Shaded Heart

Here upon the threshold of a midnight hour,
as the arctic air pulses through my veins,
love rides upon the wings of a whisper
that throws my heart into a deafening roar.

Conversation warms under incandescent rays
while angelic eyes set the mood free.
Impossibility becomes a bitter rumor
as a smile gives way to fledgling hope.

Sown in the shadows of the night;
forged through the fires of the heart;
tested in the thirst of the day;
denied by the whispers of the tongue;
bled by the dagger of truth;
frozen in the depths of love;
guarded by the gates of the soul;
reduced to the corner of my mind.

Dragonfly circles around my head at night.
She rides the cool morning breeze
to show me places I’ve only dreamed possible.
Her back burns a cerulean blue
and her nose leads with a silver diamond.
A hundred copper eyes reflect her one true soul
and sees my gray heart in six-hundred ways.
To catch her is futile; all I can do is lie still
and let her grace my bed until the westerly wind blows.

A violet sun shines deeply
revealing a heart of grey
that trades alcohol for oxygen
and chemicals for this blue blood.

Sadness marks my every breath,
and my seared lips speak only fear.
Blackened thoughts fill my mind;
these swollen eyes shed hope.

My skin knows no lover’s touch
and no siren songs ring these ears.
A dull moon rises in an empty sky,
signaling now the final hour.

Across fields of golden grain I see her
walking, or marching, down this aisle of Fate.
Gracefully she moves as a timeless specter
or some ethereal beauty yet unseen.

Her scarlet dress dances under harvest moon
as I sing to her whispers of endless song;
Those amber strands anoint her supple face,
deservingly crowning her august head.

My arms yearn to touch her tender hands
and my legs itch to drag me to her feet.
My heart dreams to simply watch her smile
and to gaze endlessly in those cerise eyes.

Yet, I remain motionless and silent;
my limbs imprisoned by some insidious fate;
my voice stricken by some soulless warden.
The crows overhead mock my imposition.

On opposite glass I see her walking
silently past my life; a graceful ghost
floating slowly as if searching, wanting,
haunting this dilapidated soul.

Her face is golden and her skin
inviting to palms moist with tears.
Lifeless veils cover her pleading eyes
and guard closely that perilous path.

Suddenly, she turns her face toward me
glancing, her mouth opening so slightly,
as if a lover had whispered her name
or stroked those ebony strands.

I stand frozen, immobilized as her silhouette
burns against my unrelenting desire.
My mind races for one brazen act in life
as she smiles softly at her timely reflection.

Splintered thoughts cannot express
the violence that powers these wounded hands.
As each twisted line slips away,
I am one awkward step closer to my fate.

Inside the wisdom of a tainted grape
I find no delusions, no distractions
from my malevolent realities. Instead
the pain ferments inside: a bitter crop.

Rage soothes me but does not satisfy
the lurid desires of a shaded heart;
as each blackened grain of time falls
that radiant desolation spreads further inward.

Listless nights drown me with a vast silence
and faded splendor of worlds unobtainable.
Here I live beneath a placid surface;
a cold and wavy face adrift in time.