Better than I am

Red lights at the bar flickers smoky flame  
I order wine & cheese, savoring flame   

Slow music brings strangers to dance sweet &
tangled kisses -- but I drift, waning flame      

Moonlight gleams on my ordinary face 
Anxieties mothballing, snaring flame 

Heat soaks my hair into knotted brown ropes,
I pen words -coarsely pale as dying flames 

I might look better if you dim down lights
To candle tap, softer flowering flame 

My dreams bring me wading out to the sea   
Weaving a storm with fingers - snapping flames  

You gaze at me with awe, breathless, inflamed  - 
Here I am, better than I am - beautiful flame   

Artist:   Rosie Hardy

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub:   Poetry form - Ghazal Sonnet - Written in 7 couplets, with flame as a refrain in each verse (pentameter, mostly).  I didn't follow strictly the last couplet. Smiles.  Please check the link for other poetry guidelines and to read awesome poems.  

Title & Inspirational post:   Corey's Better than I am - His last verse:

My dreams have me pushing a boulder up a mountain
And jumping from the top to the bottom in a single leap
She’s waiting at the bottom, looking at me with admiration
Here, I am better than I am, here I am more, manly.

Alibi: I can't say No

Artist:  Dessa- Matches to Paper

I changed the locks
But your key, your key's still working *

Unhinging the door 
Here we go again
Another battle, 
I am too tired to fight , too tired
So I give in to the fever, the fire cutting
My flesh, deeper than  paper cuts 

You cry at night, and ask me for an alibi 
I don't mind helping you, my sister
What I don’t understand is why
When you know damn well what he is doing 
Lying, drinking and raging  - he is Master and you,   

You belong to him, your shirt proudly says,
And so I don’t understand why you are here --
What is the point of leaving him,
When he calls you, you get amnesia & bolt out the door
And you just Can’t Say No…

You cannot see yourself -  your own person: 
Earning your keep & peace 
Taking care of yourself first.  
Not playing with fire.   Not making up excuses.    

If you're asking, I can't say no
Just one more chapter,
Our book won't close
And I know it's madness
To play these odds
It's like giving matches to paper,
To paper dolls*

*Lines and music inspiration from Dessa - Thanks to Marian for introducing her music, Alibi.

  

Posted for OpenLinkNight for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads (every Monday)

and D'verse Poets Pub (every Tuesday) - I started listening to the Alibi video (about abusive relationships) but my words gravitated to the Matches to Paper video.   Dessa's vocals are amazing.  Thanks for the visit ~ 

Close your eyes and fall

Artist:   Rosie Hardy

the wind rushes to embrace me
like a lover with wings
a kiss-death, softer darkness
to recede, shape and birth  

words that move, dive & splinter,
brushes light and bronze,
now shading crimson & midnight blue--

i fall headlong, unabashed with passion  
towards your voice, whispering my native name
from my gut, deep within, i hear you--

let go of your fears
and inhibitions--
trust that my arms will catch you-- 


Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads  - Sunday's Challenge - We are to take the last line from our previous work and use it as a first line for a new poem.  
and Poets United

The title post is taken from my previous poem On Wings:  Theme is Creativity. 

Before you, a forest speaks your language.

The moon tide is calling.  A flare leaps like a

Signal from a distant mountain top.

Close your eyes and fall. 

Aftermath

Artist:   Rosie Hardy

the night drowned    
blue, silver and black ash
under quartered moon

honey-sipped, the waves 
quickly swelled into a tsunami
drained of salt

bittersweet like grapefruit
sucking tears, words and flesh --
i drifted, swallowed       

dry by sea -- 
shattered shell, deranged of memories 
from your leaving  

Update:  I am pleased to share that this poem will be published by Emerge Literary Journal by Fall (Sept.) 2013. 

Posted for OpenLinkNight of Imaginary Garden with Real Toads (every Monday)

and D'verse Poets Pub  (every Tuesday)

Poetry form:   3-5-3 word Collom lune 

Simply complicated

Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice)

it's complicated, i said  --
no, it's really simple, you said --

"roll your "r" like "rrr"
and k is "c" as in car "  


Selamat pagi (Good morning) 
Apa kabar? (How are you?)

your voice is gruff and coarse 
as you sprinkle red pepper and spice
over bubur ayam  (chicken congee) --

i decide to try a less-foreign fare  
for breakfast - nasi goreng (fried rice)
topped with egg (no spice please) -- 

we are eating in crowded food stall,
smell of the heat and spices are stifling
amidst head scraves and batik shirts -- 

outside, street vendors are selling
fresh fruits in a plastic plate - watermelon, 
kedondong, green mangoes, ripe papaya and rose apple -- 


Food (makam)
Delicious  (enak)


i nibble on krupuk (deep fried crackers) until 
saffron clings to my hair and  hot chili pastes (sambal) 
lingers on my lips--

after one month, we said 


Terima kasi (Thank you)

Selamat tinggal (Good Bye)

there is no "maybe" or "someday" in your tongue,

time is yesterday, today & tomorrow --

it's simple, you said --
no,  it's very complicated, i said --


Posted for:   D'verse Poets Pub - Poetics of Foreign Tongues - hosted by Fred Rutherford.
I visited Jakarta, Indonesia, many many years ago but until now, l still remember the hot chili food.   
Shared with Poets United - Poetry Pantry

Naked under the moon

your words are both sweet and silver
flaming my candle wick --  
incandescent and fevered lips --  
perhaps a full moon's trick  
or song 
weaving spells for miles long --
i slip
smaller hands unto yours --
trusting this:  flare, heat and river 
sweeping, flowing like (h)ours-- 





your kisses are like fire and ice
awakening my words
to gentleness, beholding peace
precious like sharpened sword --
i bare
my thoughts, wounds to your care--
i cease
building walls, an island
next to the sea, lofty with a price
but empty, frail as sands   

Artist:   Gustav Klimt 

Posted for OpenLinkNight of D'verse Poets Pub - every Tuesday, starting 3pm EST 
and One Single Impression 
and Wicked Wednesday - Nice to meet you ~

Based on form of  Robert Herrick's poem - To Daffodils - This is my second offering using this format as I was inspired by the terrific responses to my first -  Shaken by your beauty.

x x x x x x x a                                               Inspirational poem: 
x x x x x b                                                     "All night I have slept with you
x x x x x x x c                                               next to the sea, on the island.  
x x x x x b                                                      Wild and sweet you were between pleasure and sleep,
x d                                                                     between fire and water. "  
x x x x x d                                                      ~ Night on the Island by Pablo Neruda
x c                                                                  
x x x x x e
x x x x x x x a                                             

x x x x x e                                                       

Of storms

I.

the wind picked up

at night, swirling of empty nests

and cluttered leaves-

sounds of crying rose,       

reverberating the red-tiled roof

like a ship’s moaning

as it flounders in the unexpected rough sea-

until the trees, bare of songs and frost,

knelt, bowing down in reverence-

in the way of nature

everything passes, including storms.  

II.

the wind picked up

at night, swirling of empty nests

and cluttered pages-

suddenly,

wailing sounds       

reverberated from red-tiled roof-

a lover bemoaning

the quickness and parting of kisses –

wild and sweet-

the trees, bare of songs and frost,

trembled under the moon’s soulful eyes-

the storm passes,

taking everything of hallowed vows-

including ours 

Notes:   I wrote this in two versions based on the weather last night.  The fierce wind knocked out cable connections. 

Posted for : Part I. Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Ella's Edge - Wow!

and Part II. D'verse Poets Pub - Imagist poem

and Friday Flash Fiction - for the G-man - both in 55 words.

On bed of snow

@ SweetLust Blog

lay me down on bed of snow,

nary a footprint nor faded bloom

my breasts empty of secrets,

fingers bare of ink and seasonings

cover my face with salt and thyme,

rub oil and myrrh on my feet

until shadows flee unto the night sky, 

pristine in silver, then maybe (perhaps) 

i will hear the silence of your

restless drum

Posted for:  D'verse Poets Pub - Peace: Within and Without  - I have chosen to write peace poetically.  Thank you Mary for the wonderful prompt ~
Shared with Poets United.

Yours, unwrapped

give me your awkward kisses -
bare of deception & golden bitterroot

give me your whole words -
both innocent & dangerously seeded

your silver chalice & frayed diary -
empty of pretentious grapes & perfect quotes

then I will yield - core, wine & blossoms - 
(blink) unspooling,  i come with awe



~0~0~0~



wrap me - skin 
& words with kisses, soft
as falling snowflakes 


braille my face
with your candle lit fingers -
slowly, i melt

First Post - Imaginary Garden with Real Toads -  Fireblossom's Challenge - Get Listed

Second Post - D'verse Poets Pub - Form for all  - La Lune (3 lines of 3-5-3 words or 5-3-5 syllabic count)



picture credit:   here