December 21 Poem

i know
december and
what comes after
i know
how many steps
until i am
outside
i know
how the window
in the kitchen
lets the cold air in
in the morning
when i sit down
for breakfast
i know
your eyes
are as green
as spring
is vibrant
is new
i know
every spot
in our home
where sunlight pools
and the cat naps
i know
the path
that i
mean to follow
and great doubt
i know
that you
bring love
that is ever
unassailable to me
but i
do not know
my soul
it has no reflection
apart from that
which i find
in you

December 20 Poem for @nobodyspoppet

when my mouth
was on fire
i could not hear you
i would not say
i was not
paying attention
i tend
to get lost
when the words
are raw
or slippery
they ask
a lot of me
and i
do not know
their intent
maybe
i should
surrender my voice
give it
to someone new
but i
don’t know
you would only
fill it with yearning
or fear
it cannot express
and i would
shake it out
until it is empty
a stillborn ghost
or fill it
with damn noise
and the sharp edges
of punctuation
better yet
let silence
negotiate a truce
and we
can start again
my name
is mark
what is yours
you know
we have
the strangest
conversations
when i imagine
what you will say.

December 19 Poem - Midnight, for Blanddiva11

night
is defiling
everything
even the stars
are scarce
and tomorrow
is ever approaching
ready to take you
until today
begins
but this
is an interregnum
a time between then
and when
it is upon you
it is already gone
only morning
remains
and hidden
in the dark
slowly revealing itself
to you
like a lover
you never considered
before now

December 18 Poem

there are
so many things
we have not
as yet forgotten
but i mourn
the ones
we have lost
and ask you
to forgive me
for repeating
what i recall
of us
as often as i do
although
i suspect
i have embellished
our story
somewhat
it is as close
to precise
as it needs to be
to be true

December 17 Poem

is this
your song
of winter

it is
cold and
hard to swallow

it covers everything
in heavy layers
of nostalgia

and melancholy
such that
i cannot sing it

so lay it down
and i will make one
of my own

a brief refrain
an epitaph
for my footprints
swallowed whole.

December 16 Poem

i lay my silence
down to sleep
and unwind the blue
when it is done
it is too close
too bright
and spent
even so
i ask you
lend your voice
to give me a light
and i will spark and
shadow you home
find your breath
on my tongue
trusting you
with my mistakes
see what you
can make of them
because they
made me dull
and unfocused
they made me
want you
too much
or at least enough
that i
could not finish
this.

December 15 Poem

of all the names
i offered you
i liked that one best
i made it from beeswax
and gave it to flames
to free you
when i grew
too attached
to its beauty
when i forgot
it was not
your name.

December 14 Poem

this is
for no one
in particular
and you
this is a first draft
an offering
i make it up
as i go along
adding details
like guests
to a wedding list
suddenly
there is a blue sky
even if you think
it is gray
or maybe i am blue
if not you
does it matter
you can walk away
from this
and not remember
a word
i said
but i
keep calling
to you
and no one
in particular
begging forgiveness
for this intrusion
the next one
will be more precise.

December 13 Poem

the moon
and its jealous
delegates
are soon to appear
or maybe it is me
who is jealous
they do not need
to justify themselves
to anyone who passes by
not like me
revealing one detail
after another
my words
lose their luster
the moment
i let them go
but they deny scrutiny
with silence
and become divine
as i wonder how
to tell you something
without saying anything
at all.

December 12 Poem for @silkpillow

do not give me over
to the silhouette of snow
in the sky
do not give me
to the eager hands
of evergreens
or to the graveyard
of reeds bent
like the penitent
or to that dark sea
that seems so still
and soulless
i know
i was not meant
for such things
their beauty
can only endure
without me
but my heart
would perish
without you