Do you know the signs of grief–denialanger and despairapathyacceptance–how they followone upon the otherat a gallopfirst and thena lope… How over timea weariness sets inthe pain, less fierceneed not be galloped throughheadlong…and days it takesat last, again to feel each stagein all its richnessall its depth… Weeks revolveexploringsorting weepingtaking hold againof faith, of lifebut if …
Author Archives: Ciel
In the night…
Dark mistsuneasy dreamssurroundpenetratedrop small soundsthat could be anything… A small thingsimply living its small lifeprey, and subtle?Or predatora little careless–who can know? Monster in the darkPrey–softly breathingheart beating warmin a circle of light…Distantlyhowlingmourning–the wolf. 2011 CL Redding revised 2024
Another Morning After
Each morning wakingyou are less and lessin my first thoughtand shame is passinginto just embarrassmentand simple pain. Yet still my eye–with each flicker of a glanceof what I saw you inthat passes in the roador on the screenor in a passing thought–still shies away,seeks haven in any other thing. But there are so fewthat have …
Who?
I look for youyour sweet face gleamingon the very edge of dreaming,I seek you, yearningto believe,to knowthat you are real…that we are in a worldtogether loving,touching, laughing,waltzing on a harlequin ballroom floor,chequered black and white,smooth and perfectin a forest glen,beneath crystal skiesand lit bydancing fireflies… 2005 CL Redding
Too Late Too Soon
I believed you’d live forever,though I know it can’t be so–I’ve always known I’d lose you,though I felt you’d never go…There’d be time some perfect day to speakthe long-unspoken word,To tell you all I needed to,to be sure that you had heard…That there’d be time to listen,to show how much I careTo be sure you …
Bitter Grapes
Wine was once upon a time divine but now, somehow, the elegance is soured as it’s taken and devoured what I knew of you and thought was fine. You sleep it off, unconscious that the sabotage is done, today, tonight are gone, tomorrow spoken for with stumbling tongue and eyes that will not wake to …
LABYRINTH
In the half-littwistings, turnings,Stink of bullshit…,Heaven’s burningsin the gut, the very soul… What is this, thatyou are seeking,Hero,here among the reekingpassagesthat twist around,and lead you intocul-de-sacs,hemmed in by wallsmarked with the axe,double-headed andtwo-faced…?Once upon a time you racedin sunlight gleaming off the sea,you sweated in your lissome grace,by the age-twisted cypress tree,stood tall and young, …
On The Half-Shell
Out of the sea on rising foamVenus emerges,makes herself at home, and the Gods all pause a moment to lookand admire and plan…and their canny brains cook… The Goddesses, too–they look and they seea sister to themand a rival-to-be… For the proper attentions, there must always beoffered to Wisdom, and Fidelity. And Discord smiles to …
MEDUSA
O maid, you once were lovely,full of grace, and namedfor Wisdom in eternal female form–Metis, Maat, Medha the names you bore… But the passing generations,reshaping and restructuring the norm,made you over as a thing to fear,no longer Maid, but monstrouswith a deadly, stony gaze; Men made you cruel and coldand perilous to life in latter …
Ashes in the Oracle’s Mouth
Helen, oh Helen!You silly git!You pretty face,You great lack-wit! Paris, perspectivewas never your strengthJust please yourselfat any length! Menelaus,big as a bullyour heart pumps bloodand that is all. Agamemnon,greed for powercuts at your life linehour by hour. Achilles,as honest as killers come–kill and be killedis your personal sum. Hector, oh Hector,where else could you endbut …
LOOSELY SPEAKING... 