~passive shades~
~sun filter~
~a rip in the umbrella~
~stroke of noon~
~dog panting~
~water dripping~
~saliva from its tongue~
~if I adjust the umbrella~
~I’ll have to do it all afternoon~
~the sun will move past the tear~
~if I leave it alone~
~the truth of my ponderings~
~answers seldom as clear as that~
~two days after the big moon~
~the dog is asleep~
~the rip moving past me~
~like a night~
~like a day~
~like a life~
http://wordwulf.com
WordWulf
Inquiries: tracy@traceliteraryagency.com & wordwulf@wordwulf.com
© artwork & words conceived by & property of
Tom (WordWulf) Sterner ©
~hear them gathering~
~ebon wings aflutter~
~they peck dreams from the eyes of the dead~
~darklings & spider things~
~hop-strutting~
~carcass to carcass~
~irreverent~
~devilish & amused~
~at what passes for life~
~& death~
~as if there is a difference~
~crow~
~its black voice~
~caw caw caw~
~it sees him through the window~
~“go away!” he cries~
~“leave me now this midnight hour!”~
~its head, a swivel thing~
~follows his descent~
~the concrete walls of the cellar~
~veins protruding~
~he hears a thick~
~liquid fluid drip~
~as he walks into a web~
~his hands claw at his face~
~web film on his lips~
~something crawls down~
~the back of his shirt~
~the pull string light bumps his nose~
~his hand follows~
~but he cannot find it~
~he stumbles blindly~
~to the other side of the room~
~clawing at his spider shirt~
~until it is torn away~
~he feels needles~
~spider steps~
~skitter across his skin~
~“webs, webs!” he howls~
~rolls over on the floor~
~alive, his naked skin crawls~
~he covers his ears, closes his eyes~
~the horror sound will not go away~
~a gurgle liquid deep~
~emanates from somewhere within him~
~he sneaks an eye open~
~a faint light is revealed~
~madness held at bay~~he crawls toward it~
~on his knees, hands raised~~over his head reaching~
~saliva~
~he giggles at his gurgle~
~through the moonlit pane of glass~
~her black voice~
~caw caw caw~
~she sees him through the window~
http://wordwulf.com
WordWulf
Inquiries: tracy@traceliteraryagency.com
& wordwulf@wordwulf.com
©artwork & words conceived by & property of
Tom (WordWulf) Sterner©
~Watercolor Mirror~
~delicate & impassioned~
~trees in the ocean forest~
~sway madly in the water wind~
~long for a taste of the moon~
~fin winged creatures fly~
~perform aqua aerobatics~
~cling to a singular darting motion~
~clouds in a liquid sky~
~some deep & forgiven~
~dwell in a land of lesser angels~
~whose sin was eyes~
~& sea the less~
~this nature of lottery~
~its thin needle of faith~
~rewards the aggressor~
~in a tangle-web of numbers~
~the march of the heavens~
~pulls hair from all trees~
~excites an ebb & flow of blood~
~in a sweep of timeless tide~
http://wordwulf.com
WordWulf
Inquiries: tracy@traceliteraryagency.com & wordwulf@wordwulf.com
~first published in Newsletter Inago~
© artwork & words conceived by & property of
Tom (WordWulf) Sterner ©
~Letters from the Monastery of My Heart: II~
~there are times you wake up~
~when you haven’t yet been to sleep~
~lost to the moon’s dictation as tides~
~murder in your blood~
~riding the storm~
~the bad sister’s face in the mirror won’t drop~
~Tempered By the Woman Without~
Memories call my attention to the moon. Reluctant to follow my heart so recently exiled to the roam, I stare at a single blind window facing east, imagine mad dogs in the yard, consider the other portal door, icicles’ frigid need to pierce my feet in the night.
My heart is a lonely wanderer. It listens to the howling voice of winter wind threatening to enter the room. It was cold the day I left her in the tiny city of the owls. Wisdom has bitten my love dreams in half. I am lost in a labyrinth of pain.
The teacher warned her students, “Beware that your noodle poems do not bite you.” She knew a man who drowned in the soup of himself. Photographs are mind whips to the lonely, reminders of that other reality. I have gathered my tablets in piles, an impenetrable wall of words.
Digging through papers, a card fell in my lap. It was a note from my mother begging forgiveness and too late now. I speak desperately to her box of ashes. Is it shameful for a man to weep? There are seven levels of revenge the winds of time disregard.
There’s the moon I shared with her. It captures my eyes, draws them through a wintry haze of clouds. I have stood too long in the yard trapped ‘neath this masque of ice. Where have they taken my princess, the lightning of our desire.
When eyes close and hands reach, what nimble creatures of habit they are, open on empty and holding without. Their disappointment is a near-step to misery. They torture the mind that made them so. A spirit of darkness invades and slips away with our dreams.
http://wordwulf.com
WordWulf
Inquiries: tracy@traceliteraryagency.com & wordwulf@wordwulf.com
© artwork & words conceived by & property of Tom (WordWulf) Sterner ©
~Might Have Said~
~I might have said I love you~
~ten thousand echoes reside~
~three wandering moons of Atlantis~
~conspire to conceal, they hide~
~the city, my love is a rainbow~
~whose path is come open and wide~
~a tumble me down & forever~
~whistling of prayer, neap tide~
~I might have said who are you~
~whose sleep I have come to share~
~far misty mountains abiding~
~a halo of sun as they bear~
~tree children, my love is a whis’pring~
~wind through the needles, their hair~
~lift me up, I’m a flying man~
~whose heart is lighter than air~
~I might have said where are you~
~lonely nights lying awake~
~a misty gath’ring of shadow~
~fair ghosts of tomorrow may shake~
~their heads, my love is a phantom~
~a cry of hope for their sake~
~whose spirit may lie in my bosom~
~a lay me down I would make~
~I might have said I’ve found you~
~into the face of the night~
~the sun, a cascade of falling~
~makes narrowing pathways of light~
~a fire, my love is a ribbon~
~shimmering gem of delight~
~the body of faith come rewarded~
~healing caresses ignite~
~I might have said I love you~
~then finally found your face~
~the stars, a sprinkling of heaven~
~find sorrow & come to erase~
~the dark, my love is a promise~
~a choosing of time & place~
~whose moment I have come seeking~
~has found me & blessed me with grace~
http://wordwulf.com
WordWulf
Inquiries: tracy@traceliteraryagency.com & wordwulf@wordwulf.com
© artwork & words conceived by & property of Tom (WordWulf) Sterner ©
Might Have Said first published/editor’s choice in Cupid’s Arrow (Brown County Writers’ Group)
~when the final dance is over~
~I'll be holding up the wall~
~with these eyes, a thousand candles~
~years passing down the hall~
~I see you in your soft gown~
~wings of eternal lace~
~in a pirouette never-ending~
~your fall through the fingers of grace~
~when the last grave has been filled~
~I will stand me aside with my spade~
~bite down through layers of dust~
~lost civilizations have made~
~I will kiss your skin through a candle~
~ashes and blood of your name~
~with lips of ten thousand lovers~
~godforsaken and soon to be slain~
~when the tide is a weeping of rivers~
~flames, a face on the sand~
~I will shed my garment, reveal~
~at last and for once who I am~
~Children, awake in the forest~
~wander a garden of moon~
~sleep, as earth is your cradle~
~held in a moment of lune~
http://wordwulf.comWordWulf
|
RSS Feed