Stormy Weather

Posted on by A. Long

I awoke to the silence

asking it to quit talking

the voices

were worse than before

gasoline ignited frights shook me from my sleep

obnoxious ringing in my ear

its the pitter patter I hear

barraging my window in an endless echo

a choppy c note bangs on my heartstrings

I’m a loser

just drown me already

either put me out of my misery or save me

getting pushed further into the abyss

of my subconscious

conscientiously considering breaking down these walls

and burning hidden skeletons

how long can I hold on to this life raft

my arms are strong

conditioned

to pull others back from the brink

yesterday I stared into the deep

slept walked into the river

and then started to sink

fighting to breathe was too heavy

so I cried a lullaby

I sleep in the eye of a storm

a hurricane

that isn’t done

 

Excerpt From The Seasons: Autumn

Posted on by A. Long

But see the fading many-colored woods,

shade deepening over shade,

the country round

imbrown;

a crowded umbrage,

dusk and dun,

of every hue from wan declining green

to soot dark.

The pale descending year, yet pleasing still,

a gentler mood inspires;

for now the leaf

incessant rustles from the mournful grove,

oft startling such as,

studious,

walk below,

and slowly circles through the waving air.

–James Thomson

Poems

The Gamut

Aside | Posted on by A. Long

Soft day, be velvet soft,

My true love approaches,

Look you bright, you dusty sun,

Array your golden coaches.

Soft you wind, be soft as silk

My true love is speaking.

Hold you birds, your silver throats,

His golden voice I’m seeking.

Come you death, in haste, do come

My shroud of black be weaving,

Quiet my heart, be deadly quiet,

My true love is leaving.

–Maya Angelou

Short Poems

My Sadness Sits Around Me

Aside | Posted on by A. Long

My sadness sits around me

not on haunches not in any

placement near a move

and the tired roll-on

of a boredom without grief

If there were war

I would watch the hunting

I would chase the dogs

and blow the horn

because blood is commonplace

As I walk in peace

unencountered unmolested

unimpinging unbelieving unrevealing

undesired under every O

My sadness sits around me

–June Jordan

Trust

Posted on by A. Long

Trust me

like Pharaohs calling to rain clouds in a drought

Boundless grains of salt parch the Earth

I watch the skies open mouth

Trust me

as sure as death is to sing swiftly to cold bodies

Let’s make ours warmer

fill the space in the universe that propels us closer

The truth without trust

are only falsities lying in remission

repeating omissions

waiting for lies to come to fruition

Trust be nimble

& I’ll be Jack jumping back to the candle stack

that first lit these rhymes for you

Just trust

the way infants knowingly cling to their mothers

small fists of utter dependence

We sway with an unparalleled rhythm

and the pyramid kings have all gone home

I now call you to stand at your throne

I trust you to answer with that

regal swagger I know you have

This is me at my best

throwing down dented armor and all other guises

I trust you to tell me the truth

or do you not know what your disguise is?

Tucked in, patiently pacifying your disgust

I peer into your eyes sometimes

and only see what could’ve been