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

Shea Butter Down

The glow of you rivals sunset--
your velvet texture creamy between my fingers.
I hold you near to inhale you,
to infuse my core with your essence;
swimming in the sea of your earthy bouquet,
the scent of organic potpourri
consumes me;

Spread you messy on my parched skin,
pressing deep to help you melt in;
you feel natural against me,
and as you caress me,
my temple glows from the presence of you.

The shadow of your fragrance walks with me,
causing those in the village to smile with me
in recognition of the the velvet texture
of your earthly bouquet.

© 2010 Keith Horton

Law of Attraction

Had there never been a day
that I surveyed your smile,
or tasted the scent of roses
flowing from your untamed locks.
If I looked, but failed to notice
the timeless possibilities
alive in the depths of your soulful eyes,
or if in haste I missed
the perfect placement of your mouth
on your sun kissed Taino face,
or passed the chance to bathe
in the mist of your breath
and float free on waves of bliss.
If the day had never come
when I sampled your embrace;
warmed by the realization
of how perfectly you fit.

I would have known you still
as a child of my dreams

and I would have found you,
for the universe is awesome!
                                          

© 2011 Keith Horton

Prince

To look into the eyes of this Man-Child
is to summon the strength of the ancestors.
Re-igniting torch passed
that rainy April day when Papasan was called home.

His smile, with bulbous and rosy cheeks
recall memories of Grandma’ Jean
and capture the crisp Virginia wind
that brought him home to me--
held him with my heart; inhaled his purity
left overwhelmed with the scent of duty
to tune his spirit
to the sound of tribal drums.

That his name translates to Prince is no coincidence.
His purpose permeated his Mother’s womb before his birth.
His arrival humbled me.
The Earth collapsed around me,
until all that was left was sun and sky--
vast with endless possibilities;
showered blessings of a continuing legacy;
all from a stare into this Man Child’s eyes.

It is more than his birth that fills my heart,
though his cries of hunger awaken me still.
It is the Witnessing of his twigs
as they sprout into branches,
while roots dig deep into Mother Earth;
And endless inquiry
of how, what and why
appointing me as teacher and student
simultaneously.

The calm of Queen Mother walks with him;
grace and dignity gifted thru her touch.
The intensity of the Warrior King
providing food and shelter on rainy days.
I sit as captive audience
and witness his beautiful struggle
to balance the two.

The breath of life resides in his chest,
delivered to us in the song of his voice,
nourishing me with each encounter
and with every stare
into this Man Child’s eyes.

© 2010 Keith Horton