Sunday, January 31, 2016

Tempers Quelled

i told the red-haired girl to pack her bags
and be gone by morning.
the selfishness
in her eyes like a sleepiness
that would not rub out.
even then, in the wrong,
she scowled at me.

i told the blonde and beautiful
woman with a cross to bear, to witness
somewhere else and take
her lack of empathy with her martyred
axe. there was simply
no room for that here.

i told the black-haired teenager,
angry and wishing to be noticed,
to listen to herself
before she ever
spoke to me again.

and i told the small brunette
child with eyes as big
as saucers
that it was okay to come home now
that all the other tempers were
destroyed.

~

RNH

a scene in the rain

black cobblestones
puddles silver
splashed ankles, her square
heels clicking, sharply
turning, she glances
over her shoulder, rounds
the corner
gasps--
at the figure
she thought she had outrun
before her--
blinks back the tears
and laughs in the rain

~

RNH

sentry

i am not the severity at the door
i am the softness it protects.

~

RNH

Monday, January 18, 2016

Viscosity

some things you just have to wait for
and though it doesn't lessen the ache
remember the tenderness of the feeling
cannot be diluted by the number of days.

~

RNH

Saturday, January 16, 2016

in the rose-pink clouds

tell me what you see
up there
and how the symphony
of angels sound, tell me
what the rose-pink clouds are made of
the ones across the treetops
tell me how the sunset's chorus crowns
the evening shadows
tell me how this life will form
the next life
and tell me how they never end
like the light
shifts
to another, vibrant
color
tell me how the broken pieces will be mended
and all things healed
with time.

~

RNH

carousel

circling hooves clank and carry
the sound of their falling
weight to the ground, the force
of the past in a puff
of white smoke rises up
and impossibly
forms an impermeable wall around
this locked feeling
in a tower
shakes at every centripetal pound
and can only listen
to the carousel
constant reminder
of why you are here.

~

RNH

uplifted

you prayed for a calm wind
a soft reprieve from the tumultuous storm
a moment of trust and peace and balance
the breeze hugging your shoulders
the sun kissing you warm
and when your eyes
lifted, wishing
for comfort, the big sky
whispered what you already knew
only through the gusts
and restlessness of adversity
will you fly your colors, true.

~

RNH

through the briars

Destiny set down her case
and the heavy
burdens inside, unpacked
the joy that would not have
shown without the failure
the vulnerability that would not have
surfaced with the tried
and proven errors
the wrong turns
she took
only through the briars
would the better path be
recognized
and tucking each choice back into their container,
picked up what she could handle
and soldiered on.

~

RNH

Monday, January 11, 2016

learning to waltz

imagine you are picking up the long folds of your dress
and your feet sweep
across the wooden floor,
pretend you are reaching for the tall gentleman in waiting
and extend your hand, palm up
to him,
in this way,
brush front,
reach back
and let the one-two-three, one-two carry
you away, with the same grace
that it always has, as the dancers twirl
in elegant pairs, in silence,
and in memory.

~

RNH

Monday, January 4, 2016

feel the word

your hand on my back and i feel the word,
"stay,"
in passing through corridors i hear neither
"shrink," nor "subside,"
and this vocabulary that fills me
is a reassuring one,
because i have been through the pummel of another
kind and have fought
just to be here.

~

RNH

pilot in the grass

identity stood
a tall shadow with arms outstretched
you, an airplane, no spinning
(remember when you used to
fall, dizzy, laughing and swinging
into the grass)
identity focused
a serious gaze on the outline
that both lengthened and shortened
at will and in time
and with the same deep gleeful source
took off--
and was remade.

~

RNH