#mutteringmarigolds

[mutteringmarigolds]

Earthquake 

the ground bucks beneath

just a little tip, but still

a glass of water trembles with the aftershocks

I am conditioned to crack foundations

when the earth will not oblige

[mutteringmarigolds]

Gemini 

Mama always told me 

Not to trust the moon

For she is changeable 

Moods ebbing and flowing 

Winking in and out of existence.

That's why when I tell you

That I see the night in your eyes

There's a spark of fear in mine

[mutteringmarigolds]

Inscrutable Object

This place

At once a graveyard and a birthing suite

Breathes again

As it gasps for air 

The phase of the moon changes 

The shape is new and dark

A future unnamed in the infinite space

The wail of the infant and the gasp of the dying

Ring together in the gap

Phasing in and out

Until one is indistinguishable from the other

[mutteringmarigolds]

The Evergreen that Lost its Leaves

A flock of birds

A swarm of bees,

A silent stand of ancient trees,

A single light,

In darkest night,

Floats on the ocean breeze.

Is that the moon above the bay?

The sound of wind and sea?

Or is it the sound of something far darker

Much crueler, much nastier, unclean?

There are monsters in the forest.

There are ghosts down in the deep.

And though there are plenty of fairies in here,

It is still not a safe place to sleep.

[mutteringmarigolds]

I am a gnarled oak

With skin like bark and arms like boughs 

A wind whispers through my branches

"Come home," it begs me

But what is home to a tree?

What is a bed to a tower?

I Iike to feel the rain on my leaves

The suffering reminds me that I'm alive

Pain is honest, in its own little way

Sometimes I even miss it

"Carve into me," I plead

"I want to feel something,"

My leaves shudder with the shame

And yet still the desire remains

Silver hot and steely soft 

There is no reply

We both know the answer anyway;

I'm already home and I've already been carved

[mutteringmarigolds]

Barren

I would not tell you that I was sad 

So that that tears you shed 

Would remain your own.

But really it's a trap, my little flower.

I am a barren field and a starving calf

In the guise of a verdant garden.

I tried to cultivate a bed for you,

A safe place to bury your roots.

But the soil was bad I suppose.

No matter how I watered,

No matter what fertilizer I bought,

Each seed planted became a rusty nail

Sitting uselessly in the earth.

You should really find a better garden.

There is nothing for you here in mine.