Darkness of the moon

in the darkness of the moon

I saw the edge of
the double-sided sword.

It’s edge shinning and sharp

breathless, fright had taken hold
of my heart.

Blinding all compassion -
giving way to a
loud heartbeat.

Recoiled into the safety
of my deadbolt,
fear conquered love
last night.

Sunrise gifts a new day
a new way
allowing love to conquer fear.

☮TheMsLvh © 2012

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Beyond

Beyond
I traveled the edge
into your darkness
where only strength
of love would dare roam

Compassion – my guide
Empathy – my desire
to glimpse through
your stained blue eyes

and see what you have seen
and feel what you have felt
and cried when you have bled

Your lingering visions
frightening to the core
adhering to old
melancholy etchings
of aged distant time

I know…I know what it is
to be alone

Yet, know this truth, my love
loosen away the empty cold

Cast aside those blackened nights
remove all stones, clear the path
your sunrise has begun

I promise

☮TheMsLvh © 2012

Photo Permission by Gary Hart

Submitted to d’Verse 

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Dreams of Peace

 

 

“Too much of everything

 

is just enough”

 

A stitch of words that frame

 

my license plate.

 

 

 

A sister’s gift

 

so many years ago.

 

How did she know

 

that I would frame my life

 

around those eight

 

Grateful Dead words?

 

 

 

 too much love is just enough

 

 too much peace is just enough

 

 

 

Were the little girls with flowers

 

in their hair wrong

 

so long ago?

 

 

 

To dream the dreams

 

the world

 

now hungers for.

 

 

 

TheMsLvh

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I Must Surrender- rondeau redoublé

  

 

I must surrender the mind’s hold,

let go the blaze trapped in my head.

Times have changed. Leaving misty old

perceptions of what is, now dead.

 

Raised independent – so inbred,

to never swallow what was told.

To always question – not be led,

I must surrender the mind’s hold.

 

Events have changed my journey’s road;

the day I flew but fell instead.

All my dreams dying – turning cold -

let go the blaze trapped in my head.

 

I never feared what lay ahead,

those days of youth brought suns of gold;

so quick to alter by moon’s end,

Times have changed. Leaving misty old

 

faint memories pulled from the void.

Of better days where I transcend -

to grasp a breath and long behold

perceptions of what is, now dead.

 

Succumb to pain, I hide in bed;

heal mind and body, feel controlled.

New dreams will come a doctor said  -

relax and breath and let unfold.

I must surrender.

 

 

 

☮TheMsLvh © 2011

Image Courtesy of DiegoUnspire

Submitted to With Real Toads and dVerse Pub Open Link#9

 

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
 

 

*Technically speaking a rondeau redoublé is made of six quatrains ended by a hemistich (of exactly the same type as the one in the rondeau form, and built on the first verse as well). The 24 verses, 4 of which are found twice (in the first stanza and as endings of stanzas 2-5) all belong to only two rhyme groups, the tricky scheme of this form is:

ABAB BAB1 ABA2 BAB3 ABA4 BABAh

Paranoia – Sestina

 

 

Reflections show a shattered withered life,

while peering through suspicious sleepless tears.

Dark hopes of white lines chase false fears -

relieving pains the mornings always give.

Nonchalant lies brings forth abandoned trust -

confusing love, so run fast as you can.

 

Hands trembling, unable to pop a beer can;

aware this has become part of that life.

Internal voices shouting words to trust -

imagined visions haunt spent salty tears.

Neglecting life for thrills the sharp points give,

forgetting all those secret doubts and fears.

 

Another day presents recurring fears;

play trickery on you because they can.

Insanely living – nothing seems to give. 

Surreal surprise to your short precious life;

not hearing pleas from loved one’s painful tears,

’cause there is no one you would ever trust.

 

Saliva aliens hold you in trust -

to scare away unwanted mental fears;

which breaks you down and brings forth screaming tears.

Are you aware the only one who can

save you from paranoid unnerving life:

do you know any one whose love would give?

 

There comes a time that something has to give,

perhaps your inability to trust.

You see small men in trees critique your life,

awake the darkest nightmares of your fears.

Go ahead, do all the white lines you can -

burn mucus raw – enough to bring on tears.

 

Disjointed twisted thoughts allow dry tears  

to flow,  deflect the sympathy I give.-

Detox the brain – but ponder if you can;

which voice in your head do you truly trust?

Sweat dripping off your brow – all due to fears,

encroaching your space, a disrupted life.

 

Your paranoia tears can darken life.

Give time a chance to heal invented fears;

if you can, change your life, believe in trust.

 

 

☮TheMsLvh © 2011

 submitted to d’Verse - Poets United

painting by MariaBurd

 For A. & M.

 

Sestinas are a poetic tour-de-force which takes skill to create and a subtle ear for the sound of language to keep from seeming contrived or stilted.The sestina repeats the initial six end-words of the first stanza through the remaining five six-line stanzas, and then ends in a three-line envoi. The lines may be of any length, though traditionally a sestina is set in iambic pentameter.

1. ABCDEF
2. FAEBDC
3. CFDABE
4. ECBFAD
5. DEACFB
6. BDFECA
7. (envoi) ECA or ACE

The envoi, sometimes known as the tornada, must also include the remaining three end-words, BDF, in the course of the three lines so that all six recurring words appear in the final three lines. In place of a rhyme scheme, the sestina relies on end-word repetition to effect a sort of rhyme.

This information was found at Poets.org

 

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Spare the Rod… Please?

This poem was a difficult write. Not only with the words chosen but my dark muse appeared. This is a dark poem of child abuse, but a subject that always needs attention.  I hope I did it justice on a few levels.

Submitted to The Sunday Whirl,

 

 

Torn curtains can hold twisted memories

of acts remembered, pain forgotten not.

The reprehensible atrocities

behind closed doors, leave rendered spots.

 

Sore red lines cast external bruising gild

on flesh so pure, its’ contrast scattered deep.

One blink can whirl wet eyes from sad tears filled,

before the young will climb on clouds to sleep.

 

Domestic stains remain as clocks tick time;

contort the scan of life’s new marvel age.

Bad memories will haunt this blind crime

thus, leaves a spirit blistering enraged.

 

 TheMsLvh © 2011

image source: Staale N

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

The Aftermath; A horse and man

Amazing steed with hair silk white,
beauty graced – shadowed the moonlight.
No spiraled horn nor wings of flight;
earthbound hoofs pranced with sheer delight.

Adorned with crown, rider takes mount;
dreams of triumph fail to surmount.
From battles, deeply soul-engaged;
throws down stained spears – his heart enraged.

Battles drummed, he answered the call,
left scarred, yet survived above all.
Tattered vest – arrows injected,
war left his soul unprotected.

High on his horse with thoughts impure,
close his eyes to the world obscure.
Finds great solace - the rhythmic gait,
dark shadows of war bearing weight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TheMsLvh © 2011 *Special thanks to Mike Patrick for introducing me to meter and feet

image source:http://devilry.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2ylrrm

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Grief Often gets in the Way

Grief often gets in the way,

like a granite stone in a river.

Impeding the gentle sway

of the moonlight’s reflected silver.

 

Mourning with uncontrolled sorrow;

which steals the breath away.

Wounded hearts forget tomorrow -

will bring sunshine’s warm bouquet.

 

Sadness, hidden deeply behind -

longing eyes, searching to find;

the joy, that once playfully lived

in a beating heart that thrived.

 

Sometimes there is music -

only grieving ears can hear.

Soothing melodies floating , the intrinsic

strum of a harp, angels hidden near.

 

Lonely hearts long to fly away,

held captive by a thief.

Familiar creature appears each day -

ominous and dark known as grief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-TheMsLvh ©2011 *edited suggestions by Michael York*

Inspired by “Thy son liveth: Messages from a Soldier to his Mother” by
Grace Duffie Boylad

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

By a Thread

A spider hangs precariously alone;

below her web of knotted silken thread.

She dangles freely – tossed by nature’s wind,

without concern of dark storms overhead.

 

A strike of lightening cracks the peaceful day,

producing magnificent bolts of light.

Roars of mad thunder startle a blue jay -

eight legs devoid of concern, huddle tight.

 

Stormy winds and rain with hail plummeting,

might lacerate her strong web into shreds.

Though nature wrath seems cruel –unforgiving,

the spider will rebuild with rainbows overhead.

 

-TheMsLvh ©2011

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
image source: http://www.jimstonefreelance.com/spiders.htm

Hurricane….a conversation

Come out, come out,
Wherever you are
The sun is up,  shinning anew
The sky is the fairest of blue
It’s a beautiful day
So come out and play.

l want to come out and play
Unfortunately,  this hurricane hit
Lost sight of the shore
Surrounded by water
Crashing tsunami’s roar
I’m lost and can’t find the door.

Come with me, I’ll open that door
And let the sun begin to shine
Just take my hand, I’ll show the way
Not a word you’ll  have to say
I’ll save you from the depths, without delay
Just trust me and give me one more day.

Ah, but this might be my last day
I suspect another drowning wave
They come in sets of six
With intolerable pain they inflict
There’s no way to predict
The ocean’s bag of tricks.

I have a few of my own tricks
So don’t surrender to the pull
Hang on tight for I won’t let go
Like so many have done before
‘Cause they didn’t‘ know what to do
How to love and understand you.

With saddened eyes I searched for you
Your grasp seems like a mile away
Looking for you through foamy seas
Water filling the lungs, it’s hard to breath
This struggle is taking me down
Seems my only resolve is to drown.

You’re having a bad day, that’s all
Wait by the phone, wait for my call
I’m here for you, I won’t let you fall
Before you walk, you’ll have to crawl
I’ll have you out before the next squall
I can see you clearly behind that wall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-TheMsLvh  © copyright 6-2-11

California Ink In Motion by TheMsLvh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
photo source unknown