Star Gazing

I watch you through secluded eyes;
affixed to the heavens to account for your distance
and call for you with muted prayers
that dissipate into the vastness of night.

Celebrating your celestial dance--
my shooting star in my night sky,
apprising the trail left in your path
that speaks to my dreams in sweet whispers.

You come to me on beams of moonlight;
kiss my taut face with soft rays of hope;
bathe me in inspiration, making clearer my vision
to ponder the intent of your season.

I watch with loving eyes;
you find comfort in my gaze,
as it blushes from your beauty.
Reluctantly, I acknowledge the obvious reflection
of my answered prayers in your presence.

The Eclipse

We lay together, to watch the moon--
it blushes orange, before our eyes;
holds us captive beside pulsing stars,
as we witness its slow trasformation.
                                                                     
From pale yellow, to orange hue,
to crimson heat, in winter sky;
leaving the night dark for the stars
to speak loudly of God's presence
                                                            
and as we lay to watch the moon,
it recaptures its gift to reflect the sun--
we embrace this celestial kiss
lying together
in seperate locations

Southern Comfort

Angry woman
bakes away days in lonely fields;
hopeless,
with bitter in the back of her throat.
Curse that man and his sun-kissed promise--
fickle heart will keep him runnin’.


Broken woman
suckling independence with her sweet bosom;
ain't got plans to pack for no man
to leave for greener pastures,
cause tha’s what Massa’ said he’d do
a long time ago.


Shattered woman--
no place to stand beside her.
Demons got her enclosed;
afraid of the southern sun--
front door locked tight
with a rear window open;
Fixin’ for her quick escape.

Precious woman,
I’d be obliged to love you.
Come sit down beside me
on the old porch swing.
Leave your fears to rest
on my able shoulder,
to melt with the color
of the southern sunset.

Lost friend

Even as you slip into the creases of night
and live in shadows cast by your forgotten brilliance,
with eyes red, like dying embers
left behind by your once raging fire;

I remember a time when we chased the sun
over blacktop cooled by open hydrants--
past demons, who had yet to make our acquaintance;
their existence blinded by our dreams.

Where did you go to, my childhood companion?
I didn’t notice when you left my side.
I missed your cryptic cries for help
on the day the demons seduced you
and darkened your dreams like the night,
and caused your embers to die;
Snatching your soul, to leave in its wake
a hunger for pain and destruction;

Even as you slip into the creases of night
with red eyes and abandoned brilliance
and disappear into the distant darkness,
my memories of you live forever