The Poet Hiding Within

Brink

2010-12-28T20:12:00.001-06:00

Trapped on a precipice of procrastination,
Banished to the bare brink, I waiver,
The ledge shrinking as nothingness encroaches.
Dark clouds engulf. Suffocation threatens.
No way back.
Nothing forward.

Except…

Hope flickers. A light,
Seemingly lost in the ebony abyss of doubt.
I stagger, finding my feet in the inky black.
Faith beckons seducing my soul.
Eyes flutter.
Breath catches.
The heart skips.
I step from the safety of solid soil…
Falling into a chasm of anticipation.
©BT 2010

“Brink” was composed as part of The Reverb10 Project.

Submerged

2010-10-12T22:27:00.002-05:00

Below the surface of a seemingly sanguine sea,
suspended in life’s torrent, I tread. Tiring.
Salt tears and contaminated rivers of expectation
converge in a cataclysmal brackish delta of doubt.
Crashing emotional waves hold hope captive.
Swirling silt obscures fast receding sunlight.
Helpless, I stretch skyward, seeking. Gasping.
Drowning in darkness. Submerged by circumstance.

©BT 2010

Erosion

2008-04-02T21:58:00.002-05:00

Distant seeking eyes glimpse inside opaque,
tightly guarded flesh through fleeting glances,
sensitive stares and gently brooding optimism.
Sweet coercion collapses weakening walls
built on bricks of bitterness and bound regret
as patient words deepen soulful introductions
amidst crumbling building blocks of resistance
and passionate powers of knowing perception.

©BT 2008

Kindred

2008-03-15T08:33:00.003-05:00

Wounded souls wander sleepless nights
blindly scanning forlorn faces unfamiliar
with unconscious abandon, hidden hopes.
Smile after solitude smile brush briskly by
with glancing indifference and icy immunity
while unseen the silent quest progresses on -
searching unworthy spirits wasting away,
drowning alone under settled complacency,
lost to the ever encroaching pit of darkness.
Shimmering hints of spark in stealing shade,
souls pursue parallel, elusive, identical souls;
seeking harmony equal and a healing heart.

©BT

Immortal

2008-02-29T23:58:00.004-06:00

Ancient emotions enigmatically elude ones
ceaseless attempts at passionate abduction.
Shelters of secretivity obscure depths of truth
in a time honored test devised to perplex the
constant invaders of a woman's immortal heart.
Concealed by hidden cloaks of false sentiment,
cryptic feelings, and veiled ideals; empty
promises cleverly masquerade as eternal love
while earnestly separating thorn from rose.

© 2008 BT

Resurrected

2008-02-20T10:44:00.004-06:00

Suggestive senses summon shunned reminiscence
exposing excitable obsession from youthful obscurity.
Tender brush of scintillating anticipated touch,
tentative flirtations, and lip breathlessly tasting lip
birth a longing repetition of soul-stirring rapture
clumsily lost in time amidst recoiling adolescence.

Time On Our Side

2008-01-29T17:38:00.002-06:00

The following was composed jointly by myself and my new friend Bobby who lives in Glasgow. He wrote two lines as a prompt to get me writing again. He graciously then let me edit those two lines as I finished the first stanza. He wrote stanzas two and three ... and again gave me free reign to edit a bit (which I did and he still didn't mind) and then I composed stanza four. Bobby picked the title. I pondered posting it here but decided it was well worth it!

Time On Our Side

Our watches lie as one on the dresser as we lay apart;
time ticking continuously with the steady beat of our hearts.
Mistimed by wakeful, wasted breath - neglected syncopation
follows the solitary second hand seeking wedded absolution.

Should we abandon hope, and just keep changing places?

The world’s face keeps spinning and clocks change faces
as time in motion searches for a once united foundation -

belligerent to cold and immune to yearning isolation.

Bodies toss and turn - limbs stretching, reaching to nudge;

thigh to thigh, perspiring sweat heals the deceptive grudge

and fleeting moments of feather touch increase the need

to turn back clock and rewind lost heat with wanton speed.

In unforgotten, tangled dance as old as illimitable hours
triviality and bitterness give way to a hidden love of ours;
found, if briefly, in the communication of caress on skin

and time traveled emotions erotically aroused in original sin.

Discord

2008-01-28T19:07:00.000-06:00

Buried in wasted, abyssal bosom lie
restless demons submerged by sanity
driven thought and moral expectation.
Whispering muses of idle instruction
confuse abstract mind with oaths sworn
while faded fealty cracks the coherence
through which shadows mischievously
expand minds lasting solitary seclusion.

© 2008 BT

Daydream

2008-01-24T15:04:00.000-06:00

As the luminous glow of a reflecting moon
catches fire in your solitary, sultry stare
I lose forever my confined, iridescent soul
in whispering waves of absolute adoration.
I am inescapably washed safely ashore by
the ebb and flow of absorbed understanding
and the sweeping tide of your radiant emotion.

© 2008 BT

Pieces

2008-01-24T08:52:00.001-06:00

Like a giant jigsaw my jagged heart waits
beckoning the brave to boldly restore pieces
as evidence the irreparable may be salvaged
and wholly reborn bright and full of beauty.
Torn edges and dull, peeling colors diminish
a once shining luster – lost and time ravished,
scattered across time and shifting continents,
eager for he who dare bring it to completion.

©2008 BT

Flames

2008-01-22T21:27:00.000-06:00

Forever restless the wandering, seeking shadow
roams from soul to seductive soul - searching
recklessly for longing recognition; pursuing
ignitable sparks to set aglow a frost-bitten heart.
Unworthy flames litter life’s limited timeline:
scorned suitors and mates fleetingly forgotten;
each blaze doused by the burdening of a reality
nakedly exposed to fearful timidity & jaded logic.
Still, the spirit pushes forward on its fiery quest:
chasing fevered love and melting a hardened heart.

©2008 BT

Enslaved

2008-01-05T22:15:00.001-06:00

Voices interred in eternally tortured mind
audaciously engage earthly ego in eternal
conflict over cohesive conscious thought.
Sense struggles vainly to someday surmount
pulsing susceptible needs of heart’s desire,
soulfully screaming for sanity’s release
out of emotionally induced subjugation.

©2008 BT

Snowflakes

2008-01-03T04:50:00.000-06:00

Cascading crystals dance a windblown waltz
intrinsically drifting downward to obscurity;
coldly conducted by whimsical accord to dance
in unique unity and the icy common conviction
of a wasteful demise thru jagged sting on skin.

©2008 BT

I've decided to enter the above in the poetry
contest at Write Stuff. Feel free to visit
their site after January 11, 2008 to vote for me ...
or not! Either way.

Fanciful Slumber

2007-12-21T03:59:00.000-06:00

Sleep gives stage to unfeigned sketches drawn
from flashback, reflection, and blatant fantasy.
Revealed in subconscious fancies of the psyche
illustrations depicting desires deeply hidden
lie secretly pushing the mind for gentle release.
Truths long sequestered encounter brief freedom
in unbridled thoughts and illusions of the night
before decaying in dawn's deafening tangibility.

©2007 BT

Secluded

2007-12-12T10:20:00.001-06:00

Hours of solitude silently seduce the lonely soul
with false promises of counterfeit consolation,
mock comfort and forged mimicries of content.
Isolated days spiral around a wounded heart
desperately scrutinizing impersonal sentiments
in a search for the sincerest of affirmations:

I am not alone.

©2007 BT

Entanglement

2007-11-27T09:07:00.001-06:00

Fueled by intoxications of a much confused heart
a battle rages eternally within my soul, distracted
by conflicting emotions which struggle to surface
from drowning depths of enduring indecision.
Pulled taut mid rationale and suppressed desire,
my lacerated love threatens to rip irreparably
plunging free will forever into the darkened abyss.

©2007 BT

Inquietude

2007-11-19T10:23:00.000-06:00

Grasping darkness fails the weary mind
tangled amongst fleeting glimpses of a
present, past and unknown future existence.
Fragmented shadows darken a conscience
in tormented agony of ruptured memories:
pathways not followed, lovers abandoned,
shattered window panes of opportunity,
insufferable longing, unchecked wrath,
and unappeasable sacrifices of vibrant life.
Ghosts of reminiscence, all glaringly reflected
in the labyrinthine cobweb of emotions that
barricade the necessitous slumber of my soul.

©2007 BT

Star Crossed

2007-11-19T10:21:00.000-06:00

Cold winter nights spent alone
surrounded by ones who care.
I fall into dreams of your arms
and the life we were meant to share.

Fate must laugh at the hand she dealt
as I cry in crowded solitude
waiting for my chance, once passed
to give all myself to you.

©2002 BT

Damned

2007-11-19T10:19:00.000-06:00

Fate is an evil bitch.
My love, once found, now lost
never to be recovered.
My whole being, now empty
never to be occupied.
My open soul, now shut
never to be left ajar.
My fragile heart, now shattered
never to be mended.
Fate has cursed me, now damned.
I will never love again.

©2002 BT

Searching

2007-11-19T10:16:00.000-06:00

Empty thoughts on a cold winter night
congregate in my cluttered mind
searching for attention; a resolution
not found amongst lost thoughts of kind.
For chaos reigns supreme, no light
or glow to direct the path
of my wandering ideas and wishes;
only anger, resentment and wrath.

©2001 BT

Life's Prisoner

2007-11-19T10:15:00.000-06:00

Trapped in a cage of my own design
with no way out, no door, no key;
while the life I know should be mine
lies just out of reach, haunting me.

No gilded bars, just rusted steel
holds me captive from my heart's desire.
If only life could provide an appeal
to those choices made in adolescent fire.

©1997 BT

Love's Anguish

2007-11-19T10:14:00.000-06:00

Passion, too far gone to ignore,
once hidden, buried in trepidation,
now bound to unforgiving consequences.
Each day grows more disturbing, distant,
while living in love's anguish - regret!

©1998 BT

Losing Touch

2007-11-19T10:12:00.000-06:00

Spreading memories wash away thoughts,
sweeping my mind free of dust and cobwebs.
I float on currents not of my creation,
bobbing amidst careless emotion,
rising and plunging with a change in tide,
directed by the unyielding grasp of the moon.

©1996 BT