I am joyful
In my discontent
Back to being
Militant
-me

Painting: Militant Kate Moss II
By Anna-Louise Simpson

I am joyful
In my discontent
Back to being
Militant
-me

Painting: Militant Kate Moss II
By Anna-Louise Simpson
On this dark night
As I strode back roads
She rose up strong to meet me
All haloed and smirking
Full-faced and reflecting
A distant body’s light
Her round mirror a reminder
She always remains
Whole and beautiful and cratered
Even when separated
From her dear sun or sliced
To sliver by his shadow
-me

I cannot carry
The weight of this world while I
Also shoulder grief
-me

Sculpture by Celeste Roberge
On the train I feel
Like I am nobody yet
Could be anyone
-me

Painting: Train Girl by Thomas Saliot
(This was written during my travels this weekend, before the tragic derailment this morning. My heart and thoughts are with those who lost loved ones, and with those who are injured.)
Grief reached out
And grabbed my throat
It crushed the spot
That housed my voice
Like a cardboard box
In a giant’s fist
Pain reached out
And yanked my feet
It buckled my knees
And felled me fast
My legs like a fawn’s
In a sawtooth trap
Loss reached out
And stole my soul
It sucked me clean
Took all old fight
Left bare my bones
A sterile me
Release seeped in
And shored my spine
It meated my middle
Infused ash skin
So from this corpse
A beast shall rise
-me

Image A Cold Resurrection by iNeedChemicalX on deviantart.com
The atmosphere falls
Suddenly still around me
Soft cotton silence
-me

Painting by Joan Fullerton
Heartaches and holly berries
Blood-red bows and stars of blue
Waning rays and winds of change
Gift-wrapping dreams in hues of you
-me

Painting by Patti Mollica
A few degrees
Makes all the difference
In temperature or math
To architect and traveler
Detailed attention
Squares the path
-me

Painting: Architect’s Dream by Thomas Cole
I am mountain
Tunneled through
And standing
All manner of mobile
Automatic machines
Using and viewing fast
My stony middle
Just to travel
A to B without
The timely struggle
Of knowing my nature
Risky wild
And teaching
I remember history’s days
Of rope and boot
And photo shoot
Humans finding foothold
Me providing peak
My pieces picked
For summit’s peace
Tandem plateau and travel
Those days are gone
Time has ticked on
I am still mountain
Tunneled through
And waiting
-me
