By Kristance Harlow
The Painting
her delicate brush strokes smother
cloudy lines over sapphire blots next to jaded swirls
what wrath did he unleash upon you?
shaking your shoulders, ripping your hair
the mottled canvas reveals muted anguish
double edged swords and sinister dancing shoes
did your closed door keep him out?
swimming, rolling, begging under thin sheets
mortality waltzes painfully at each corner
venation red and flesh ochre
the tears you shed were they alive?
crushing, suppressing, silent floods
cover the vicious nothingness which is her everything
with a whitewashed smile and cobalt eyes
will your unfinished canvas tell me your truth?
dying, wishing, loving your end
crimson red sweat befalls her lying
in a catacomb with honeysuckle pursed lips
why have you stopped?
frozen, frosted, be still thy shuddering
watercolor wings envelope stunted life
eggshell gloss safeguards her immortality
Right Way Up
reality became ours for the making
above the sky
under the earth
we danced beside the sun
dressed in mud
smiling as our dirty prune digits splashed
toes venturing into a brown shady abyss
laughs escaping grinning mouths
liquid angels filling the cavity turning brown
green growth plastered in child’s play
blue green rainbow
Watercolor Wings
fake laughter shielding truth
smiles cease - fading
deafening silence eats my ears
i feel only one beat -dragging me-
out of tune rhythm banging in my chest
bright darkness beckons -killing me-
chaotic stillness punctures my soul
tear ducts dry -closing-
blind mirages sting my eyes
dampened cheeks / sight banished
hold my lungs
listen -- tone deaf hearts
/two beats/
callused hands cool my skin’s inferno
eyes open ~glazed iris
a mouth half open and out of focus
the cup is not half empty
now not half full
