Ekphrastic Poetry - Written in response to my collage art
Passing By Myself In Light
Eyes slowly adjust to the dark
The flame dances before me
Burning away its own fuse
Like candles at both ends
Now dimly chasing shadows
Something turns to me
Light places its hands upon my head
Heavy is the head that wears
The warm golden glow like a crown
The Delicate Balance
We tip toe across the tightrope
Holding our poignant pose
We close our heavy eyes
Bracing for the guarded glass
That sees through us
So clearly
Yet we bend, not break
We reach towards the beam
Somewhere beyond
The delicate balance
Lion Tamer
Tired of being tame
My imagination runs wild
Like a beast on a hunt
Eager to feast upon its creativity
Yet I know instinct does not always follow intent
There is truth in the trick
I am the lion
But I am also the lion tamer
Chance Encounter
Aliens to ourselves
Glancing up towards the dark sky
Something catches our eye
Unfamiliar, strange even, yet somehow knowing
The beam of light traces our face
Probing our mysterious mazed mind
We stand still, yet feel moved
With or without, we will go
A chance encounter with ourselves
The Spiral Staircase
Falling up the circling staircase
Holding on, we struggle to find our footing
We walk backwards to go forward
Descending into disillusion
Step by step into the unknown familiar
We spiral inwards towards the depths
Sandcastles
Sandcastles bury me
The hourglass trickles time
Placing the lavish crown upon my head
The tide reaches back out for me
Calling my eyes out to see
House Of Mirrors
Lost in the house of mirrors we come to find ourselves
Peering closer, we don’t want to look, but can’t look away
Blurred is the hypnotic line between illusion and reality
Our eyes are cloaked in misbelief
Yet they say seeing is believing
Lifting up the mask with a sleight of hand
We find ourselves as both the magician and the magic trick
Vertigo
Teetering at the edge like spinning plates
A trick of delicate and distorted balance
We feel the floor drop below us
Our eyes holding steady focus
But our mind dizzy in motion
The room twists and turns before us
We let the heavy burdened plates drop
Shattering both illusions of grim and grandeur
We are still as we wait for the spell to break
My Mind Holds The Key
Mind is a maze
Full of fateful wrong turns and dead ends
A meticulous mirage of a keyhole
Locked and tossed away
Walking backwards to go forward
We reach for the doorknob
On the other side
We wait for a turn of the skeleton key
Two Way Mirror
Ashes to ashes
The dust slowly rises and falls
Scattering to the tidy corners
Out of mind but not out of sight
Tracing the gaze in the fogged glass
Leaving behind riddled fingerprints
Now you see me
Now you don’t
Slither
Loud hissing makes our unheard ears pulse
We slither through the shadows unseen
Once charmed by flawed ideals
We shed yet another layer of our own skin
No longer coiled upon illusions of who we thought we were
Forgotten words, not poison, but medicine, now on the tip of our tongue
Sleepwalking To Oblivion
We toss and turn in turmoil
Restless, waiting to be lulled to sleep
Our eyelids twitch as we are tucked into another memory
Or is it a dream?
We slowly walk the labyrinth staircases
Blurred where one begins and another ends
Left Unsaid
The thought crosses our mind
Unspoken words
We reach to write their silence
The pen dangles between our fingers like a pearl earring
Ink scribbles itself across the page with fervor
Staining our pretentious gloves
Getting Butterflies
Enveloped in our cushy cocoon
We’ve promised we’re changing
Evolving beyond our limited capacity
We see, and now know, that there is always more than meets the eye
We emerge in anticipation
Complicated knots asking to be untangled
Our wings stretch and expand
We float between states of elevation and elation through our own existence
Phantom
Peering from behind the curtain
The muse moves to the music
Unraveled
Falling apart at the seams
Hush-hush
Fingertips reach to touch
Before loose threads are tangled in knots
Uncaged
Perched
The restless caged soul waits
Seeking to look beyond the veil
White gloves pour our escape elixir
Wings now unclipped and untethered
No longer held behind lux silver bars
We take flight once again, soaring in spirit
Crocodile Tears
The tears slowly trickle like a leaky faucet
Yet sorrow does not show itself behind the glazed eyes
Reaching for the parched tissues
Sincerity too remains washed away
Snake Charmer
Transfixed on the dancing blue flame
Its rhythm seemingly a snake charmer
Our eyes sway back and forth like a pendulum clock
Hypnotizing us to boundless states
Yet envelops us in a scarcity of time
Outside Looking In
Knotted fists held closely together
Waiting for the mirror’s distortion
The flame illuminates the reflection
That holds the masked projection
Bend Your Mind
Twist and turn
Crimson lips speak their mind
Clock hands tell more than the time
Hiss
Unmistakable sound
Its loud hiss vibrates
We coil our hands around our ears and close our eyes
Hoping to suffocate the sound
Yet we still hear deadening silence
Swallowed whole
Transfixed to transformed
We shed yet another layer of ourselves
Well Within
Walk me to the water
My cupped hands are open to receive
My mind drifts in rhythmic waves
Forgotton dreams wash over me
Deep chambers flow once again
No longer parched at the well within
I am anchored in remembrance
Butterfly Effect
With a flap of its veiled wings, the butterfly floats in the still curtained boundaries of time and space. It’s lulled back to sleep with eyes wide open.
Madonna & Muse
Tracing the shape of the roaring flame with one hand, we simultaneously release the untethered ribbon from the other
