damocles

in fire and light
crimson shining the blade
by dawn we shall be unmade
as long since foretold
and by your hand
we end as we once began

as winds and times must change
the fates' whims rearrange
and steal that which we crave
to drown it in the waves

from silver threads untied
into the dark divide
an ocean deep and red
where all the tears are shed

in fire and light
crimson shining the blade
by dawn we shall be unmade
as long since foretold
and by your hand
we end as we once began

it wants but cannot be
what would i give to see
through whispers in the mist
on water moonlight kissed

like fading battle scars
and riddles in the stars
an insight please bestow
but we shall never know

in fire and light
crimson shining the blade
by dawn we shall be unmade
as long since foretold
and by your hand
we end as we once began

forbidden magic words
at saga's ending heard
vain dreams of yesteryear
shall hold no power here

let me behold your sight
before truth stains the night
the dreaded spell is cast
and we are free at last

in fire and light
crimson shining the blade
by dawn we shall be unmade
as long since foretold
and by your hand
we end as we once began

(2024)

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on the tides

when roiling seas throw waves too tall
encroaching on the land
to rise and clash outside that wall
unfaltering you stand

upon a sturdy fortress built
to last through ages gone
but water knows not grudge nor guilt
in time it must move on

no monument shall yet outlive
those forces of the deep
to shut them off - what would i give
such turmoil do they reap

left writhing, drowning, cold and weak
alone in all but name
the words i must not ever speak
i pray them all the same

their push and pull become a theme
in vain i still implore
because i want, i have to scream
what is it even for

and yet - i see how unfulfilled
it's written in your eyes
consumed by yearning never stilled
you, too, look to the skies

(2023)

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incandescent

a spectacle to celebrate
i'm grateful to participate
tonight grants me the circumstance
one glimpse into such radiance

long overdue and well deserved
next door your laughter, full of verve
and more than ever, soon at hand
first step to dream's fruition grand

however small, i did my bit
thus may you revel, fire lit
dots reconnect and strike that path
now blossom in the aftermath

awash in colors bright and true
most treasured memory of you
by afterglow in infrared
with renewed power forge ahead

(2023)

---

queen of hearts

sometimes forgotten why we play
the hands we're given every day
you came along to show the way
that power sorely missed

commit, retreat, discard, attack
embrace the heat or burn the deck
like time we're never given back
those moments filled with bliss

exquisitely when you might deign
but never asking why you reign
and still i drag on through the pain
not ready for this loss

for what if, say, i chose not wise
if this is how the vision dies
bleak options i feel on the rise
a bridge too hard to cross

on fertile ground for seeds of doubt
from joining up to checking out
mere number you can toss about
a fool that goes in blind

of feints i never should allow
and playing games so tired now
belay that thorny thought somehow
shunned to the egde of mind

for i'm not what you truly seek
can't be the one that makes you weak
the name you never dare to speak
no, i am but a toy

a stopgap chance, a little bite
just holding out for lightning strike
so tell me what your end game's like
what's my part in this ploy

(2023)

---

eye of the storm

precious moments to find few and far between
from rapture to rock bottom i careen
in this limbo squirming, can you see me crawl
and i wonder why you had to build that wall
outside this fortress i must scrounge perhaps
for stray saving grace like table scraps

without you there is no shelter from the storm
soaked under clouds with naught to keep me warm
by these phantoms all alone i am beset
the dark thoughts that i can't ever forget
a foe against which i cannot defend
at horizon's promise looms the bitter end

resurgence of despair i can't erase
and distant hopeful echoes i must chase
united in resistance we sustain
restlessly we march on through the rain
disregard the fell call of the void
near fatal but we will not be destroyed

in your presence i take shelter from the storm
you shield me from the clouds and keep me warm
whenever by these phantoms i'm beset
the dark thoughts only you make me forget
a foe against which you and i defend
together we will hold on till the end

(2023)

---

canvas

beyond wishes of old we are touched by the night
until dawn, like a candle, for warmth shall ignite
sprung from the tears and the joy that we share
in the depths of my heart i can still sense its flare

on the surface mere hints spectral facets reveal
making room for the complex reflections we steal
into twilight, the space in between, we submerge
to shoulder the weight of a whole universe

in the wake of times past when i hear you retell
the lore of things true and the myths to dispel
those stories of you light and shadow inscribe
entrusted to listen to you as my guide

into colors and shapes all these memories weave
in rare quiet moments, they grant us reprieve
a body turned poem, your canvas is skin
like the beautiful soul that shines from within

i trace every curve, every intricate line
want to read every word, every verse, every rhyme
drawn like a map for the journey we chose
and the dream of a day when you hold me close

(2023)

---

grey

joyfully strong and energetic
so they say, enrapt and magnetic
yet under the surface it's lonesome and cold
no one shall see the tears i withhold

beneath those cheerful masks i put on
ask me not can i ever belong
shrouded in mist, obscure and concealing
the single most elusive of feelings

but who can fill it with color
i cannot cut through the haze
and no one else has that power
forever stuck in this maze

the world stood in that one moment still
when you came true to rouse and fulfill
unprecedented your gift to revive
like a force of nature made me alive

every word
every smell
have you heard
can you tell
everything reminds me

every night
every day
out of sight
lost my way
searching that which can't be

but who can fill it with color
i cannot cut through the haze
and no one else has that power
forever stuck in this maze

and i have seen it in color
a glimpse outside of the haze
but only you had that power
why am i stuck this maze

(2023)

---

chariot

only the moon can hear my plea
underneath the silver tree
with every fiber in full bloom
by this vision i'm consumed

shining beacon in the night
my eyes devour your firelight
of all the endings i have seen
we are united in my dream

on bright wings to ferry
come chariot, carry
the stars for which we aim
set heavens and my heart aflame
ride like the tempest and whisk me away
wake me, take me, today

growing fierce and visceral
beyond the ephemeral
the sensations we effuse
and a brazen wish set loose

around a truth our souls revolve
behind the walls that soon dissolve
and description we defy
let us tear down the sky

on bright wings to ferry
come chariot, carry
the stars for which we aim
set heavens and my heart aflame
ride like the tempest and whisk me away
wake me, take me, today

(2023)

---

kaleidoscope

within your light like crystal clear
i tread unknown terrain
in every moment i hold dear
the deepest longing burns sincere
shall never be in vain

through day and night i fantasize
determined to explore
mirage, perhaps, i glamorize
thus into action galvanized
and driven to adore

i bask before your stunning sight
exciting, dazzling, rare
entranced on this amazing flight
join hands and rise to dizzy height
we forge the chains we wear

where without maps we navigate
let's chance to take the stage
to yearn, enthuse and liberate
elated heat let radiate
beget a golden age

(2023)

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