Turmoil

unexpected earthquakes
amid minor tremors
unearth old hurts
which were thought
long-buried

Respect

I refuse to let your anger
sit in me and fester
and your judgments to cloud
my own truths and self-worth.

Rail all you want against me
but my respect for you was lost
the moment your unhappiness
lashed out at me
in the most small-minded
of ways.

The Lie

How strange
that we create tales
of robots who feel

Who wonder and love
and rejoice in all the
emotions of humanity

When so many of us
plod around like automatons
hearts frozen to the cries of others
and to the cries
of their own

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Instruments

Laughing flutes and violins that cry
Why do we find music beautiful?
Because can we see ourselves in it

Caprice

each breeze
cut across
the blade edge
of your heart

and
moved
some internal
mechanism

I could never
fathom;

you were born
in a city
of windmills.

Love & Hate

Roiling emotions clash and weave,
Maneuvering to deceive
To their patron in terms entire,
The whereabouts of their dam and sire;
Wedded likes halves of day and night,
The wellspring of passionate plight,
Love and hate dance in equal measure —
Richest treasure and aggressive cancer.

Feedback

Give me a smile in return.
Every second you deny me
Pulls it down into a frown.
And expands a cloudy day
Into a worrisome storm.

Beloved

Dear beloved,
you purse your lips
and angrily avoid
comfort’s kiss

Dear beloved,
your haughty stare
creates greater longing
for weather fair

To soothe your ire
I’ll dance and sing
proclaim myself fool
if you’d let laughter ring

I’ll use my charms and all beguile
so honestly come and stay a while

Tell me the thorns that prick your heart
so gingerly, I can pry apart
the darkness curtaining a smile of sun —
dearly loved and harder won.

Indifference

I no longer
Have the energy
For anger
Or hate —
Only this uncaring.

Decompression

At times
Only dreams
Act as those kind friends
Who help unravel
The painful tangles
Of everyday living