A Year in Poems
A selection of poems I wrote in the past year.
12/8/20243 min read
“Apathy“
I can feel it creeping in
Like the tide lapping at my ankles,
Kissing my skin softly.
It’s beckoning me for a swim
And luring me out to sea,
Where the waves are dark and cold
So it can pull me right down under,
Once more,
Until I sink into the ocean floor.
—T231205-1541-driving to my favorite cafe
“Tether”
What are your crutches?
What keeps you tethered to this world?
For the click of a shutter
And the sighs of the leaves
Dancing on an evening’s breeze
Are the strings that I use
To pull myself back down,
Lest life’s turbulent currents
Sweep me into sweet oblivion
And then back, back into the ground
—R231207-1428
“The poet”
It hurt too much, my heart.
So I cut it open and watched it bleed,
Felt the sticky sweetness of my blood
Escape and flow down to my arms.
The dark residue made its way down
To the pen in my hand,
The sorrowful notes of anguish and despair
Singing a lullaby on paper.
Little by little, the heaviness lifts,
At least momentarily
As I watch my blood turn to ink.
—F231208-0343
"Tightrope"
This pit is yawning wide beneath me,
My feet dangling in the air
I’ve slipped back into old bad habits
As if they were a second skin,
A snake slow to shed its old life
Instead, suffocating on what used to keep it alive
—F240112-0109
Home
My soul is not meant to be caged
In an urban city life
With their pretty manicured gardens
And their smoking car exhausts.
I was meant to lay in the moss covered dirt,
Singing with the worms and
Tangled with the vines
—M231211-0931
“Knife’s Edge”
Oh, to walk the fine line of reality
What’s real and not real?
Dancing along on the razor sharp edge
Cutting it close to the end of the line
Carving my feet up as I dance, around and around
Circles and circles on narrowing spines
Chaotically spinning and dancing and twirling:
A ballet dance on the tightrope of life.
—F240112-0347- feeling like nothing matters
Chiang Mai
Beautiful peoples
Working with a mountain view
A richness of heart
Pattaya
Museum of man
A microcosm of life
Chaotic order
Bangkok
Sweeping large forest
Of man’s gray urban design
Glowing in the rain
—S240727-1940@bangkok grab home
The child in the blanket
Bereft of shoes, feet moving forward,
a blanket draped across his back.
The sight of that child who was covered with grime,
The sound of a pleasant greeting.
The thought of wanting for more,
while I eat delicious meals and sleep on a comfortable bed.
The thoughts rattle me greatly.
Why is life like so?
Sat Nov 23 2024, 10:45pm
As always, thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. Both writing and photography, as well as music, help me process the chaos of life (especially grief and sorrow). I don't know where I'd be without my creative outlets, to be honest, but insane would be my guess.
One thing is for sure: I will never stop creating.
