HandmeDown

Started this thread so I can post finished pieces and pieces in progress. Readers are welcome to browse, comment, suggest, or just lurk.

HD

---------- Post added at 09:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:38 AM ----------



tiny worlds
of nothingness
often unnoticed
going unwanted
nothing trying
to build
toward some
thingness
but merely
accumulating
and annoying

tiny whirls
of dust
of us
bits of
ourselves
microcosms
of our
dramas
left to float
in beams
of light
hang from
cobwebs
or sit in corners
collecting thoughts

tiny worlds
waiting and
accumulating
dreams and
hoping and
wanting
some thingness
more than
just dust
to be
ignored then
swept away

__________________

HandmeDown

when did I
last hold your hand
last kiss you tenderly
last take a walk just
to be with you

I cannot remember

when was
the last time you
smiled at me
the last time
you looked
into my eyes
or told your
tale of love
for me

I cannot remember

when was
the last time
I listened to you
or focused on you
the last time I asked
after your happiness
the last time my heart
knew you were
here forever

I cannot remember

long before you left
your heart was broken
utterly broken

I cannot remember
nor will I ever know
exactly
when

HandmeDown

This is a villanelle following the strict, modern form.

"A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds. The first and third lines of the first stanza are rhyming refrains that alternate as the third line in each successive stanza and form a couplet at the close.

A villanelle is nineteen lines long, consisting of five tercets and one concluding quatrain.

The villanelle has no established meter; most 20th-century villanelles use pentameter." (As does this one).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanelle

I've played around with this one for several days now and may include variations (including following the form less strictly) in subsequent posts.


Your light has vanished from this place.
The house is dim and far too still.
The life has vanished from my face.

A darkness falls that gives no grace.
There is no once, no ever will.
Your light has vanished from this place.

Gone is comfort, warm embrace;
this emptiness shall have no fill.
The life has vanished from my face.

What once was right is now disgrace.
What then was love now bitter pill.
Your light has vanished from this place.

The hopes and dreams are all erased.
There is no past, no bright until.
The life has vanished from my face.

What once was cherished now is waste.
So lock the doors and bar the sills.
Your light has vanished from this place;
the life has vanished from my face.

HandmeDown

I really liked this quote (which is by Jodi Picoult), so I embellished it a just a bit to make it more meaningful and applicable to my own life.

Some days
I hope
(and some days
I know)
"that the
relationship
between
two souls
(meant for
each other)
never really
comes
to
an
end..."

HandmeDown

I was the howling beast
I was the borderline--the space
I wedged between
you and me

I created the distance
that separated us
I blew our dreams
to smithereens

Mine were the demons
of emotion
of feelings
of over-sensitivity
of drama
of charades

Mine was the sin of
self-destruction
the beast flailing madly
fangs snapping and foaming
claws slashing and tearing
until the destruction
was complete and
completely without
any possible
amends
rendering
any apology
mere idiot wind

I perpetrated all
that destruction
upon myself
but I left you
blood-spattered
and gasping
and running
for your life

I was both beast from hell
and the emotional pit
from where
I summoned
forth that self

everything within me
kisses that beast good-bye

let me be

and let me be
the Kind Judas
unto that anti-christ
I was to you--
this Beast
I wish to crucify
I wish to die
I wish never resurrected

HandmeDown

Another villanella.
It takes liberties--
both meter and form.
I say, "But heck!
What's poetic license for?"
The answer is: Effect.


To grieve a dream, just take the waking slow.
Look for a shelter within each storm.
Stare bravely down the long and lonesome road.

Release the dream and feel the letting go.
There's cold and fear in all that's mourned.
To grieve my dream, I'll take my waking slow.

It was well-lived with you, I know, I know.
Our days of play and days of loving, warm.
We shared kind comforts from the long and lonesome road.

Those days I hold within me like a fire's sweet glow.
Your hands of healing took my crown of thorns.
Relive our dream (for me?), and take your waking slow.

A promise made was broken, but freely Grace was shown.
The beast lies vanquished; the poet is reborn,
with hope upon his long and lonesome road.

My bags are packed, my blankets stowed.
Each altar broken, each cross is borne.
I've grieved our dream, I'm walking slow,
at home upon my long and lonesome road.

HandmeDown

your every smile
at me
was an
adventure
the fire of
each sweet day
you lit my sun

your every gaze
at me
an expedition
into the
joy of
finding love
at home

each sweet
sigh for me
held forth a promise
that our forever
was the only soul
we needed be
or to believe

HandmeDown

the space gone
(she already let go)
past settled-in
down to the marrow
the core of flame
he watches her
through eyes of
the silent observation
yes the space is gone
(he knows the emptiness)
the sure blackness
of the past alive--
the writhing forms
her passion yielded
(such inspiration)
the bond tight
exquisitely so
the flow free--
flaming blood from
the Vein the oh
of falling apart
(the beautiful pain)
the falling together
and flowing again
into the space
returning to
the utter forgivingness

HandmeDown

for us it was a simple life / understanding the obvious signals anyway


corresponding to those serene promises / knowing together such happiness


you were always sensing me / over the bridges and sundry paths


under the stormy clouds / then coming to me at sun rise


forming lovely soft kisses / proving each day our singular heart


just let's remember the sweet words / over the remorse of a spent past


yes, us dancing beneath diamond skies together

HandmeDown

The best of all we've shared
has burned us both but not away
--endings really don't exist

Brokenness may be our road
--endings really can beget

never will I forsake our ashes
(die, let me, beneath your wings)
singing to me of all your brokenness

I promise to listen, to feel
you are my Flame--purify me
into the we that you believe
again--our best of all

HandmeDown

Then let's be finished here sharing our heart;
hurting counts even less here than faith.


It can all be finished here between you and I;
remorse and regret here only go so far.


Description and metaphor--finished here and faded;
so too the songs, there and here, and the signals.


Ultimately our past--it is finished here--I and you;
nothing is left unfinished here for us to mourn.

HandmeDown

Alternative lyrics that fit the tune for "My Wife's Home Town"
Poetic License Disclaimer: Truth is bent to fit the meter
(It's all good..in good fun, that is)


You didn't kiss me good-bye, but I saw your tears
You hit the road so fast you was jammin' them gears
I stood there cryin' in that dyin' light
'Cause my sun disappeared when you drove out of sight
Out of sight

Now I've admitted my sins and begged for your grace
I've played the fool for you and even changed my face
I've moved out of them digs that we called a home
And I've tried my damn best just to leave you alone
Leave you alone

You didn't kiss me good-bye, but I saw you wave
Now I know how it feels in a pissed-on grave
You didn't write me no letters, or send me no cards
But you made damn sure I got your blackest regards
Your blackest regards

I've got an old suitcase crammed so full of crap
Your pictures, torn dresses, and stuff like that
My boots are pulled on and my belt tied tight
The sun is goin' down and I'm lonesome tonight
I'm lonesome tonight

You didn't kiss me good-bye, but I had to let go
I thought you were unhappy 'cause you screamed it so
I didn't try to dispute you, I didn't put no fight
'Cause my sun went down when you yelled that night
You yelled that night

I've got a head full of blues and old cowboy songs
Some are well-known tunes, but the words are my own
I ain't never gonna say "you treated me unkind"
But please honey won't you trust me one more time?
One more time

You know my folks say I'm crazy and your friends do, too
But a love this good don't make us nobody's fool
I'll hold you in my arms and squeeze you oh so tight
Our love will make the sun come up every night
Up every night

HandmeDown

my last long day is finally here. my foolish heart is packed away. my last farewell shall here remain. I'll speak no more nor sing refrain. no words of ill; no parting shots. no harbored will of karmic thoughts. you've had your say. your cold remarks are locked away. your secrets here are safely hid.

but what the fuck. who gives a shit. the past is gone. the fires are lit. the pyre burns. the flames arise. we're all just people. we're all just lies we've told ourselves all countless times. the myths we hold of all we prize. we all bear sins of wounded pride. no more nor less. no less nor more. so long, good-bye. no hatred borne. let go. let live. just let it be. these doggerel lines wish only peace.

your last long day is finally here. my back is turned. i feel no fear. this heart of mine will bear all things. believe them, too. hopes all good things will come to you--whatever your little heart desires. our phoenix burns in holier fires. love understands. and in the end reborn the first, the second, third--whatever time. the sun will always rise.

our long last day is finally ours. and ours remains. all that matters is this simple thing: i love you and i always will. and you love me. always and until our long last day is ours. is ours. ours.

HandmeDown

Thus, can we hope to be so universal?
seen as vast and as open of heart?
beheld as equal of strength and immense creative spirit?
but never to represent anyone in our universe
except who "I am"
--as damaged as despairing as wounded as any?
as you? as me?

Thus, can trust work both ways?
trust for a kind word or affirmation
a gentle acknowledgement or response?
a sweet glance from tender eyes
a single remark indicating value in
this universe we have created between us?

Thus, can we find each other worthy?
found human and yet
found good of heart, discovered afresh each day?
vulnerable brains, flesh, fluids
to be seen and to be heard, uninterpreted?
to be loved and beloved
to belong and be longed for?

Thus, can we all hope, can we all trust?
all fling ourselves into
this universe of each other?
and each other's grace and forgiveness
and undeserved trust?

Thus, can trust work both ways?
even in our microcosm universe?
dispelling all fear
and even all illusion?
can trust become the greatest gift
we give--each other?

Yes.