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 …

 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 …

Shadows…

a song of middle-aged angst …shifting, drifting airs with faces and imaginary graces but never firming to the touch…Are you a shadow?Am I?Would you have me real?Or I, you? Shadows cast no pain, no joy. Their suffering is not realtheir fading glamorpassing clamornot much to be wondered at. They neither harm nor charm, passing through …

IN THE CITY

In the cityI remember green you can smelland breezes you can hear;Clean rainSilent mistsSpider webs glisteningand solitudethat stretches far and wide… In the cityI live with mostly greys,Harsh vivid colorsslicing it in pieces;The smell of industyBurning coffee beans like tar;Howling trafficPressing crowds,eye never meeting eyeand solitudea tight defense around you… In the citytime is cut …