finding things to say

her eyes are blue, yes,

like a piece of sky after a hawk has passed through it.

her hair is blond and fair,

as flax ropes splitting from a freed gazelle.

her skin is milky alabaster,

when the day cools over white sandstone cliffs.

but her smile is the real treasure,

shining with wisdom from the beginning of time, fearless.

song with you

bring me your sadness

and i will paint for you

a river that runs through a dry land

where families and loves have died

i will etch your travels and searches

like white birds against the azure sky

you will remember the water

when you first drank from

its pleasurable coolness

it is the green bird that brings

you this far - promises you kept

against the fear and doubt of others

from horses of courage

you will string the bow

and from it free the songs

your now hear

into the hearts

of your enemies

that they may love you

now, you will see

so that others

may see you.

--

Another AP entry. The prompt was this song which is hauntingly beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvTYJSOpRwA&feature=related

wake up, i have to show you something

my cold knuckles rap

against your window pane

(mere pebbles could not

have summoned you)

to open up and look

into this face -

see what i have brought,

i have some of it

here in my hand.

it's dust, yes,

not the common garden variety,

but older than this world.

it has stared at the sun

(without blinking)

since the beginning.

look up, follow my finger,

there, in the velvet night,

hanging above the world

like a carnival balloon:

i've chiseled the moon

into a heart, for you.

--

Also an entry at allpoetry dot com. Man, there seems to be a lot of these. ;-)

The prompt here was: The Shape of a Heart - obvious first thought was the classic Sting song '(That's Not) The Shape of My Heart' but sanity prevailed and this came out. Managed to get the set up going quite well before the conclusion. Really enjoyed writing this one.

the deal

i should make a golden sweet

and print poems inside the wrapper

i could sell it and millions would come

and i would search the crowd for you

then we will buy an island

without predators or tsunamis

only tiny sharks and jellyfish

i call it 'rhymes with lozenge'

--

Yet another contest entry at allpoetry dot com. The prompt here was: "I choke on words & they taste bitter". I wrecked the curve a little bit. I did enjoy the pun at the end, though.

whatever this winter

whatever this winter of words

my darkened smile in the mirror

handed to me - again i am alone

in absent justification.

whatever this winter of words

freezing lakes and trees in my wake

i have yet to fault for fodder

the smiles of the rogue

whose sprouted wings

have torn through this coat.

whatever this winter of words

i long for the sunlight as breath

to unrope my lungs

that i may sail again

the waves of your hair.

whatever this winter of words

damsel flies and lillies

pout against my mind

spewing forth smiles like spring.

whatever this winter of words

as i love you i write

in code in blood in tears

in laughter,children, wolves,

doves, waves and startled crayfish

among the debris of our ocean.

--

This is another contest entry on allpoetry dot com.

vultures are circling, again.

last night's carrion,

a yellowed contract

on the four post stage.

hyena and lion,

our children are bastards:

heartless mules.

we used to be gazelles,

when did we forget?

the swallows painted

the swallows

painted arcs

across my days

and sewed hellos

to goodbyes

like punctuation;

swiftly, leaves

turned brown,

their nest emptied

into the wind,

leaving hollow

where smiles

used to be

--

this is an entry in a contest in allpoetry dot com - quickly written and then pummeled by Igor.