I carry pain
inside of me
A bullet lodged
on an artery
Best to leave it
love the scar
Than dig
and bleed out
where we are
-a.r.
Leave it
•November 12, 2016 • 3 CommentsGathering
•November 11, 2016 • Leave a CommentNo answers
Only fingers pecking keys
Questions tapping autumn ground
Beak sifting dirt before the freeze
Hollow bird in search of worms
To fill this gut and feed my young
To slow and satisfy the churn
Through barren days
Of winter’s burn
-a.r.
Photo: Fairytale about a little girl, who…
by http://laura-makabresku.deviantart.com/
The Switch
•October 27, 2016 • 7 CommentsI could peel back
These creaking floorboards
With my cracked bare hands
Splinters splitting finger tips
Wrecked flesh sliced and spilling cells
Of dying skin and sediment
And blood too thick from sitting
I could tear down
This cracked foundation
With only teeth for demo-tools
Old stone etching enamel
Tender dentin loosing resin
Amalgam dust and timely testing
Of this forlorn form for decimation
I could stay, create and stitch
A frame rebuilt from rot
With fractured hands and crumbled teeth
Reclaim this lot for something new
A Frankenstein of skin and stone
Of chomp and saw dust, jaw askew
With steel for flesh and brick for bone
-a.r.
Artwork: The Bride of Frankenstein by Bunny Bennet on deviantart.com
Mine
•September 26, 2016 • Leave a CommentMy soul
A coal mine
Buried below
Blind to light
A twisted ride
In an iron cask
The goal of thine
To crack and sift
These rocky walls
Become a heart
To find small bits
Of spark and shine
Stone set apart
Pressed in the dark
But picking bares
A precious find
Or poisoned gas
To keep or kill
This soul
Of mine
-amdr
Artwork: Coal Mine 14, by Douglas Kinsey
My Bracelet (repost)
•September 11, 2016 • Leave a CommentToday I wear a bracelet
Which is fifteen years old
I wear it this day every year
For life moments that it holds
It was made for us in gratitude
For being there and holding up
The families of those who suffered
That deadly day in Washington
Crafted by hand in Glory’s colors
That once were bright without a mark
Each year the colors fade a bit
And the beads become more scarred
At first I made an effort
To keep it quite pristine
But on this day I realize
Value is not in keeping clean
The dirt and scratches simply show
Fifteen years of life we’ve lived
We’re not defined by cracks and tears
But by what of ourselves we give
Dear bracelet, you’ll be on my wrist
On this day each and every year
Until one of us lets go that thread
Life well worn out for those not here
-a.m.d-r.
I repost this every year on this day, it’s not the best poem technically…but that doesn’t really matter today.
A picture of the bracelet made, and given to me, by a volunteer at the Pentagon days after September 11, 2001 to thank those of us who escorted families to view the site where their loved ones died that horrific day. I am proud to have stood there with them, to have wept with them, to have heard stories about their loved ones, to have been present, available. It is one of my saddest, but proudest, days in the military
Vice
•September 10, 2016 • Leave a CommentSilence
Wrapped itself
Around my head
So tight
A vice
That caused
Skull seams to grind
And split
Old fontanels
To burst a bit
With ringing pitched
So high
And loud
It drowned all hope
And its own hush
Out
-a.r.
Porch Light
•August 31, 2016 • 3 CommentsDuring the day
You can barely be seen
But in darkness
You call
To all manner of things
-a.r.
Artwork by Natalie Shau
Nervous
•August 29, 2016 • 3 CommentsThis tickle
Burns and ripples
The nerves
A cracking whip
That whisper
Turned to prickle
The system breaks
Beneath His grip
-a.r.
Artwork: The Grip, by Bindii on deviantart.com
Shadows
•August 16, 2016 • Leave a CommentThere’s a notch
On the stairs
Where something
Hit there
What fell
Or who
Was pushed
-a.r.
Because I can feel the fall coming…
Mine
•August 1, 2016 • 3 CommentsI’ve a carousel horse
Corralled in my back yard
I keep the gate closed
So he cannot get far
Loosed from his go ’round
But locked square in place
Tasked with keeping that bit
Painted smile on his face
-a.r.
Photograph by Brooke Shaden
