A Proper Cup
a proper cup
still soothes me
the singular taste of milk
and sugar fermenting a
pouch of leaves leaves me
breathless
no longer, but sated
still
standing soundless as
once I stood
bewitched
by the sound of your
breath
canting my name
c.sdmrogers 15 jan 2009
All About Eve
was there an apple
waiting on that thirteen
inch screen or simply the
future set out in black and white
the page boy not quite blonde
hair that languished on the
pillow
in clumps around the not quite
perfect
teeth of what once was beauty
of all the rings that ringing rang
against the rubaiyat red of oh so
forbidden
fruit and his hand 'gainst the small
of that elegant aching back while
all the while angst made its way
frame to frame up the winding
tree
of knowledge loss and Liebestod
middle age not quite admitted
youth not withstanding and
Eve
still a girl of twenty four at twenty
four forty years ago
forty
years
ago
c.sdmrogers 22 jan 2009
Easy Silence
to never understand
the gentle press of finger
tips down the spine
to mistake a clench
for safety
to mistake a lock
for love
this has been my life
their efforts
some valiant
some violent
all convinced
if not convincing
fall short
so short
of the easy silence
of you
to watch me walk away
not knowing when I
no knowing if I
ever will walk back
to watch me walk away
knowing that to watch
is to be certain
I will
makes sanctuary
out of fear
makes forever out of never
to hold me your
laughter not your tears
to hold me with your
heart no your hands
to hold me fast
to hold me strong
to hold me true
in the easy silence
of you
c.sdmrogers jan 2009
Long Day's Journey
the walk of resignation
down the path of no return
breath suspended speech dissembled
nothing but ache and heart and
longing
for
the impossible the
improbable the highly
unlikely
the walk on shattered glass
with flattened feet with
cold and curling toes
cued to run to sprint to
flee
from
the imminent the
impending the covertly
real
length of day is measured
by turn of phrase and wheel
by electromagnet ether burning
lace
across the sky branding
loss
across the sunset 'til
night waves warm and dumb
and there is
nothing
left
to mourn
into the arms of Morpheus
she whispers and rising falls
up and up and up
his voice the only tether
his tears the only balm
c.sdmrogers 8 feb 2009
Waiting
sitting behind the screen
of his misfortunes is he
waiting for her
too
to disappear
does the diaphanous light
of filtered moon colour his
longing for her
too
to withdraw
or is he
simply lost
with or with
out
her
c.sdmrogers 10 feb 2009
Long-Lived
tiny head swaddled
in newborn fleece
how could they know
five months and
twenty-four days would
end
like this
Omar
little Omar
in a bed too high
for holding too high
for cuddling too high
for cooing
goodbye
with a thin white
tube feeding air into
lungs too
broken
to breathe
Omar
little Omar
black curls waving
'gainst polished olive
skin, perfect brows
arching over eyes
forever closed
mother's?
father's?
I arrived too
late to know
only just in time
to press a tiptoe
kiss
on withered palm
Omar
little Omar
hollow
cold
gone
c.sdmrogers 15 february 2009
Colour Less
when reality cannot match
fantasy
when image cannot mirror
truth
what is
there
the green blue bluer
sky of his eye
reflects only want
reflects only need
reflects only
ex
pectation
unfulfilled
unwarranted
unknown
and the only
brown
is mine
the deep obsidian
shade of jade
reflects only loss
reflects only waste
reflects only
dis
solution
unheard
uncertain
unformed
c.sdmrogers 23 feb 209
Another Bad Driver
the green light that shines from your dock
is no more real than Daisy's
and I am Zelda
stretching forth my arms into nothingness
night is never tender
swaddled in the shroud of misbegotten love
and I am Nicole
hiding in the shade of your departure
in the cold I long
for the crinkled ache of
sun
on my shoulders
for the salted scratch of
sand
at my feet
those too are gone
the entombed dreams of a girl
trapped in the body of a not so certain
age
c.sdmrogers 25 feb 2009
False Starts
hours burn slowly
fired over minute coals
that smolder threaten and
die
with each unwritten letter
with each unspoken word
static time dredges
lava pools of night
to mock the strength of
day
with each unanswered call
with each uncovered wound
where do we go now
without the other half
where do we go not
alone
c.sdmrogers 18 march 2009
Roadrunner
ignorant of birds
I cannot say what
you are only what
you are
not
head down
tail flat
a long legged
flash
the colour of
cold
concrete
not any
shade of blue
at all
not even on four
legs can the
coy yo teh
catch you
fast
yes fast
but I must ask
who would
run
when he could
fly
c.sdmrogers 23 march 2009
Cactus Man
today
I drove past our house
the one on the hill
the one in which we
moved
unseen
the one in which my father
stood
a moment before he
died
CactusMan is gone
lost
I'm sure
to the decayed yard
to the decrepit wall able
to retain
nothing
still
my irises rise
colourless but for green
and I am glad for green
was what we were
then
when that house was ours
when you built
the gate that stands there still
the gate you made to keep us in
your creatures
the gate you made to keep them
out
those creatures
bent on taking us away from
you when
in the end
no one could have done
but
you
c.sdmrogers 6 april 2009
Benison
and at some point
forever
is still not enough
no matter the beauty
that is left between
eleven
and eleven
no matter the holiness
of the hour, there is
still someone saying
still
you have used that
before
you have said that
before
you have meant that
before
yet
it is still not
enough
it does not
matter
enough
and you are
not
enough
not
enough
not
enough
to stop the dogs
howling
to stop the users
prowling
to stop the cats
yowling
not enough
not enough
not enough
never enough
to stumble from
night
to
noon
with a smile
an enigmatic
smile
that says
long
want
need
that says
never
never
never
enough
c.sdmrogers 8 april 2009
Magic
Tennessee called
it a click, a mechanical
click, where everything just gets
peaceful
Tennessee called
Kitty Maggie, gave her
a pat on the head and
put her out for the night
to wander a land of ghosts
with a stringless guitar and
the echo of perfect harmony
burned fast in her brain
in this land
waters run red
bubbling purple at the
surface like carbonated
blood
and all the clocks read
six hours ahead
from where she is
from where she was
in this land
all the roofs are tin
all the roofs are hot
and Kitty's only
victory
is
as Tennessee knew
as Tennessee knows
just stayin' on
I suppose
just stayin' on
c.sdmrogers 10 april 2009
with limitless thanks to Tennessee Williams
Homesick
Houston was too small
a world of concrete green and
grey
its living oaks erupted
their roots exploded granite
their arms thatched out the sky
and each day when the woman
rose
the little girl wept for the
wind
wept for the sun
wept for the scent
of sage and sumac and
chocolate daisies flung
wild
across the plains
c.sdmrogers 16 April 2009
Wonder
pain dries out
for smoke
for the curling greyness of softened
fire
branding his name
across the sky
she spoke softly
the bloody corners of her mouth
throbbing
in time with the sea
there was a dream
I had of
love
silly, isn't it
to dream of
love
when it takes
two
to dream such a dream
the bay rushed 'gainst pilings
of rust and sand
and I thought of her
young
holding me fast
across her chest as I
flew
into the open arms
of the sea
when you left
the world turned
ash
and suddenly I was
old
and youth existed only in your
eyes
as I watched
it seemed moonlight trailed
in mercurial globules
from each of her
words
and I could wonder only
how
how
how
she came to be here
so
Alone
c.sdmrogers 20 April 2009
Unreal
each year I read
I read much of the night
and dream
I dream of going
south
south in the winter
where summer never
surprises
beyond its heat
beyond its burning
hyacinths and lilacs
smouldering in
heaps
beneath its rocks
beneath its red
oh so red
rocks
and the games we play
with agony lit jewels
amid stained satin cases,
cry out in fiery
points
that neither time nor
penance
can erase
can you hear me
my Poet, you
whose voice has
somehow
bound
my own
a waterless
slake
to Phoebus' thirst
a lockless
key
a keyless
prison
and a nightfall
of exquisite
ruin
at the hands of
nothing
of nothing
at all
c.sdmrogers 21 april 2009
Requiem
when faith
drops to gall-
spiced chains at the
bottom
of wisdom
when hope
falls to duty-
confined rings at the
edge
of reason
when love
turns to salt-
matted lashes at the
corner
of sight
there is no
why
there is only
why
not
c.sdmrogers 29 may 2009
Noblesse Oblige
Four Noble Truths
what is
Noble
about suffering
and the causes of
what is
Noble
about cessation
and the way of
fuck
Noble
give me sleep
deep
dreamless
Sleep
plug me back
into the matrix
carve the
Noble
from my soul
replace it with the
Mediocre
let
Salieri
compose my mass
while
Wolfie
laughs atop his
Noble
rod
fuck
Noble
I will be a
Cat
I will clean and kill and sleep and purr
at will
at whim
but
never
when asked
expected
wanted
needed
I will be a
Cat
I will delight in the chase and mourn not
the dead
for the dead are
easily
replaced
as mice
as humans
always
are
I will be a
Cat
I will believe that perhaps
just perhaps
the next
toy
will fight a bit harder
will live a bit longer
so that I
might come to know the
colour
of mercy
I will be a
Cat
for as many nine-lived samsaras as I can
they will call me
Cassie
and never know
why
but I will know
I
will
know
I will be a
Cat
no longer a sphynx
but a riddle-less
Cat
and the truths I tell
will be plain
clear
clamorous
and
irrefutable
but not
Noble
no
I will be a
Cat
and never be
Noble
again
c.sdmrogers 10 june 2009
Portrait
Cassandra sits
alone
in her lair
beyond the mouth
fire frolics to a tune
endless
evocative
by which the world writhes
Cassandra stares
alone
shadow-blind
deaf to the screams
a bottle of cacophony
uncorked
untouched
at her side
Cassandra shrives
alone
absolving the earth
the red earth
bloody
fecal
the colour of truth
her truth
his truth
the truth
with which he has cursed her
Cassandra sings
alone
oh madness
sweet madness
in a cracked innocuous voice
when will you arrive?
with a hard and sanguine mouth
oh madness
sweet madness
cool and blue and still
Cassandra stands
alone
unwanted
unclaimed
closing her crepe eyes
to the red dawn
c.sdmrogers 27 june 2009
Incubus
I dreamed you again tonight
not the usual
all-of-this-was-only-a-dream
dream
but
something worse
something better
something
different
at least
different
you always look the same
small
cold
indifferent
which makes
different
so much more
anyway
we were there
in this dream
and I was telling you
in this dream
all that had
transpired
outside
this dream
in the years since you left
your voice was the same
small
cold
indifferent
as you told me
It Was Only a Dream
and I was afraid
to wake
to turn
to find you
lying
still
beside me
I was afraid
to learn that
yes
it was only a dream
c.sdmrogers 12 July 2009
Left
he leaves me
easily
time matters
not
he leaves me
quickly
tears matter
not
he leaves me
aching
as he
never
shall
wanting
as he
never does
longing
as he
never has
and none of it
matters
all that matters
is
he leaves me
c.sdmrogers 12 july 2009
Design
the four-fingered sun
that parts her endless sky
is never in his sight
and yet
it will appear
in the background
of his water's fall
in the foreground
of his mountains' rising
just as her words
are his
and his
are hers
beyond sight
beyond touch
beyond form and frame and role and function
they somehow
step
into the breathless
deathless
timeless
light
of
being
c.sdmrogers 30 august 2009
Veracity
there are curses
that do come true
hers
will
written on a wind that rattles forth the coming holocaust
screamed into a night that cuts sun and hope from heart
hers
will
end will come day will fail loneliness and death and cold that chews the gut
of truth will win
out, but
not
soon enough
no
not
soon enough
no
never
soon enough
to save
me
c.sdmrogers 19 september 2009
Worth Words
the world was too much
with
him, though his words told
otherwise
the world was too much
in
him, though his hands held
a different kind
Believe
she told him
Believe
and
Be Strong
be strong
Enough
to last, but he
they
never
was
are
Come Near
she told him
Come Near
and
Encircle
encircle
Enough
to hold, but he
they
never
did
do
because
the world
was too much
with
him
with
them
and too much
with
out
Her
c.sdmrogers 28 september 2009
Lipstain
he smelled before
he saw
burning still
against the
grey
wet tar, three rings of
green
above the solid band of
white
but
it was
red
that caught his eye
red
that plead the press of lips
red
that fought the need
to hurry past
to hurry on
to
hurry
by
bending to the ash
he could see
her
car-warm in the lukewarm
rays of autumn, left
hand extended
palm up
fingers flexed
in offering
to the untaught sky
red
glove caressing
white
a
white
burning billet that
she kissed with
those lips, with
those perfect
red
arched lips
a touch
one touch
of his finger to the
tip and he was
red
marked
red
stained
red
ruined
for the
rest
of the day
c.sdmrogers 10 october 2009
Ensconced
each morning he
slips
her into his
pocket
the right one with the
sharp and shiny
keys
their jingle calls up
cages
their ridges wear down
pride
and there
she lies
in silence
in honour
in peace pressed
warm
against the solid silver
throb
of his over
active unre
pentant pulse
that soothes and stirs and
calls
to her as no
other
ever
has
c.sdmrogers 6 december 2009
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