Arm's Length

On high-rise

tightrope

hovering

506 feet up

in mid-air

you were there,  

balancing

bravely behind me,

and

I kept you at

arm's length

knowing well enough

my faithful feet

could carry me

alone.

Several times your

hand rushed

into mine,

but shoving it aside

I kept you at

arm's length,

and a

sudden jolt

brought me to

a circus clown’s

suicide fall,

leaving you anxious on

shaky twine while peering down

over a disjointed ragdoll’s

resting place.

If only,

oh, if only,

I hadn’t

kept you at

arm's length

for then

I’d still

be there

with

you...

or would I?

Stationary Simmer

Ice cubes clink in condensation-sleeved glasses

as subtle television din crackles

across stagnant space,

and lazy legs propped

on paisley pillow-tops shift

after sharp scolding

where ringing chords collapse

inside sticky

summer scenes,

and ever so,

dry days go by

with no rescue from

monotony. 

sting

what is

to be

does not seem 

free  

and love 

should not come

with

a price

but with

compromise

nonexistent

the choice

is mine 

and control  

            is yours

yet how

could this

be

            life

Fly, My Memorandum

The letter

was draped with words

and drafted into the realm of

postcards and pamphlets.

And so it traveled,

swept across mountains and plains

to find your waiting hands.  

A note of short length

but important weight

was sent on wings

of wind for

your eyes only,  

my simple scratching

created with considerate care.  

So very far away,

on lands of enchanted

sea and sky you are,  

but you;

your heart

is here with me.

I wish to be with you, but I can’t,

so take my words instead. 

Doubt

I’m the one putting words to the page

and

I think you’re reading them

I think you’re craving them

I think

but

I can’t be certain. 

Deep-Sea Cynic

Always so little of faith, the doubter

I am, so incensed

and tired,

and how difficult it is to

live with an

oceanheart,  

tumbling

and

tossing

upon life’s

rocky

shore.