @Zamees, which is to say I stole words...)

My advice is to
ask a question, shake, and then
wait for a response

I could be wrong but
I think maybe the moon is
toying with me now

Haiku 12 + 13

Once upon a time
I was seduced by the moon
now I cannot sleep

If my verse should seem
overly romantic then
blame it on the moon

Haiku 11: Ray's Blues

NB: I stole these words from @rayonativia and rearranged them into a haiku. I hope he forgives me.)

Would you look at that
sitting and doing nothing
that arrogant moon.

Haiku 10

Go and tell the moon
that I am sorry but I
could not hang around

haiku 9

You cannot possess
a heart any more than you
can possess the wind

haiku 8

Lover, have you been
up all through the night just to
sing the moon to sleep?

haiku: insomniac

The moon is keeping
me awake all night with its
incessant longing

Haiku trilogy

the anxiety
of your prolonged absence is
broken by your kiss

how was it you were
able to find me when I
do not sleep, I dream

I tried to resolve
the question of love and found
the answer is you

Verse: Advice

Winter
will not silence you

and mornings
will not mention you

they merely
pass you by

but the moments
that you create

as they leave you
those joys are permanent

Verse: Congregation

Like birds
they gather

perched tenuously
upon those twigs

huddled
and shivering

until the wind
whispers 'fly away'

and they scatter
in feathery trails

over my shoulder
and above the dour steeples

Haiku 6

Even the soft, white
snow harbors a secret wish
that spring will soon come

Verse: No One

If all is not one
then who will I be
this time?

perhaps I am a fragrance
a passing cloud
or an intuition

You might as well
ask the wind which direction
it prefers to travel

but what is it you call
those other joys
the ones you do not speak of?

the joys that are
not premeditated
or rehearsed

whatever it is
that is what
you could call me

Haiku 5

You should always dream
with your eyes open so you
won't miss them in sleep

Verse: Nothing

We spent tears
on stars
and nothing

we called on oracles
for hours
and nothing

we contemplated
the naked ceilings
and nothing

we wore ourselves
out on our sleeves
and nothing

we let the day
intrude upon us
and nothing

we thrash in sheets
with no light available
and nothing

we made an itinerary
of our motives
and nothing

we listened to
our echoes serenade us
and nothing

we wandered wild
with wanton wonder
and nothing

we loved
for a while
and nothing

we exchanged
our lies for truth
and nothing

we awoke to
the possibility of dreams
and nothing

we knew
the consequences
and nothing

after all
that we are only now beginning
to appreciate the end

it's nothing
to be afraid of
nothing at all

Haiku 4

You said, 'I love you.'
And, suddenly, everything
became possible

Verse: Monsters

Who are they
to say
they know us?

how dare they
dream us
so soon

go and tell them
we're not here
anymore

and it is us
who dream
of them

Haiku 3: Monsters

When there are monsters
You should not feed them because
They will feed on you

Verse: Admission

The trick
was never
the words
you see

it was
the omissions
the blanks
I left
for you
to fill

you know
the possibilities
are endless

and I
wonder what
you will
now make
of this

now that
I'm done

Haiku 2

The shivers begin
when your fingers brush lightly
across my bare skin

Haiku

The day dissolves in
soft shadows and the warm wind
rocks the sun to sleep

Verse: Numb

I am
prepared
to hide nothing

not when
confronted by
your lips

undressed and
delicious
a different point
of you

rub my lips raw
with escstasy
until I'm dry

until my want
is rid of me

until my mouth
is numb

Verse: Timing

I know
I said
I love you
when you
weren't listening

It was
my intent
to tell you
only when it
was safe

Verse: What the Night Sky Taught Me

I
First
was the fear

how it consumed
the impossible blue
and the incandescent too
all gone

I left
the night light on
so the nightmares
could not catch me
unawares

Taught myself
to recognize
and wake up
when they approached

to this day
I cannot sleep
through the night

II
I counted
and I called
and nothing

I wished
and I watched
and nothing

It was
my curse
to be born
in the middle
of the afternoon

the night does not
recognize me
as one of its own

III
It is
a wonder
that those stars
don't fall
for all the hopes
we pin on them

or that
we don't turn
our backs on them
for all the wishes
unrequited

IV
if there is
to be any judgment

let it be delivered
by a starless sky

so those million eyes
will not scorn me

and the moon
will not swallow my soul

Verse: Dust

I want
to be dust

I want
to be swept up
by the wind
that most concerted custodian
and be dispersed
and in that diaspora
I will be everywhere
at once

I want
to be loose in the air
unseen like love
until caught
in the light

and when I alight
I want to
anoint one and all
the brides
the babies
the haphazard
and the homeless
taint them all
with grace
the tender debris
of decay

but I
would be content
just to cover you

Verse: Sentence

I cannot
take myself
out of this world
any more
than a butterfly
can escape
its shadow

even if
I grow wings
I know
just one glance
one word
one touch
and you will
root me in it
tether me to
the temporal
once more

wounded
by mortality
and love
I wait only for
your diagnosis

Verse: Lines

(for @darladavidson, who walks the line...)

My life
is a line
that I alone
travel

forward now
and ever
do I unfold
and unravel

so often
I overlap
intersect
and parallel
other lines

some straight
some narrow
and some like
twisted vines

some lines
become circles
spinning in
infinity

but I
was never one
to conform
please don't
entangle me

Verse: Chameleon

(NB: There may be more chameleons. I don't know...)

Living in
this dreaming body
I am
as adept as anyone
at telling lies

so I did not
give you my name
when I introduced
myself

now tell me
was there something
you wanted
to say?

Verse: Want

When you
are not here

you are
a ghost
a little mystery

a patch
of blue in
my breathless heart

the dark
is your silence

the night
has your eyes

and each moment
gives birth
to another
without you

Verse: Untitled

Oh, silent sentinels
perched atop
a pitched roof
what are you waiting for?

Can you
not see
you have the element
of surprise
on your side?

Verse: Feast

(NB: The muses dictated that I should write this as you see it. I protested that it was much like work I've done before, but they ignored my argument and eventually won out)

Uninvited
as always
they arrive

buzzing
like a halo
of flies

I swat
at them
but they
persist

I open
the door
and more
flood in

I try
to sweep them up
but they disperse
like dust

covering my walls
slipping between my sheets
they swallow me
and sated, sleep

never knowing that
when they awake
I will be gone

Verses for January 15, 2010

I
You do not know this
but I
approached you
cautiously

and I
considered you
a threat
until you smiled

II
If I tell them
why I love you
then they will love you
as I do

and become bitter rivals
for your affections
when I want you
all to myself

is it any wonder
I keep you
like a secret

III
I come to now
knowing nothing
of what's next

A beginning
an end
love
or something

you tell me
how it goes
I'm waiting

Verse: Ouroboros (Circle V)

Your absence
is an abscess
I try not
to pick at it
but the infection
spreads

I have been
afflicted
with longing
for too long

exacerbated
by the calumny
of clocks
their click click
like fingers
on formica
or stilletos
descending a stairwell

the haunted
extenuated hours
the minatory
minutes
time seems
to encircle me

I cry
and curl
swallowing myself
until your return
when I am reconstituted
made flesh
once more
in your delicate eyes

Verse: Circle IV

When no one
was looking

I traced a circle
around your heart

and I said
this is
my trajectory

and you
traced a circle
around mine

and said
this is
the circumference
of my soul

Verse: Bloodletting (Circle III)

Draw
one red circle

and when I
arrive

I will
step inside

to confront you
with lust

and feed your hunger
with my frantic flesh
my mad blood

in that moment
our paths
will align

and I delirious
and sated
will go back
into the world
in a wave
of sighs

Verse: The Scientist's Apology

I'm sorry

your love
so intrigued me

that I took it
apart

I only wanted to see
what made it work
I only wanted
empirical evidence

but I couldn't
make sense of it

and I cannot
reassemble it

next time
I'll know better
next time
I'll take you
at your word

Verse: Circle II (Wolves)

Vexed I am
with desire

and shivering
with sin

I'm pacing circles
outside your door

I beseech you
let me in

Verse: Stars

Harvester of my heart
those stars cling to you

such childlike deities
how dare they intrude

Verse: Umour

(Shamelessly built upon ideas by Jacques Vaché)

So begins
this folly

a desertion
from within

distinguished
as I am by
my disservice
how may I
be of help

when spectacles
of sparkle
deprive us of
our ability
to imagine
to dream

rendered
as one dimensional
as they are
what am I
to do?

Perhaps
I could loose
a new spirit
one free
of criticism
where only negation
is omitted

I will be
a punk
and start
the overthrow
take comfort
in sneers
of disapproval

one last trick
before I disappear
the goodbye
in my hello
is implied

and I
have nothing
to say

Verse: Circle I

Circle
I circle you
restless
and wary

I picked up
your scent
and I
followed it

circle
I circle you
haunted
and hungry

say something
holy and
I will
submit

Verse: Punctuated

(for @miss_sarah_s)

I know
I must be
succinct
and punctual

but
apostrophe's
possessive

colon
has a list
of complaints

exclamation point
is constantly
interjecting

and period
wants me to
put a stop to this.

Verse: Sunday, 5:20 P.M.

So quickly
did this notion
overtake me
that I let it go
too soon

before I knew
what I wanted
to say

before I knew
what it meant

but at least
let me say this

for all the things
I have said
the notions
the words that
I have thieved
and distorted
in imprecise
contorted verse
approaching
some vague truth

all I ever wanted
was to be remembered
for the things
I didn't say

all I wanted
was to seduce you
with silence

Verse: Objectification

All the things
we did not covet
quietly
acquired us

All the things
that accrued
to us
the titles
the tchotchkes
the tinctures
accumulated too fast
to assess their merit

all the things
the glossy objects
that obfuscate
and opiate
injure us
with longing

do you think
those casual gods
we imagine
dancing unseen
in the sky blue sky
even recognize us
anymore

Verse: Weak

Sunday
talk to no one
Monday
stay at home

Tuesday
avoid strangers
Wednesday
be alone

Thursday
admit nothing
Friday
bite my tongue

Saturday
but you're not here
and my song
will not be sung

Title: Here

(Apologies to @corvus_severus for stealing the title of one of her poems so shamelessly for the concept & a line of this verse)

This is not you

you could not
be inscribed
like this

you are not
those misplaced thoughts
nor the vague notions
you linger

you are not the inclement weather
your mild mercies
do dispel

you are not stone
and yet
you could not be
any more here
than now
in the ever present
unfolding
waves of you
dreaming destinies
untold

are you
the bare witness
to my confession?

Verse: The Arrangement

(unwittingly inspired by @corvus_severus + @russ_tomato)

The way
the wind
tosses those cold
wet pearls of snow
at your feet
like confetti
you'd think
you were wed
to winter

What will
you do
when spring
courts you
with a bouquet
of red roses
and the scent
of lilac
in his kiss?

Verse: Heathens

Here
we are
heathens

heedless
of everything
but love

which is
our salvation

the gravity
that tethers
me to this earth

to you

and what
I call you
if that be
your will

your right name

let the sun
and moon
collude to
swallow all
our time

I will make
a place
for myself
in your heart
and wait for
the wisdom
the thousand
shivers of
transcendence
that will surely come

Verse: Exercise

(Inspired by @darladavidson)

Every day
I run
to nothing
to no one
as fast as
I can

nothing
and no one
to pass
or pass me by
I run
in place

no wind
to resist
or force
me forward

no rain
but for
the sour sweat
that streams
down my cheeks
and into
my slack mouth

and all for
a series
of statistics
displayed digitally
in minutes
calories
and distance
though I never see
beyond the wall
in front of me

telling myself
it's not too long
or too hard

and knowing
as fast
as I am
I'm never
fast enough

as strong
as I am
I'm never
strong enough

and yet
each day
I'm on deck ready
to run at nothing
again

it's not a calling
it's a discipline

Verse: a letter to my former self

(NB: @Miss_Sarah_S asked me a question on Formspring. This is the accidental result...)

These are
a few things
I have learned

Love is not an abstraction
the distance between
being an insider
and outsider
is not so great

there is
a place
where you will
fit in
eventually

Happiness
begins with you
but true joy
is shared

the dark
isn't so dark
there are city lights
even stars
and someone
will hear you
if you call

live this life
not as long
as you can
but as well
as you can

fear not
the embrace
of the new
the as yet
unknown

wander
and never lose
your sense
of wonder

submit
to trust
be what
you want to be
you don't have
to be
so hard
or elusive

be present
and genuine
and in the moment
don't borrow trouble
it stays with you
constant as
a shadow

Whisper
when you want
to shout
reach
when you want
to retreat
hope
when you want
to dash it all

but
most of all
Don't stop writing
don't stop living
until time
takes you out.

Verse: Proposal

You can't
hold on
to letting go

eventually
you have to
embrace something
even if
it is nothing

Here is what
I propose

If you have time
we could
do one sublime thing
together
in this moment

you could be
my ally in deceit
and we'll subvert
the everyday

make a fiction
of our lives
and make it
extraordinary

one kiss
and it is underway

this
which is more than a rebellion
this
which is a baptism

Verse: Repudiation

And I saw them

I saw how
love made them
cautious
and conservative

Stifled by
the sense
of something
to lose

they did
radiate and
fade away
like a spark
in the dark

but I
went to
the empty spaces
where desire
does not reside

and through
a long revolution
gave birth
to myself
free of any
obligation

and I
headed west
wild and wary
of any invitation
to follow
or be followed

Verse: Communique

thanks to @jcubed1 & @flytetipping for serving as the muses for this...

Inspired by and
caught between
the chit
and the chatter

I am
ever looking
for the heart
of the matter

more ways
to say
but often less
to be said

on and on
and empty still
the noise
fills me with dread

How do I
contribute when
The only
language I know
is love

this vast
inexplicable vocabulary
I cannot free
myself of

it's struggling
to be heard
above the constant din

I never really
know where
I am meant to begin

all the little
lovelorn verses
that I, alone, devise

each one
is cautiously cut down
to italicize

and that love
is here for you
amid the noise
each moment
is christening

I've said all
I can say
and now
I am just listening