Black Sun, Black Days
Born of grunge and metal's mirth
Beneath the pouring rain,
Swarmed Seattle; legend's birth
Incorporating pain.
Troubled childhood, feeling down
Within depression's clutch,
Chris Cornell, against a frown,
Ensnared a hopeful touch.
Sparking much debate in school,
Religion took a fall,
Hence removed from off the spool
As Chris had questioned all.
Drugs escaped into his mind
And solo seemed the path
He would walk as albeit blind,
Until musician's math
Forged a bond as guitars strummed
And drums in pounding beat
Measured in the way he hummed-
A symphony complete.
Gardens made of sound arrived;
The friendship formed a band.
Intercession, songs survived
And guided Chris's hand.
Rusty cages seemed outshined
And more so, I suppose.
Moving melodies defined
A Jesus Christ like pose.
Spoonman sung in deepest rays-
A black hole sun's delight.
Fell on darkened, blackest days
The way he lived in night.
Pretty noose foreshadowed doom;
A burden in the palm.
Blowing up the outside gloom,
The rhinosaur brought balm.
Black rain fell in drops of thought
As phantoms telephoned.
Been away too long and bought
The crooked steps he zoned.
Slave to audio conformed
As in between the the time
Garden of the sound reformed
To sink in the sublime,
Chris Cornell enjoyed a stay
As new friends jammed in tune.
Like a stone, they learned to play
The highway and the rune.
Be yourself- a mantra's gift
And time had come to pass.
Doesn't call reminder's lift
As out of exile's class
Fire, original in flame,
In revelation's scheme
Burned the solo album's game
As if some sort of dream.
No such thing, a scream long gone,
And many singles sung-
Finally the heart of stone
Forgotten settled, hung.
Temple of the dog avowed
Unsettled pasts revived.
Chris did all he was allowed
And for a while he thrived.
Never known, the reason why
Detroit became the place
Seeds were sewn as his reply;
A sadness filled his face.
Songs performed were not the same,
Conditioned on the ride.
Chris Cornell, a hallowed name,
Committed suicide.
This is for his wife and kids;
The Fans he left behind.
Sadness beckons as it skids
Across the bump and grind-
Friends will not forget the man
Enlisting lyrics writ.
Concerts from the deepest span
Ensure he will not quit.
Lost forever to the earth,
Inside us Chris will give.
Born of grunge and metal's mirth,
His death calls us to live.
AWOL
Time at sea has made me unable to see she loves me. I've served faithfully in the Navy. But just maybe it won't be good for me out at sea. Could it be love is key? She says she carries my baby. In all the times that we are together she repeats her plea. "Let us flee!"
Perhaps this glee I feel suddenly is telling me I should be free. Let's flee! My lovely lady, let's run free!
Elegy of the Gardens
Remember the light-laden morning you woke
to find that, to you, the daisies truthfully spoke
and the marigolds, toward you, amongst rivulets spun
for you shrouded yourself with the gold of the sun.
The lupine shook hands, greeting with eerie smile
and the cattails convened, deciding you worthwhile
whilst you promised false harvest of their unsavory fruit,
rendering their worries for winter minute.
The lady slipper orchids permitted temporary wear
and the poppies accepted your humid affair,
though magnolias squinted their thick-lashed, white eyes
as the lavender hanged at the window did dry.
The peonies sang a song of wither and strain
as the irises quivered with lack of rain
and the naive sweet peas thought you were crying
when salt kissed the soil and flowers were dying.
The gardenias stuttered and held their last breath
and the bleeding heart bled wilting closer to death;
sometimes, at night, they whisper snarls of upset:
"Remember you are the reason we live to forget."
Intelligence defined
I'm so angry at the world that I just want to...
make it so that every human being feels every bit of pain that they inflict on another living creature human or other the instant it happens so they can understand that all life has feelings and deserves to be treated with respect no matter the species or gender.
Humanity is NOT the ONLY INTELLIGENT LIFE ON THIS PLANET!
P.S. This is my Service Dog Tigger giving special love to a lady with cerebral palsy. I didn't tell him to, he just picks up on special people.
Silence
My Dad is here
I walk along the empty beach
kicking bits of jagged shells
grand old man lying in musk of time
setting sun ushering the darkness
My Dad is here
I crawl bereft into bruised dusk
salty tears mingle with Dad’s streams
sea of solace stretches out her arms
still, I scream mournfully at deaf sky
My Dad is here
balmy winds breathe his kindness
glazed stars of his wide smile
palms up, he waves his sweet goodbye
my grief blends with the soft rain
My Dad is here
I see the back of his head
slumbering in billowing clouds
thirsty tides have waned
he has floated into new ripples
My Dad is here
the crested waves swell
forming stiff meringue peaks
broken shells washed out to sea
waters unassuming and deep
My Dad is here
the peaceful sleep of angels
on calmness of ocean floor
casting his beloved shadow
upon my azure memories
My Dad is here
carving a path in the sand
through the ups and downs of life
surging currents to remind me
that he is not lost in my sea
My Dad is here
a life buoy to hold on to
smooth water fingers
cushioning me from grief
the soothing sound of silence
My Dad is always here
Memories
I knew it was wrong.
Even from a young age.
There was nothing okay with hiding
In a closet with a grown woman.
I could see her family in between
The crack of the door as her hands
Explored my body. She was giving me
The attention I desired from my
Working parents. Maybe not the attention
I was hoping for, but she silenced me
And made me feel like no one else
Mattered. Like I was her own little secret.
I never told anyone she touched me until I was 12 years old. She sexually assaulted
Me as a child. My own aunt.
I remember.
Bodies
When people imagine and lust
The naked body of another human,
They fail to visualize the many
Lines of scars, leaving imprints
Of a past too unbearable to think of.
They fail to visualize the many
Freckles dotted on a person's body,
Creating constellations across their skin.
The don't visualize the many
Birth marks, bruises, or moles.
We have idolized a smooth canvas
Of perfect blankness that does not
accurately represent a human body.
Even the best attempts at sculpting
Naked bodies have come out cracked,
Chipped, and faded with time.
A once perfect nose has become
Crooked and a once perky breast
Has drooped from the wither of time.
We have created an illusion of beauty
From nothing, when we hold the stars
In our eyes and the world in our hearts.
Throats of Water
Cracked windows and broken mirrors
clinging to mangled strings of abuse
caught in flesh prison of frayed bones
unglued and ripped shreds at seams
Cracked windows and broken mirrors
soul clutched and squeezed without consent
stranded in desolate town in nowhere’s belly
throats of water entrenched in dark clouds
Cracked windows and broken mirrors
hungering to turn back and walk away
to close my eyes tight and dance in dreams
scrubbed clean of yesterday’s lacerations
yearning to two step into new reality.