Author: poetryfest

It was completely by chance
Our paths crossing
I, a lonely ship in the night
Him, the illustrious moon
He arrived into my life and brought a tidal wave
Leaving nothing untouched
Nothing unchanged
Nothing at all left the same
I had been sailing in darkness for so long
I think I forgot what light was
Could only think of the glaciers in his eyes
Only the touch of his hands
Only the way I want to dive headfirst into the ocean of his mind

The way he made me feel
So seen
So heard
So easy to be loved

Romance novels felt different now
From Dickinson to Bronte
I finally understood
Heathcliff begged Catherine to haunt him after death
Darcy and Lizzie let go of their pride for each other
Romeo loved Juliet so much, he wanted to die for her
I love him so much I want to live for him
He is the Eurydice to my Orpheus and I will turn around every time

I don’t know about the health of these relationships
Just like I don’t know much about star-crossed lovers
Or any of the chemicals my brain produces to make my head spin around him
But what I do know is from the moment his lips touched mine our souls were entwined
And there was nothing in this world that could untangle them
My entire being was sewn into his

I don’t believe in soulmates
But I do believe in Eden because I’ve felt it wrapped in his arms
All the heavens can fall from the sky in a fiery eruption because I have all the heaven I need
lying with him in bed on a Sunday morning
But this love is not akin to fire or ice
Not related to something so easily extinguished or melted away
This love feels concrete
Feels as certain as the passing of time
As constant as the speed of light and the strength of gravity

Now don’t be concerned, I’m not planning a proposal
I don’t have a ring or certificate to be signed
What I do have is a promise
Which feels twice as intense, somehow
I promise that when death finally takes its toll on me
When I do go gently into that good night
It is his hand that I will be waiting to hold on the other side
I won’t say I’ll love him forever because that’s bullshit
I will say I will love him as long as I am in existence
Wherever I am love follows
And that love is his
And if one day we’re both shooting stars
I hope other lovers gaze up at the sky
To wish upon a love as grand as ours

Elaina (Tanka I)
Dickinson licked seals
Of letters; should I deny
Myself the act of
Standing agape while you talk
Hoping to swallow your spit?

Tanka II
Sappho wept longing
For her bright and terrible
Enchantress; it is
No wonder that I bleed for
Your fatal captivation

Tanka III
The Aphrodite
Even pines after your beauty
She knows the quake of
Her chest splitting and her heart
Unearthing itself for you

thoughts of you
lingering
like smoke
remembering
I’m alive
hazily conscious
my world
too bright, you dim it
close my eyes
now I see
breathing arises
you won’t let me fall
fatigued
your voice like rum
heady confection
green
your eyes, a memory
of how the ocean glistens
from beneath the waves
while drowning
don’t rescue me
this is how I’m saved
revived
in your gaze
don’t let me come down
promise this high
this drink writes your poetry
who needs the sky?
when the ground is perfumed
by flowers from tears
I’ve cried out
silently though
you hear me and cast down
white petals, I’m crazy
this insanity fills me
and yet I’m still hungry
let me stay in this
melancholy
prophetic
this evidence of God
testify, this feeling
under the sky
inhaling the stars
fire, spirit ignited
this is my prayer
wishing to be drowned
in your eyes
over and over again
litany
don’t baptize me
don’t put out this flame
let me smolder
I’ll trade heaven
for one night
with you
the heat a thousand hells would envy
what is disbelief?
how time is lost
this illusion, delusion
let me contemplate
meditate on
this hypocrisy
sinful, the devil is made holy

Just as the delicate bristles of bottle brush trees
break and dissolve,
the prickle of follicles brushing against my arm
or similarly, whiskers pressing the mouth
steady my unbearable mind.

Give me the slightest bit of physical validation
and I’ll melt before you.
Make my hairs stand on end with just
the ridges of your fingers.
I long for the reassurance of nails
colliding with scalp, a rhythmic
scratch relieving tension in flakes.
Or stainless steel clinking awkwardly
between sweaty fingers.

Give me all of it
Pull me into you, let me grow drunk
and savor the smell.

I would walk barefoot,
Through a mile of broken beer bottles,
To spend one night with you.

The smell of vape juice when we kiss,
Or how
You overthink your every word.

I like
How we can’t make eye contact
Without you giggling (my favorite)

How could these be flaws?
You
Are
Flawless!

O?
You like to argue?
Let us do it for hours
Silly or Serious,
Then Embrace in a black cherry
Kiss.

In the realm where shadows stretch and bend,
A light and a shadow met by the river’s end.
The shadow, so long, yet never complete,
The light, a flicker, both tender and sweet.
They whispered their secrets, side by side,
“I know, I know,” the light sighed, “we cannot hide.”

The shadow stretched, reaching far away,
As the light flickered, yearning to stay.
“I know, I know,” the shadow spoke low,
“We search for truths we’ll never know.”
Through mirrored paths, where edges collide,
They sought the answers they couldn’t confide.

And though the light was sharp and bright,
The shadow knew there was no light.
Together they journeyed, both full of grace,
In fractured skies, they found their place.
A dance of silence, a song of dreams,
“I know, I know,” they echoed in streams.

For in their bond, so fragile and true,
They discovered what they never knew.
As fleeting as the morning’s glow,
They rose, they faded, but still, they flow.
In the end, they learned through loss and pain,
That shadows and light were never in vain.

A Fox was happily hopping down the forest path,
When it came across a great big Wolf,
The Wolf’s head was drooped over its chest,
And it was crying silently to itself,
It appeared as if it’d been crying in the same spot for a very long time,
For a patch of flowers grew at its feet,
Watered by its tears.

“What is the matter?” The Fox asked.
“I wish I were a fox like you,” The Wolf replied. “But I was born a Wolf instead.”
“Why would you wish for such a thing?” The Fox asked.
“Because it is what I am meant to be.” The Wolf explained.
“I feel it in my bones, and when I talk with the stars,
The thought of being such a creature makes my heart burst with joy.”
“Well, if you think you’re a fox, then you’re a fox.” The Fox said.
“But I do not look or talk like a fox.” The Wolf replied.

At this, The Fox angled its white-whiskered face,
Toward a tree branch suspended over their heads.
“Do you see those walnuts growing on the branch?” The Fox asked.
“The shells are rough and hard, but the insides are soft and delicious.
I care more about what is on the inside of things, for there,
One will find the most flavor.
If, inside, your heart truly tells you this is the way you are meant to be,
Then, it is the way you were meant to be.
No matter what your shell may look like.”

“But to say that a wolf is a fox is quite silly.” the Wolf said.
“What if the other animals make fun of me?”

“Then they will have only tasted the bitter shell,
And will never get to enjoy the deliciousness of your soul.”
The Fox explained.
At this,
The Wolf smiled and raised its shaggy head.

Together,
The Wolf and The Fox began to walk down the forest path,
Their tails intertwined.

The Farmer built a picket fence to surround the fields within
He build it many years ago to keep me far from him
He built it near his house beyond the foliage and dense
And there he eats the flesh of those who live within his fence

One day, I say, i’ll tear this fence but never do because
The broken fence is built again but bigger then it was
But everyday I’ll try again to get beyond its hold
So I see the world the way it is and not the way i’m told
And even if its build in ways that keeps me in its spell
If every day it learns to change then I must learn as well

One day the fence is chainlink
And so I learn to climb
One day the fence is made of stone
And So I chisel at the lime
One day the fence is forged In steel a moat to line the rust
And I never learned quite how to swim but it seems today I must

The house becomes a castle, a painting from a stain
With jewels to line its outer walls the bones still hold its frame
Some days I’m made to craft the bricks that build upon its height
But for the days I’m forced to build it up I’ll knock it down at night

Outside we grow the gardens, to preserve the world around
But chrysanthemums don’t clear the smell thats rotting in the ground
The others they step on the stench and suffer at his hand
They feed the man their kids, to pay and to live upon his land
But the grass is getting thinner and still more we’re told to yield
So dare the farmer cross this line I swear i’ll run him off my field

Still some days my horns are silver
But are heavier than lead
Some days my hooves don’t want to walk
Yet I carry on instead
Some days I can’t remember the reason that I fight
Then I look upon the farmers throne and I know i’m doing right

In the fading light of a weary day,
A man stands firm, through shadows play,
His heart a drum, steady and loud,
Facing the storms, beneath the shroud.

Each breath a battle, each step a test,
He feels the weight of the world on his chest,
Memories flash like sparks in the night,
Fueling the fire for his final fight.

With scars like stories etched on his skin,
He fights not for glory, but the strength within,
For love ones lost, for dreams not yet dreamed,
In the depths of struggle, hope still gleamed.

The echoes of doubt swirl thick in the air,
Yet he draws from the courage that’s always been there,
As shadows converge, he raises his hand,
Determined to stand, to make his last stand.

With one final roar, he charges the night,
A blaze in his heart, a warrior’s light,
For in this last moment, he knows he’s alive,
And through the darkness, his spirit will thrive.

When the dust settles and silence reigns,
He’ll leave behind echoes of laughter and pain,
For though the fight ends, the spirit ignites,
In the heart of a man who embraced his last fight.