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Splinters

 

He slipped under my skin

Slid right in there to stay

Embedded and lodged

 

I could see him

There

This part, not of me still

 

Leaving his strong, straight trail, his mark

Knowing he didn’t belong

But pulling free hurts

 

So I left him

As you do for a while

Careful not to press, anything

 

The longer he stayed, the deeper nudging

My skin trying to hide him there

Pretending it’s okay to stay

 

Until infection hits, burning red and hot

The throb of knowing splinters

Broken pieces are never whole 

Whispering Moon

 

She speaks to me of secrets

Whisperings in the dark

Before she rises radiant

Her curved shoulders smooth

I long to kiss

Collar bones straight and oh so sharp

Carrying the weight of night, the pull of tides

She kneels on slippery satin sheets

Trying to rise, to float on crested wave

 

The air is crisp and holding

Her luminous face shines fiery in opal rage

The froth and foam flickering her soiled feet

She fights and kicks, releasing herself in bubbles burst

Dripping stars onto the bleak and blank of nighttime sky

A slight hue of crimson

 

Looking down, far above this evil, this dirty land

She caresses my cheeks moonbeams

Her fingers igniting my hair in glow

I am willing

Hands open to cup and hold her radiant voice

She sings to me her lullaby as stars fall

Drifting into the empty barren night

And painfully offers me her gift

Her tiny babe, a moonstone

To rock and hold, in serenade, aglow

Undone

 

She takes off her woolen coat

Unbuttoning one by one

With shaky hands tremble

Undone

 

She looks into pockets

For yesterdays lost

Movie ticket, gum

Finding only an embroidered hanky

 

Worn

Breathes out, once

Her coat slips

Revealing, skin

 

And naked before me

Offering only her cottoned initials

To remember

She slides

 

A frumpled pile

Left

On the hard oak

Planked floor