The air was as ancient as
The molds washed anew with the dew
I pushed on, backwards
Away from the rest of them
Prudent, and watchful
As if at any time,
When I avert my eyes
The sleeping soldier
Would read this as his cue
To attack, to ****.

I stumbled back
Accidentally bumping open a creaking door
I listened.
Drip, Drip, Drip
At times a rustle
At times, a shuffle
I even thought I heard whispers
And footsteps.
But, I knew I am prone to hallucination
So
I thought better of it,
And closed the door.
After we headed out,
We gave the worker his cue
And like ancient cataracts
The concrete poured.

When we have sealed the old
And welcomed the new
A voice inquired innocently,
“Where is Joe?”

the tectonic plates
in me
are shifting
     as our continents
approach collide
my ocean is
getting closer
to the mountains
on your landscape
  tallest grasses blowing
         in wild demon dance,
                shaking their
          heads as heated
storm approaches
oven-baked air crackling
    with its own
         electric currents
Nothing can stop it
it's a magnetic force
              one to be
                   reckoned with
               surrendered to
as dust foams
like ocean froth
around our heads
clinging to us in tiny
starlit fragments
and soon will come
        the slick dive into
             wordless waters,
                    just skin on skin
        slippery mouth muscles
like entwined snakes
flick-flicking, shiny
in eye-lit cherry moons
Take my hand.
Just pull me in.
Enfold me,
          without talking
watch as my aura
rushes into you,
first a delicate whisk
             of cool light
to slake the thirst
of coal-licked caverns
then sparks
and bubbling oxidation
turning into liquid brushfire
Hold your palm
to my chest,
as if to keep
    my heart steady,
        my glowing flare of halo
  pressed into your
clavicle, taking in
the embryonic beats
soothing my torrid ache,
infusing minerals
in vitamin-laced libation
It is time to simply bask
in the new
crispness of radical
shake off
           the silt and salt
and rise up
into the spheres
      of memory
      of soulspeak
of collapsed time zones
budded breath
spiraling up
in curls,
       diaphanous
dark mist
ascending
                 into
           light

Don't judge me by my looks
And don't read me by the books
I am brash and I am kind
I am hard to define
I am bold. I am shy
I am grounded, but I fly
I love, and I give
I cradle, I forgive
Though soft I may feel
I am thunder, I am steel
I am smiles and I am laughter
I am happily ever after
I am tears and I am ache
I am a mess when I break
I hold tightly, but I know
When it's time to let go
I am dove, I am hawk
I am the rose and the rock
I am rain. I am sun
I am I. I am woman



Thank you all so much **

This is a poem
You can digest with ease
Low on the sodium
Less calories
High in the fiber
Plus gluten free
As your mind
On this poem feeds

This diet poem
Won't add extra weight
Or make you regret
Mistakes you have made
While filling your mind
Or stuffing your face
A great midnight snack
This poem will make

This is a poem
That is saccharine sweet
A satisfiing writing
Tasty in treat
You can feel the pounds melt
On your way to lean
As this diet poem
You sit down to read

With his head in his hands
And his heart on his sleeve
He closes his eyes against the light of day
And against his quiet despair
He pretends it is not real

But part of him knows
Deep down amongst half-remembered dreams
Emotions that appear from nowhere
And linger
Every cell of him knows

He knows a loss without closure
A conversation without words
Dreams without endings
And hoping without hope

He hears a knock on the door
But no-one walks in
He puts his head in his hands
And his heart on his sleeve
He pretends it is not real

                                           By Phil Roberts