she longs for shelter
to blend in and not stand out
a garden flower
safe in a community
of shared feeling and purpose
Image credit : Vof Vermeulen Perdaen & Steyaert
ephemera 5
ephemera 4
In hidden symbols,
Formalized and stylized,
She speaks her stories.
Therein lies love and sorrow,
And ways of reaching the dawn
Image credit : Vof Vermeulen Perdaen & Steyaert
To share is human:
fragility
she broke out in fragility,
twas written on her face –
the best of her ability
was covered, just in case
the last romance of circumstance
should ever come to call –
(one should not have a viewing
of this type of thing at all)
the life of harboring her thoughts
seemed right and good and plenty –
she’d lived like this for many years,
since she was maybe twenty –
but dangerous as it might seem
she knew no other way
(if asked her own opinion
heaven knows what she might say)
and so the journey to regret
she boarded faithfully:
while taking careful notice of
the small press gallery
who sat and looked for others and
in silence passed her by;
she had a dim remembrance
of another day and time
where she would shine at times, and so
she shudders now and then –
before she became fragile
oh, the girl she might have been
and still might be if careless –
her own thoughts she might then quote –
but she broke out in fragile once
and that was all
she wrote
To share is human:
Almost
When she was almost young, she slept
Next to the fields of pure delight;
When she went almost out, she heard
Of secret pleasures in the night
When she felt almost love, she dreamed
Of freedom found in ecstasy —
Yes, when she almost lived, she lived
Just two doors down
From me
(“Almost” – 5-21-2017)
To share is human:
war hero
he flew beyond the hay fields
over europe
he made it back
though some of them did not
young men
who never saw their tiny children
who lives and dies is more-or-less
by lot
when he came home
he dusted crops and carried
the mail
around the town to everyone
an old man dying
when the old were still young
who left out here an extra
skeleton
To share is human:
Schematics 10
He mastered her in cobalt blue,
She conquered him in diamond white,
In colored rooms, with red Shiraz,
And battles won without a fight
She took the path of innocence,
He took upon the parvenu,
And soon they both were set in stones
Of diamond white and cobalt
Blue
To share is human:
A Different Type of Prejudice
Observe: the heart that knows the truth,
That sees the light, that feels the heat —
Who quiet in the study learns,
But still is welcome on the street —
Behold: the difference-maker who,
While much-respected where she goes,
Is like a river underground
Where no one knows from whence it flows —
But this — this is the barrier
Between her truth and everyone:
A different type of prejudice,
That sees no trouble, so assumes
There’s been none
To share is human:
Hearts Are Full Of Fields
You know her angry, critical;
A person certain, full of pride –
But once, there was another her;
From time long past and distance wide —
She loved a boy, who was her heart;
But he, at last, his love denied –
He left her on what should have been
The day that she became a bride
So now you see her as she is,
Someone who always seems outside;
Who keeps her distance from the team,
With comments both acerb and snide
But if you knew her as I do –
The love that never died inside –
You’d know that hearts are full of fields
Where flowers grow
That none
Have spied
(“Hearts Are Full Of Fields” – 6-30-2015)
To share is human:
the woman i thought i knew
looking back upon
the woman I thought I knew –
now, the secret storm
pours in around the edges
her hidden sorrowing seas
(“the woman i thought i knew” – 7-5-2015)
