Catch-32

The blank page:
Fear of beginnings,
Fear of the unknown.
The last full-stop:
Fear of endings,
Fear of growing old.

Follow the Leader

Echo on stone

Bare as bone.

Resplendant Monarch

On crystal throne.

Things move slow;

I wonder why.

Don't change them though.

No will to try.

I do my part

And tow the line;

Heart in traction,

Eyes shut wide

Til suddenly I realise

My feet've strayed onto

A decline

Following after 

One who is blind.

A Time to Forgive

There's a time and purpose

To everything:

A time to wound,

A time to heal;

A time to gather,

A time to spill,

A time to nurture,

A time to kill.

I've spent a lifetime battling

The way I feel-

I've cried, I have shouted,

I have made myself ill.

I've lied and denied 

To make the loss look like a win

So I wouldn't have to deal with

The pain I was in.

I said I was fine

When really I was strugglin',

Turned a blind eye to weakness;

Tried to cover up sin,

Until I got to the point

Where I started drownin'

Dangerously close

To the point of no returning.

Then, faced with a choice,

And no pretense to shroud it,

Between accepting the lifeline

Floating where I could reach it

And falling into darkness

With no light to ease it.

Fiercely determined 

That I would yet live,

I reached for the cord

And I tightened my grip. 

Now one thing remained 

To get out of guilt

I had to lighten my load

For I was too heavy to lift.

So releasing the tension,

I stopped gritting my teeth

And felt life returning

As I chose to forgive.  

Danger Incognito

A faceless ghost, 

A cheerless host,

A shadowless stalker,

A soundless walker.

In twilight shrouded.

Midnight prey confounded.

In the dead light surrounded.

Mimics the dark

Using gimmicks and art

And tricks that surpass

Instinctual street smarts.

A will harder than steel;

A presence you feel

By a sense that reveals

What absence would conceal

With pretense and false appeal.

But then, that's the deal.

This you now know.

Be careful what you sow,

So things don't start to grow

That you'll wish were not so

In the long years to follow,

While trying to swallow
Pills for the sorrow
Corroding the marrow
Of bones left dry and hollow.

Night Shift

She walks down the streets

In the dark of night

Brazen head held aloft

Thick make-up layering her face.

You can tell by her swagger

She ain’t just any ordinary girl.

She’s armed and dangerous,

Prey in sight, she’s going for the kill.

So you say you want summa that?

Well she’s fierce

And you gots to be fiercer

If you plan on taming that tiger.

Tough talk

Sharp claws,

Little black dress

Showin’ legs that could snap a neck in two.

Damn straight

She mean business.

Don’t mess around

Boy you need to come betta!

As for you neat little girls,

Livin your neat little lives,

In yo mamma’s perfect little kitchen

Paid for by daddy’s five-figure salary,

Don’t be too quick to judge.

I know you ain’t lookin down

The end o’ yo nose at her.

(Oh no she di’n’t!)

Before you start dealing out

Your ignorant, uninformed sentences

You just might want to listen to her story.

And if you’re really as smart as you say,

You’ll realize on any given day,

The car you drivin’ could easily swerve into her lane

On the thinnest patch of ice.

And if you listen,

You might learn a thing or two

About life,

About love,

About generosity,

About true piety…

…And who knows,

You just might learn a thing or two…

…About your husband!