Tag: poetry

A Wake At Night

I did you wrong

No other way to say it

No other way to play it

This is our song.

A careless lie

You lingered in the doorway

No words, but this was your way

Of saying goodbye.

Don’t let me go through this alone

Don’t leave me out here on my own.

Tell me who to be and what to say

Just set the rules

I’ll play

Walking through the streets, another stray

Just name your price

I’ll pay.

But you’re not here

Some time now since we’ve spoken

The last bonds being broken

Cutting you clear.

I heard from friends

You almost wrote a letter

Perhaps, when things are better

But until then…

Those little things we need to do

I’m finding harder to get through.

Tell me who to be and what to say

Just set the rules

I’ll play

Walking through the streets, another stray

Just name your price

I’ll pay.

If I gave you the dice

Would you roll twice?

Spell Check

Don’t walk too near the woods, go ’round

Especially at night

And if you must, don’t make a sound

Keep low and out of sight

Don’t whistle, sing or kick at stones

Don’t stop to climb a tree

For, if you do she’ll boil your bones

And have you for her tea

Because The Witch of Oldham Woods

Takes little ones who stray

Extinguishing the childhoods

Of those who lose their way

Who’ll never hear a mother’s words

Before their empty grave

Whose names are rarely ever heard

Whose souls no man can save

Don’t walk too near the woods, turn ‘round

For, all I say is true

And pray you’re found on hallowed ground

When she comes after you

Poets Cornered

I was recently interviewed by Paul Szlosek for his blog: The International Imaginarium for Word & Verse. Paul is an American author (Paul’s Poetry Playground – https://playground.poetry.blog) and photographer (Paul’s Wonderful Word of Color https://thewonderfulworldofcolor77109243.wordpress.com) who stumbled across my poetry and wanted to chat about it.

The photo used in the article was snapped by one of my students waaaaaaaaaay back in 2007 when I was teaching at a university in Ukraine. It’s all about the shirt.

Anyway, here’s the link:

https://internationalimaginarium.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-international-imaginarium-for-word.html

No Fly Zone

Where do storks nest during a war
As spires tumble and towns are no more?
What will deer eat when tanks advance
Over sweet meadows of young, tender plants?
What drives a cub out of the den
Crying alone for its mother again?
Gone is the gold
Dark is the dawn
Ghostly and cold
Best to fly on