`

Rough is the wind that flattens
a tree from its anchored moor,

a destiny not too quick to ruin
presents a whispered word to me:

on we traverse without respite
that weary road we take,

what imprint is left behind
that sweeps relentlessly against these walls--

a spectre of bygone landscapes
whose blustering gusts are raptured calls

`

titularred tyrants
toadyishly taunting
tippler's tingles
tedious temperate timbres
tarrying timeless talisman's
tautological tariffs
try tarnishing tawdry
talkative tableau's
trudging
tallies -- tantamount
to tearful teetotaler's
tell.

.
why dost thou recoil?
hast thou never met a man?
I stand over thee
only because thou dost cower

stand, and face me
even should I be thine enemy

this lowly posture thou adopt
t'was not thrust upon thee from above
'tis but a lie of thine own making
and wilt attract no grace nor mercy
from me, nor the heavens
'til truth of thine aching heart
be known a'loud

speak thy truth,
and know thyself
in the stature thine own natural will
would command

Since we met I have been blind.
Don't get me wrong, though, I don't mind
'cause I can see just plain as day
until I turn my eyes your way.

When I glance at you I see
that child bride so dear to me.
You're still the best thing in my life;
my safe port in times of strife.

Your skin is so soft when in my hand
and in my arms you feel as grand.
The wrinkles of which you oft fret
well, I haven't seen them yet.

Seeking refuge
In your gazing eyes
Your sweet lips
Keep a smile on
Sad faces

Angel that fled from heaven
To ease broken spirits
Stay with me till first light
For your presence
Brings spring flowers
On a winter day

Ah, how your smile echoes
In my darkest hours
Your smile defeats Hades
Your every word flows
Like Shakespearean sonnets

At the stern of the speeding ship
I met her where the railings swept
around the curve of rain-slick deck;
our arms slipped about each other,
and together, in growing warmth,
we fed the soaring gulls.

I reside within a room, book
in hands eyes consumed
on the pages between the
lines forming pictures from
words entwined.

without interruption
I read it through impressions
of an author I never knew.

thought brought to a place
where it is witnessed by
the here and now, open to
endless possibility's
which are disciplined only by
the limitations set out by
ourselves and others around us.

Hush! It is evening
Nature paints her landscapes
Colors goldenrod

Autumnal changes
Ecliptic intersections
Bringing natures' dance

The autumnal feast
From the horn of plenitude
Serves celebration

"Magnolia you sweet thing
you're driving me wild" *

you shame me with that phase
for i seek you out, but i am made afraid

i understand everything
and yet that changes nothing

for even as I speak
my words remain

hanging lifeless
on a dead frame

my psyche is human
but you have become inhumane

for i am the one
who is in exquisite pain

i am but a copy, a facsimile
of my own unravelled frame...

Bonitaj 11/23/10

*song by JJ Cale about New Orleans

Prevaricate -
that’s what he called it,
but his mouth choked
on the dust
of so many lies;
not a sod of compassion
to hold a smile in place,
nor a flicker of remorse,
across that handsome face

Menacing clouds of distrust
boiled up in the sky
and rolled like moving mountains,
powerfully, swiftly into the storm’s eye.
When the fine layer of truth fell
it covered everything
like a thin veneer -
draped over a densely woven mat
of deceit and lies.