Spoken vowels
flirt with consonants and syllables
As words combine
to create and express ideas
Departing the dim dark caves
of gaping mouths
Dispersing
somewhere in the biosphere
Perhaps escaping or deviating
to another incarnation.
As rain from swollen clouds
flood and regenerate
And the skin deteriorates
beneath a sun’s hot gaze.
A low sweet voice called
as I strolled casually by
Smiling momentarily
so lovingly and tenderly.
Hesitantly but shly and gladly
I smiled back
Exchanging a few words
as I thought
A deposit on the future.
Rhapsodic feelings enveloped me
as if she were by my side
Like blissful music
swelling inside my mind
To match my euphoria.
I was transported
by the terrestrial and botanical delights
That enveloping me
in a warm embrace.
Our meal that night
was an epicurean delight
To mastcate and taste.
Her image
locked terminally within my mind
Dominated my senses.
Separated by cruel reality
we kept in touch
like phantoms on the Internet.
Although apart
I carried her everywhere
like a talisman
or puppet on a string.
A wreath of flowers
crowned her brow
like a halo.
Mortally beautiful
she lay
with jet black hair
and skin like silk.
Motionless
and cold as marble
Real
but inexplicable.
Eventually
I would join her there.
My group had vanished
and I was perplexed
on my own
and dependent on the rest.
I moved
to where we once had been
together then
but now I was alone.
Dismayed
I felt betrayed
and looked at faces
hoping to recognise one
but all were strangers.
I considered returning
to our hotel
and find someone
who knew the itinerary.
I suppose
I should have known
but it didn’t seem necessary
beacause I was with them.
I had only my clothes
with no means
to travel alone.
So I decided
to hurry on ahead
hoping to find those responsible
for my hapless state.
Arriving at a ferry terminal
I imagined
they may be waiting.
I had a panoramic view
but instinctively knew
it would be futile
to go any closer
because they wouldn’t be there.
A glorious summer dawning
over the awakening bay
Serene blue-green wavelets
rolling, foaming clear
A canoe slides by
as speeding launches head out to sea
Up above
the sky peers down
through wispy clouds
Gentle caressing zephyrs
wafting and smooth as balm
Nearby
a tanned lady strides
resolutely along the sand
Her long, dark hair
flying behind her determined face
A lovely Labrador
trots serenely and imposingly ahead
Swooping gulls scream excitedly
between sea and sky.
I approached my opponent circumspectly
because he was big and belligerent
and I was -
basically a coward
if put to the test.
A lion,
but only in theory
and in times of peace,
away from threatening situations.
At other times
I was abject in my humiliation
doing whatever I could
to avoid disputation
and confrontation -
fearful of being attacked.
My only recourse
was to retreat
with as much dignity as possible.
But I tended to panic
and run like hell -
like a rabbit,
followed by jeers
mixed with ironic cheers.
Anticipation creates a dreamlike state
To visualise imaginary adventures
Without the need for actuality
Until reality enters ostentatiously
And departure time approaches
Demanding we accelerate or be late
Or recreate another fate.
Basking in the afternoon sun
glittering through a gap
between
languid clouds allowed to drift
in a disenchanted
solemn sky.
Observing some neglected
stunted Pelargoniums
down below
That gave up flowering
years ago.
Bordered by a patch of grass
where Turtle Doves
industriously fluttered
pecked than began to fade
as my eyelids drooped
losing focus.
Until precipitately revived
by the coolness
of a passing breeze.
Subconscious thoughts conceptualise
Contrarily as confused modalities
Intuitively transmogrified and validated
Emotionally translated and assigned
Haphazardly devised and allocated
Fluctuating like fluky breezes
Or floating haplessly out to sea
Led astray by currents on the way
To return persistently in strange disguises
Washed ashore by the ebbing tides
Stranded as disposable daydreams
As genuine as fake antiques or real mirages.
A boat heading out to sea
Creating my own private wake
With its sloshing sound
Lapping near my ears
Slurping and gurgling
Like a contented baby.
I glided through the swell
Sweeping the bay
Nautically propelled
Embracing and displacing
Widening rippling arcs
Listening to the gulls
Lost in a timeless reverie
Beneath the blue infinity
And my fading past.
The gusty, blustery wind
lifted and tossed
all sorts of light and flighty things
litter, leaves and paper
nimbly swirling, wafting, floating
nosediving
near the ground and pulling out
dropping then lifting again.
And those less free
branches and leaves from trees
wafting agitatedly or decorously
alone and in bunches
the undulating palms and fluky fronds
the dark, ominously majestic pines
elegant poplars, tall and regal
oaks and aspens
to name a few
complemented and caressed
by smaller shrubs, weeds and grasses
jumbled or arranged together
in compact clumps
some deciduous with distinctive leaves
those with flowers
of delicate hue and varied forms
all like infants or small children
relatives of the trees
attached to the earth
their shared life force and nutitional source
being harried, motivated, sublimated
and blown about.
