Grendel's Nursery Rhyme

Ate, that Kraken, many sailors.

Stole away from chasm, flashed a

Tale of wrath and scale and,

Drew them deep in lore and love

So loth to leave young valor.

Hail strength, Cthulhu! 

Hail and flee, then wrap this

Tail, as rub of harpoon's bitter barb

Small thanks for glory, hero's death, 

Rest in Valhalla or Elysium, in exchange

For just a moment facing demon's

Fang and rotten breath.

I said

But not aloud.
Made so much sense,
These phrases, wound about
A beanstalk's clever tongue
Of josh and jester, song of songs.
O wise man, heal my lack of
Wit's retort, or crushing doubt;
Flay all apart an argument
To make me hide, to
Bind me idle; keep me
Wild.

Parade

Merrily we roll
A tot's song, long ago
It seems we sang it all
Probably out of tune, but
Loved it all the same
And seventy-six trombones
Heralded our awe of
What we'd done and
Where we'd been
In song, long time
Forgot until a
Little new bird
Came along.

Class

Lifetime spent to earn this trust,
A workman's pretty pence or tup.
And here is handed fistfuls of
The golden oar, the endless love.
And here, the photo blurs,
Did she steal mine, or I took hers?
A timeline fails unraveling
And we shall go a wandering.

Slip

Scrape, ah, minor thing

A nuisance, really. 

Shake, downplay,

Escape...

But, oh, insidious,

A mark builds swiftly

Bulk amasses

Bursts!

Pain follows pain and riot,

Rage spins - I should have known,

Damned paper slice, 

What foolishness!

Dervish den of whisper drags

Down

And in

And all is still, save

listless, shallow gasps,

diminish

Quarrel

Be there gods, then
They must fly with him, and
Gilded wings sweep sorrow's
Own full grief 'neath mat of sky

If they be just gods, he is safe,
Though hell should wail and demons cry,
And naught I did or do, or might entice
Deny him place in Paradise.

Or be there no gods, this life all,
Then he is gone and been and done
And no more sentient, ashes flown,
Beyond a myth, love truly died.

But be there fool's gods, shabby, sly,
All hope is false, and naught I did or do
Might bring a peace to matter dark
And matters not to try.

Trust

Hear my words, new friend, 

But lightly, twist to sound like yours.

Your song, so eloquent and smooth,

Must be the way that I should croon.

No, lover, sing out strong your own!

I do not know you otherwise.

Show me you, or not at all,

A cracked door leaves no room.

Arrowroot

Cupid's toy, a silly herb,
A binding potion, skin to skin,
Morph she and he to them and then,
A combination meant to be, but
Cherub asked not he nor she.
Baked and cooled, on rack
Await, each cookie,
Critic's eager mouth or plate.

Hold the Broken

Had we more arms to gather,

Searchers, find, had we more

Room to shelter, care to fodder,

Palliative expression's hide: 

Oh, touch-starved lovelies,

I would hold you. I would

Bring you gently into night.

That good, good night of

Solace, lose my senses.

Tender losses, I would

Keep you, ever after,

Safe inside.

Harness

Feel out edges, 

Toe by heel, by harnessed Friend

In sightless night,

Invent a circumstance to pull in

Wonders, drive out shaky iron beam

Plug in the forces, wind the monster.

Unleash all divine and cater

Solely to this finding, to this

Molding, to this wall and chains.

But is this terror big enough

To drag in mortals, lives and all?

To rend, replace, reduce, revoke,

Repeal and tether, guard in 

Haste a poorly thought-out

Life of tame?

Closed To

I'll ask
Don't answer.
Don't quash what little lie I've led
Each moment in this storm
"We'll be ok," I swore
I moaned. A breath of
Warmth, of snowfalls, Home.
Denial, waif's keep, broken shake
Beneath, behind aforesaid question.
Please, for pity's sake, for peace,
Don't answer as I think you would,
Don't make me right, I beg, and
So by silence,
Answer, you will.

I dare not ask again.

Blink

A time seen, conquered!
Desperation drove to dance of
Driving force - it worked!
And thrall continued, all abuzz
Abounded, sounded vast and
Lifted high a warrior cry,
Fly on!
And onward flew, to
Place anew, and somewhat
Safe, and quieter, less
Rancid, raucous memory.
And in crept demon:
Doubt, and brought her cohorts,
Grief and Why? - her colors fly!
Reason meets no choice, but madness.
So it is and take the pill alone,
Sugar spoon be damned!
A Valkyrie grows tired.

Sound

Ah, the void enfolds,
Enrobes what I'd been told were lies
Ascribed to singers long forgot,
And all respect, reflect, and bow
Below what, sought, we'd find,
But now this warming fog, it pulls
Enticing, inviting - oh so calming,
Calling chants resounding, pounding,
Far-off battles, others purge the rain
Of terror that I never heard.

Forge

Child's play, burdens, only serve

To give excuse for drama, 

Tongue in cheek or bite in teeth

It's one and all, move on

None delay tick-tock or 

Flip of calendar, o what we'd give

To re-attach that page-a-day 

A time or two, and un, re-do

A momentary lapse of thought

Before a "do."

Dare

Decide, declare, and issue this,
It's not ok to do, to say, to
Be the way I was, I am, and will.
Love all I am, except
The things I really am,
The passion, flair, and failing.
Take and mold this being into
Someone now acceptable:
Declawed and trained,
For you, for your approval,
For fear of being broken,
I will sway and melt and change.

Conversation

Myriad moments rehearsed,

Complex: each avenue explored

In mind. He's there, and so

En route, each point's revised,

Re-made, re-emphasized, re-shared.

And on arrival's tripping feet, it

Withers. Where's the need? 

To stand on feet when bland

Half-smile holds so-called 

Peace intact, small

Talking hides turmoil of what

I never was:

Afraid

Cover

All is clear and all remote,
Glacier's sentient viscera:
Voiceless, Vice-less.
Telescopic lens reveals a tide
Evolving, reaching, raping,
In gulfing, gaping damp and
Distance, felt once strong and
Stalwart: safe and epic, fast and bold.
Yet far, so far away now, lost,
Almost in eon of revenge,
Resentment, scars and damage
Twisted deep enough to send
A soul inside this leaded frame of
Tori's tempered glass. Melted,
Mended, some would say. And
say, they'd see, soft covering of
Practiced shame, a rearranged reed,
Papyrus falling into Nile.

Give

White stains, skies fall;
Will withers every instant further,
Shrinks as looming threat of
Might Be hovers, hungry
At the edge of shadows.
Dressage's proud poll bent away,
Rehearsed report denied,
Decide to bend, to fold,
To mutilate.
Decide.

Disruption

Flaws in head cling tighter so,

The lie to lay beside instead;

Reasoning, to shrink, to anger none

And none to blame, would make

Each solitary night less sodden

Wrung-out pillowcase of pain.

Nor leave behind a replica of

Who she made in vain, 

As bitty-bite at once, she falters

Out of mold of could-have-been.

He's Gone

She breathes, and reaches out
As if to catch a soul
"Don't go!
I am a missing mortal fool
Without you: choke on air
Or splinter fragments of the
Sky to fall upon.
Don't leave me here alone!"
She crumples over steel and
Sympathetic white coat arms.
And that is all.