Madverse: Tarot -The Lovers

that we love is certain
but how we love less so
behind the beaded curtain
sits one who claims to know
but how we land aright/reversed
fortune favored/forever cursed
our fate hangs in the shuffle
as our lives laid on the table
and how we read
what we believe
destiny or fable

instapoem: beaches

first loves

You were the crackle of desiccated leaves thrown onto the fire.

You were the first clove cigarette snuck behind the middle school gymnasium.

The cloying, choking mystery of adolescent rejection.

You were the jaded confidence man trapped in the body of a pip-squeak.

And I worshipped you.

The t-shirt with a sly reference to a show cancelled a decade ago and revered by those in the know.

The cardigan with elbow patches, minus two buttons.

Cargo pants for exponential empty pockets and collected relics.

No original thought but each sentence compiled of movie quotes and lyrics smashed and mashed in new array to dazzle, disarm, and dismay.

Me in rollerskated, chunky-banged hyperbole praised you to the skies and never saw your lies as lies because the lyrebird sang so convincingly that I blamed me.

WrittenRiver: flirt with me

like glossy poster print

like pictures on the internet

like the crinkle of a lottery ticket

in lazy Sunday morning mumbled musings 

you flirt with me painting a future lurid and loud

as though we were not destined for the mushroom cloud

WrittenRiver: photo prompt

crown of thorny light
electric brambles envelope
veiled not w/ sleep
still eyes cannot see
blinded by the net
she's caught in

Written River: we gaze

into empty air
into the abyss
into each crease and wrinkle
of our fingerprints
before we glance
at each other askance
we gaze
anywhere anywhere anywhere
but this
the space between
rejection and a kiss

WrittenRiver prompt: delicate temptation

i nestle into the deliciousness

marvel at toothsome eyes 

of robin's egg blue

above a beard sugar-spun 

into bird nest confection

and glutton that I am I

I anticipate the feast of

a mouth watering future sweet 

as the delicate temptation

of a marshmallow fledgling peep

leaping over a chocolate precipice into 

my confitured candyland dreams of you

MadVerse Prompt:along the way, endless search, redemption's price, uplifted only to fall

we are told you can do anything you can be anything

just work hard, dream big, and reach for the stars

uplifted only to fall when slammed against the wall

one arm against our throat

and we whimper as he whispers

it's your fault

and... we believe...

because we got lost along the way

redemption's price too high to pay

the aftermath an endless search

for who we thought we were

and who we are

the next day

I am distraught
I sought sense and saw the lights flicker in the sky
and I knew a piece of peace
but now I cease to understand
as the sun rises to shine on a land
that seems no more benign and I am
tired and afraid at the hate and rage
that permeates this age
I cannot comprehend why some cannot be a friend
to those of different gender, race, creed, religion
how can you hate someone
just for loving
just for living
I try and try but hard to find my empathy
for those who bemoan the intellect
who deliberately choose not to see
that this country is best
not you against me
but striving together
as we
(we, the people
not a mob)
well done despair
you've won, good job

MadVerse MadCarnival prompts

closing time is closing in
but before dawns breaks our dreams
into nothing but smoke on the wind
before we dissipate and disappear
we will make some magic here
of everything wicked, every spite
transform into delight each fright
a mystery among the missing pieces
we fit and find our joy increases
and wounded but alive
still we thrive

the vase

dropped from shaky hands
I shattered
on a side street
bits hurriedly gathered
and carried home
in bleeding hands
glued back together
those that see me
may not see the seams
but I still feel the cracks
and all the little shards
too small to retrieve
left for the street sweeper

MadVerse Dark Carnival Prompts: of masks & mischief, blood red dreams, to tame the darkness

we dance a demon waltz
to tame the darkness
my dress made of midnight,
moonlight, and blood red dreams
smooth as silk and frayed at seams
as is your tattered tux and tails
your battered stovepipe hat and smile
we twirl through the funhouse ballroom
full of masks & mischief
as a million mirror images of us
waltz a terrifying two-step
just out of time
a moment too fast or slow
bewildering us until we don't know
are we the real or reflected?

SenseWrds Prompt: portrait, absolution, timbre

searched old voicemails
for the pitch and tone
of that half-chuckle,
full-smile voice, now gone

you'd say you love me
before you'd hang up

please forgive me
I could not find
that moment
frozen in time
memory
will have to suffice
since you left
for paradise

treefall

MadVerse Dark Circus Prompts

seeing is believing but still unexpected
they find the heaving of their breathing
as they continue creaking higher & higher
hear the click click click of rickety wood & metal
held together by hope & a magician's trick
with each white-knuckle grip they flip
into the upside down darkness
twisting through sky when the rails skip
easy marks who answered the barks
of the barker's call to step right up
to rise and fall 
on the Scream-O-Rama
return....different
or not at all

SenseWrds: bashful, melliflous, storm

shy song begins
soft patter on window
swelling susurrus
each drop adding
until we drown
in the deluge of sound
and i find my voice
in cover of the sky's cry

the grudge

i cannot forgive

i cannot forget

and still i wish

we had never met

part of me gone

replaced with regret

happiness now

in spite of

not because of

Madverse: October

black and white
a flash of red
lose my heart
lose my head
stories in bottles
hanging from trees
climbing the clouds
words in the breeze
intense in tents
and these
these moments
are mine
to treasure
in the torchlight
the clock ticks
above the gate
and we all dream
together
if only for a night

SenseWrds Prompt: bones, frayed, serenity

peace coalesces
sets and ossifies
starting in her marrow
until her core defies
the torn and tattered shell
of one who's marched through hell

irony

i would be
happy
to wallow
in misery
for that
would mean
my feet
still could
find purchase
on solid ground
instead i drown