When I was a poet...

Forever in the Grave

I wandered in the woods late one night,
found myself at the iron gate of a graveyard.
Low hanging willows crowded at the entrance,
I slipped past the rotting lock, ashes, it's red-brown
rust clung to my white shirt like dried blood.

Walking past the headstone of "Beloved Father"
I crunched dead leaves beneath my feet and saw
the moonlight's bright glow ascending upon
one tombstone...a massive pillar.
Erected in the center of the graveyard like
a lighthouse whose beacon was dissolving fog.

Standing much taller than I, the pillar's cracked
foundation had etched on it an epitaph in Latin:
Aeternum Vale--Cursum Perficio
"Farewell forever, my journey is over."
I wondered who lay inside the massive grave
whether or not they knew I was standing
upon their casket, 'neath the cold brown earth?

No marker of when Death came for the nameless
only the faded inscription to tell us of the Fate.
My mind began to wander towards ghastly thoughts
of whether maggots crowded the black holes
where once eyes were, or if earthworms played its bones.

Would this be the nameless' new journey--to lay among
the cold hard dirt and watch as the living trample atop
its grave, Aeternum, forever...

The Cabin

The cabin near the lake
Lies bare beneath the rays of sun.
Sparkling blue shimmers make
Flickered memories of summer's fun.

Bare beneath the rays of sun
The thick evergreens rustle an sway.
Flickered memories of summer's fun
Too soon lost in darkness of another day.

The thick evergreens rustle and sway
In wind that creaks the boards of wood.
Too soon lost in darkness of another day
All at once disappears my childhood.

In wind that creaks the boards of wood
My skin shivers like the lake's weeds.
All at once disappears my childhood
And summer turns where winter leads.

My skin shivers like the lake's weeds
As the grey frosty air brings snow.
Summer turns where winter leads
Covering the cabin where I cannot go.

The grey frosty air brings with it snow
So too, swiftly, the lake begins to freeze.
Covering the cabin where I cannot go
Miles of white upon the land's knees.

Too swiftly, the lake begins to freeze
And I stumble upon the path back home.
Miles of white across the land's knees
The cabin near the lake dies alone.

Unspoken Words

Into oblivion I shall fall.
Nearest the edge of fate,
Steeper becomes the wall.
Oh, relief! It comes too late.

What awaits me down the hill?
The two greatest sorrows of my life.
Sighs so deep within my will,
No longer can I bear this strife.

Angels hear me now!
My plea echoes throughout.
I want to live somehow,
But stronger becomes my doubt.

Rocks bleed my skin so red,
Tumbling farther into black.
Pain presses into me as heavy as lead,
As silence creeps longingly back.

Into oblivion I shall fall,
Without strong hands to catch.
Screaming is futile with each call,
The suffering body meets its match.

Into oblivion I shall fall,
Midnight forever in my heart.
Happiness crumpled to the infinitely small
Seeing no end rips my spirit apart.

If only my sewn mouth could astound,
I'd tell you of my deepest woe.
Words written into the earthly ground,
Remnants etched of thoughts once so.

Into oblivion I shall fall,
Nearest the edge of fate.
Steeper becomes the wall,
"I love you" comes too late.