I was a writer once. Weren't we all? Not to say that I was a great writer, but simply that I was someone with observations and emotions and a will to put all that into writing. Sometimes it rhymed. Sometimes not. In the case of emotions, I would compare the writing of those poems to hastily casting off a garment that had caught fire. In order to avoid being burned, the work was rushed and haphazard to the end that I might spare myself some damage. Other times it was as if I was possessed, and something within me demanded that I write. Then there was that stint during which I fell down the backrooms rabbit hole and spawned a place known as "Mosey's Palace". I have a love/hate relationship with my muse. She leaves me cold most nights, but every time she reconnects with me, I can't help but be delighted.

In any case, I hope you don't feel like you wasted your time by visiting my thread. If you like my work, leave me some reactions. I wouldn't mind a private message to talk about the work either, but please refrain from posting in this thread. Thank you.

I s o l a t i o n

you in there
are you safe in there
wrapped in your blankets
locked in your room
the animals outside
don't even think of you
afraid of them
them oblivious of you
whimpering infant
swaddled babe
the shadows grow taller
when you become afraid
i thought i was safe
i thought i was safe
but what i fear is no wraith
no burglar breaking down my door
not a knife to the heart
to feel no more
i fear what's there
looking back in the mirror
there's something in the eyes
behind my stare it becomes clearer
a beast within
looking to catch
hungry to tear
i'm most afraid when i'm alone
because i'm not me when
i have no mirror
no one to draw
my personality from
when i'm alone
all alone in there
what i really am
i s o l a t i o n
makes
me
a
monster

Will-o'-the-Wisp

Wanderer will-o'-
The wisp divine
Could you help me
Pass a bit o' time?
I've been lost here in
These woods all day
So it seems that
I will have to stay

By your ethereal
Ghostly light tonight
Might you guide
My fading sight?
I know the way
It can't be far
Tonight you'll be
My guiding star

I cringe to think
What I have in store
When mother sees me
Come through the door
She'll have been up
All the night, you see
Imagining my doom
Oh poor, little me!
I'm sure she'll forgive me
Sometime around noon
But she can't do that
If I'm not back soon

Must hurry, quick, quick!
Let me just hop over this
Mossy stone so slick
No, I've slipped and
I'm falling below!
This bog is swallowing me
In the undertow

Oh help me, somebody
Help me, oh, please!
I'm swallowed up
Past both my knees
Nothing to grab!
No way to break free!
Sinking down, down
It's the end of me!

Will-o' you fiend
O deceiver of Men!
I'm just the latest
Victim to sink in your fen
Up to my breast now
In this ravenous muck
Oh woe is me
What luck! What luck!

My shoulders are under
As I gasp for breath
I can feel dead men's bones
Now pulling me down to my death!
As the muck closes in
Darkening my eyes
The harmless glow of a Will-o'
Marks the place of my demise

Winter's Night in Three Parts

Called on the wind of the tundra's breath
Granted amnesty in summer's death
Stolen light of faded constellation
Behind burning mountains guarding the nation

The one brought in is now going out
A final breath of daylight's clout
Farewell is traded for salutation
The aurora dances for eyes inundated

A crying moon sheds tears of cosmos
Filling the cups from which the gods toast
In the east the Dawn will boast
As the moon becomes another ghost

Dirge of the Dryad

Follow the hills into the woodland tide,
An emerald sea that leaves the city behind.
Tread the path of a dryad's ghost
But tarry not near the scarp by the coast.
There by the cliff sits a cottage with an unstringed bow,
And of the one who wields it, it's best not to know.
Stay light on your feet and fly fast to the copse
That surrounds the grave of an ancient cyclops.
There on the ground is a rare bud of a flower
That only blooms at the top of the hour.
On the eve of a hunter's moon right at midnight
The indigo petals blossom in the fiery moonlight.
It was a gift, you see, from the dryad to the dead.
"A memento for the one I could never see" or so she said.
Unrequited love and a jealous hunter
Caused the night of an irreversible blunder.
An arrow flew true into the eye of the giant,
In whose hands the hunter's bones were soft and compliant.
A dead cyclops and a hunter now crippled,
Must jealousy always end in crimson stipple?
Blood now shed and a dryad's heart broken,
All that was left was her meekest of tokens.
It's said that soon thereafter the dryad's tree
Dried up and died unexpectedly.
A mystery to most but not to us of the forest:
The cause of death was heartbreak first and foremost.

From the Treetops

When the sun is setting and all you knew
Comes tumbling down in front of you
Come to the woods for a late evening stroll.
Where there are no roads and the only toll
Is the affection you had for what matters most.
Release them into the aether and offer a toast!

The end of the world is a sight to behold
From the branch of what some call "living gold".
The sky flakes away and the Earth is laid bare.
A glow in the distance from a solar flare
Ignites the vanity of the concrete jungle
As spires fall and cities crumble.

You'd shed a tear if you had any left,
But your arboreal perch leaves you rather bereft.
Your last care is now smoldering away.
Perhaps you should leave, but you know that you'll stay.
The cities are burning, and the forest comes after.
Will the page turn? Is there another chapter?

Ah, but these are thoughts for someone who cares.
My soul begins to burn in the late evening air.
From dust to dust and beginning to end
There's nothing left to which I will tend.
Perhaps I'll become the dust of the stars
And travel to places beyond this galaxy of ours.

Sails

Tether me, tether me.
Let not the gust take me away.
A storm has come and verily
The night has replaced the day.

The sea churns, and the trees do bend.
The heavens howl with audacious gales.
Through waves of panic my heart will rend
Unless I unfurl my sails.

Cast down the binds and unleash them full!
Catch the tempest and bridle the beast!
All hands on deck: give the anchor a pull!
I'm not going down without a fight at least!

Whited knuckles give the wheel a twist.
The waves have got us off track.
Rocks graze the hull but are mostly missed.
Alright, it's time to get back!

Where's my compass? It knows the way!
Cresting a wave--there's land ahead!
Steady now! This course must stay.
Look alive: you're not yet dead!

Wrestling the waves as I parry the sky,
This isn't my first combat at sea!
A torrent below and a tempest on high,
Trapped twixt quarreling lovers I be.

But, lo, through the squall comes a beam of light.
A lighthouse! Some good news at last!
Avast, there, below the eye's sight:
More rocks be coming up fast!

Turning the wheel as the anchor is tossed,
All close their eyes and brace for impact.
We've reached the end but at what cost?
What price will our journey exact?

Awakened by the kiss of wind and sun,
Not a scratch to be seen on me.
No life was lost save for just one:
The ship was taken by the sea.

Below the Dock

I've been here before
It is known to me
From the shore I step
Onto a dock submerged below
One
Two
Three inches of water
The water ripples,
Ripples, ripples
Out
Away from me as I walk the dock
Below is the deep
Deep now, not before
I stare into the deep
Did it stare back?
The ripples are waves up here
Below, the sound of water is stifling
To fall in is to surely lose
Myself in that muffled suspension
Extension
Of self in the deep
Me
Not me
There down below
A reflection
I stare in, stare down
But I am there
Staring up
Looking out
Peering through the window
Into a place I long to be
If I reach
I can touch the reflection
Touch my self
Enter, or even
Merge with myself
But the self is trapped
Down below
Always down, looking up
Never up, looking down
Is it lonely there in the deep?
Are you lonely?
Am I lonely?

The Dock and the Depths

I am here again
This place, this lake
From the shore it seems so small
But the dock reveals the truth
A hesitant step
And another
The planks are old and worn
But they support me
They always do
The dock takes me out there
Over the water
Above the deep
I am scared of reaching the end
The precipice of the dock
Over the middle of the lake
With every step I hear it
A bubbling of water
A rush of anxiety
The water rises to greet me
"Welcome back"
It rises and swallows the dock
One
Two
Three inches of water
I know this place
Where I wet my feet
Splish
Splash
Splish
Splash
Almost there now
Water is all around me
Already swallowing my steps
Will it swallow me whole this time?
Here
I am at the end
But dare I look into the deep again?
Dare I stare down there
Where the light does not penetrate?
But I must
I cannot breathe for the water about my ankles
My lungs are choked
Strangled by an anxious rope
Look
Down here
Look
Over the edge
LOOK
I'm here
LOOK
You are here
LOOK, DAMN YOU
I teeter forward ever so cautiously
A gasp releases bubbles towards the surface
As I peer out from under the dock
Staring up
Looking out
I'm drowning
No! I'm on the surface!
Drowning
The water leeches my air
Suffocating in the dark
Why am I drowning again?
The dock
The water
The deep calls to me
Must I drown to answer that call?

Satellites

Do you see them?
See them now?
The thousands of satellites
Falling to the ground?
Watch them burn
Through the air
Catching the stars
In their flare

See them change
Look again
Like fallen angels
They descend
Former glories
Left behind
Lost forever
In the race against time

Look once more
A final change
Beast demented
Beast deranged
Senses loss
Inhibitions failing
Like scuttled fish
Bodies flailing

Jareth

Better them than me
I'll just sit here quietly
Alone in my head
Talking with the dead
This is how it must be
There's no one to blame but me
The fault is mine
Though no one can tell me why
But that's alright
My suffering just might
Make things easier for others
Who no longer have mothers
No fathers to love
No guardian looking down from above
They are alone just like me
It was never just 'I' but 'we'
This misery is ours but we do not share
To blame me must be what's fair
Perhaps if I suffer
I can give them a buffer
From whatever god we offended
When the ritual was ended
Though we are safe the night is not over
Not for me: the withered clover
The black spot on a ripened fruit
A white sheet stained with soot
No longer good but to be hidden away
Locked in a drawer to always stay

Sepulchre

Light
O Man that fell into a chasm
How long must you fall?
The light retreats overhead
Can you still see it?

Man
I am the fallen
My soul is heavy
I yearn for the darkness
Swallow me now

Light
Can it be you are gone?
Do you reject the light?
Will you never rise?
We beseech you, Arise

Man
I have fallen too far
Your words cannot reach me
This place will swallow me
Cast my memory in darkness

Light
You think the light has a short arm?
Can it not touch you there in your pit?
You think we have not sent an emmisary?
Even now they speak with you

Man
I will not see your emissary
I will not hear your calls to Arise
I descend further into the darkened pit
You chase after me in vain

Light
Reach out your arms
Stretch out your form and see
Are you so far that you cannot be touched?
Even now you stand before the Emissary

Man
Aye...I am not alone
My feet find purchase on solid ground
Lo, not ground, but a massive hand!
It is he on which I stand: the Emissary

Bound
O Man that fell into my palm
Your weary soul has awakened me
I feel the weight of it
What manner of tidings burdens you so?

Man
I have lost such that cannot be returned
My soul longed for darkness
Thus I plunged into this abyss
And now speak with thee

Bound
Darkness I have indeed
But my gifts do not lie in shadow
The form on which you stand is my power
You have alighted onto the Bound of the world

Man
Form or shadow I care not
Swallow me, O Bound, that I feel not
Erase my visage from before thy face
Cause me to feel no more

Bound
It is nothing to swallow Man's bones
I have many of your kin in my mouth
My teeth grind your bones to dust
But you have evaded my maw

Man
If I have missed your teeth
Then I present myself to you now
Swallow me and end my suffering
For my soul cannot bear it

Bound
Not so Fallen One
You cannot miss my mouth
Providence set you in my palm
Now I must create a path for you

Long have I slept since the Founding
The world stacked high on my shoulders
I sense it has stagnated and grows no more
Therefore I will send you back

You wish to not feel
Then I will grant you skin of stone
You wish to be buried
Instead you shall bury those that wronged you

The light you fled from now calls
Arise with my blessings
Reshape the world as you will
But know that you will yet rest in my jaws

When I Look at You

When I look at you, I remember a time
When I was young too, age less than a dime
Tiny was I and very curious
So full of energy, and at times furious
I remember playing, running, and laughing too
Trips to museums and even a zoo
The world was so big and everything new
Grass was so green and the sky so blue
I am much older now and can only just remember
The excitement that brewed every September
The leaves fell away and the cold blew in
Soon it would snow as winter begins
Breaks from school and holiday fun
Back when my life had only just begun
It comes back so clear when I look at you
I once wasn't much older than two plus two
I've grown since then and gotten much older
But I keep those memories tucked away in a folder
A folder I open from time to time
Whenever I look at your big youthful eyes

A Call to Those Who Still Live But Have Forgotten

With wistful voice
Sing I this chorus.
It pleads and draws;
Breathe as my mouth yawns.
Sing out, my tenor,
Cry out, thine tender
Message of hope
Without limit or scope.
Cry out to the warrior:
"Peace my brother!"
Listen and be cleansed--
Calm, not incensed!
Why die by the sword
When you can live by your word?
Live, rage against your captor!
No longer slave but master!
Raise your voice, thou mute.
Speak reason, cry truth.
Rise, on your feet.
Not halted, no defeat!
Lick not the festered wound!
Maddened dog, distracted loon,
Come out and away!
Leave the dead where they lay.
Dwell with the living.
Sew life, reap thanksgiving.
I cried to you with all my force.
My breath is ragged, voice hoarse.
With tears I look out--
Voice unable to lift a shout.
May even these tears convince you:
Your life is not left. You are not through.

The Forgotten Fool

With the weight of mortality
Bearing down on my shoulders
I took a stroll through the streets
To try and ease my turmoil
While crossing the first block
I witnessed a store open
It flourished for a second
Then a 'For Sale' sign appeared
As its windows went forever dark
I shuddered and impatiently
Waited for the crossing light
While I waited a mother came by
She was carrying her newborn
And as I waited, pleading the light to turn
The babe dropped from its mother's arms
And began walking around her as a toddler
It began growing further but I dared not look
The light turned and I trotted away
The mother and her child pursued me
I had no choice but to quicken my pace
Across the next block I watched in horror
As a building, freshly erected
Corroded and decayed until men came
And tore the building down brick by brick
Until nothing was left but its memory
My eyes began to water but there was no time
My pursuers were hot on my heels
Though the child was now almost a man
And the woman had gray in her hair
I turned the corner hoping to lose them
But I was trapped by construction
The city was reshaping around me
And had now trapped me in its labyrinthine growth
I turned as my pursuers turned the corner
The boy, now fully a man, approaching middle age
The woman, withered and at death's door
It was only a matter of time for her
But the man, her son, held her in her final moments
My legs buckled underneath me as my tears began flowing
Who was there to hold me?
I don't know these people
I don't know this city
I don't know this world anymore
I lean back on the cold pavement
My strength leaves me as I stare up into a foreign sky
"I suspect..." I say aloud
"No one shall know of me either...."

A Man Loves the Moon

What words might describe you
In a way that would give what is due
My adoration, my awe
Enamored with the beauty I saw
Hung on the gravity of cosmic beings
Speckled with dust from Saturn's rings
Not a moon but a bride in waiting
I, a mortal lowly and prating,
Grasping at words to convince
Yon angel to lose her sense
Forsake her realm and descend
Come nigh to me and pretend
That one such as I could suffice
To be worthy of your dowry price
Would I be guiltless in this crime
Of stealing your heart and time
While covering your glistening eyes
Hiding this inadequacy of mine
What could man offer the moon?
Could flesh and blood make you swoon?
Will my fragility entice?
My insecurities? My vice?
Would these vexations be pleasing?
My shortcomings appeasing?
O whited maiden of the Milky Way
If you will, if you may,
Permit me in hoping you'll say
That you would be happy to stay

Mother's Eyes

Surrounded by masses of people
Intoxicated with wanting to be
To exist in another's gaze
I lose myself in their futile search
For meaning found in the eyes of the beholder
Inundated by these lost souls
I cannot fathom what quiet is
So many voices crying out with longing
Believing that if they cry the loudest
Someone might notice their
Validate their existence
"I see you therefore you exist"
It's the voice of Mother
Snatching up her miserable infant
Wailing if by some way to reach
Her lofty ears up out of sight and reach
From such billow the smog I am smothered by
Children reaching up to each other
Belching haunted echoing wails
"You will replace Mother in my eyes"
I am not Mother for anyone
I am not a miserable infant
I stamp my foot with insistance
"I AM NOT! I AM NOT! I AM NOT!"
Tell me I am not a child like them
Tell me I do not wail like them
Tell me I am not them
Separate us by kinds: I and them
Tell me I'm better Mother
Notice me Mother
Don't cater to them mother
I AM YOUR CHILD MOTHER
NOTICE ME MOTHER
NOTICE ME, NOTICE ME, NOTICE ME

Accuser

I have spent the day weighing
Your woefully inadequate soul
Look how the scale tips against you
All you could manage was thus?
You dare think this is acceptable?
Who deluded you?
Who filled your head with thoughts of
Succeeding on half measures?
You cannot even rest on your laurels
When you haven't enough leaves
To weave your honored headdress
Finished?
This is the fullness of your work?
So many hours have you toiled
And all you could produce was
Failed attempts and "maybe next time"s?
Wishes and hopes that Fate would be so kind
As to offer an undeserving wretch such as you
A second try costs more than the effort you have submitted
Where are your tears?
Where is your sweat?
You have not bled enough to earn
Pity or favor
Try, try again then!
You have yet to notice my hand on the scale
Pulling it deeper
Raising the price higher
Than what you are capable of paying

Captured Star

Child of starlight, where did they hide you?
Pale splendor wasted on so few
Whited halls kept spotless for who?
Sterile and stifling--you feel it too.
Do not let them drown you, little star
Their take on perfection only goes so far
Can you measure the worth of the sun?
No one can name a price, no, not one.
Born of molten cosmos, you catch fire
They fear your light: their pyre
Catch fire, my star, and burn bright
Ignite your soul and scorch their sight
Even as you burn them, they will be saved
In your radiance the future will be paved