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Shattered and scattered...
Torn to the pages. From
an age when broken is
never fixed. Lost. We lost.
A Poem by Tate Morgan


God once thought to give me a choice
by offering the chance to choose
I stood bold stance, and took that chance
to ever walk within his shoes

He then offered me five choices
Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure, and Death
I will have won, when it's all done
so I thought as I caught my breath

Then so it was I chose Pleasure
with the thought to enjoy my youth
To run with the boys, through life's joys
happiness was my only truth

Pleasures that youth delights upon
were disappointing, then grew cold
Sun setting play, that every day
trickled my fingers through, like gold

So once again he came to me
"surely wisdom has found you now"
"Choose your fate, before it's too late
as I said, this I will allow"

"Fame" I said as he smirked at me
"I wish to be a man renowned"
"To play life's game, that touts my name
as one deserving of the crown"

But Fame was a fickled master
that led to Envy, Greed and Lust
A shinning star and giant car
that in the end had turned to rust

Once more God offered me a choice
of the few things that still remain
"Besides birth, only one has worth
try using your heart, not your brain"

"Riches then" I did say to him
"surely they can cure all my pain"
"To do what I can as a man
by amassing what I may gain"

Wealth was not the answer I sought
left me with nothing of what I won
When in the end, I had no friend
to rejoice in what I had done

So one last time he gave me choice
"Love" I said is what I would like
"A woman's breast, where I may rest
perhaps even a little tyke"

The time it passed so quickly by
as I then sat beside her grave
A-wash in tears, for all those years
spent chasing dreams, that none could save

"My life has run it's course" I said
"your final choice is the worst yet"
"My love I lost, at such a cost
all that's left of me is regret"

He said "since you have not asked me
for advice on what you should do"
"I gave Death in a dying breath
to one more deserving than you!"

" Why won't you grant me rest" I said
"what more is there for me to learn"
" That a life of greed serves no need
live with old age, till it's your turn"


Tate




© 2012 Tate Morgan
Written April 21, 2012
All rights reserved
It is always the bitterest of pills That which makes us look at ourselves for who we truly are. Not for the one we wished to be. Like many I am no stranger to vanity. We do not deal much in facts when we are contemplating ourselves.
Life has taught me there are three ways we are perceived.
1. The way we see ourselves
2. The way others see us.
3. The way we truly are
Like the breath of a lover, I feel the warm breeze.
The breeze carries the fragrance of Springtime’s tease.
Senses aroused by flirtatious blossoms;
Myriads of colors flooding my gardens.

Blackthorns, Azaleas, Crocus and Dahlias
Clothed in beauty, tossing seductive glances.
Springtime’s powerful elixirs and tonics
Intoxicating lovers with her elaborate sonnets.

Sung through the trees, the Robin’s melodies.
The time of the year for the birds and the bees.
Cardinals and Larks sing breaking the spell,
As the captives of winter are released from their cells.
On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.

On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion's pledge,
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay -
O I loved too much and by such and such is happiness thrown away.

I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that's known
To the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint. I did not stint for I gave her poems to say.
With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay -
When the angel woos the clay he'd lose his wings at the dawn of day.
You know nothing
Of what lies under
my frozen cheek
beneath me as we
condensate.
This is the truest thing
I’ve ever heard.
A warm rhythm,
That you
will never hum.
Shy
Wondering
Afraid to say what I feel
What I want

Scared
Stumbling
Words sticking in my throat
Dying to confess

Sweet
Innocent desires
The things I'm supposed to want
I do want them...

But
Underneath
There are deeper, darker wants
Dark, scary needs

Lust
Hot, heavy, stifling
Suffocating me with the weight of its urgency
Things I couldn't ever say

Shame
I feel...wrong
***** for wanting those things
For needing them

Yearning
I want to be hurt
I need to be controlled
To be shamelessly used

But
I can't tell
I can't make my brain let my mouth
Say the words burning inside me.

I
Can't
Tell him
How very badly
I need him
To forget
Just for a few hours
That he loves me
And only think
How much
He wants
To use me
The rain's been relentless
I've been soaked for two days
the wind blowing sideways
Unavoidable fray

Cold to bone, I run bathwater too hot to handle
Want to sweat it all out, and to run myself pure
Pale steam 'round me rising, obscuring the candles
and thoughts of you run though my head, like a lure.

My clothes lie bedraggled, cast here on the floor
kindling flashbacks of searching for mine in your room
fully dressed again, kindly you'd showed me the door
and I left, leaving heartstrings caught up in your loom.

So here I am, aching
so here I am, tired
so here I am, glad for the perfume you left

So here I am, hopeless
I'm mystified, following
bright flashing memories, indeliberate gifts.

How can it be, chest cavity filling with sorrow
What small sweetened curse did you drip in my heart?
Chemicals mine, and chemicals foreign
weave conundrums of pain as your next work of art.

I loathe to think you've one resentment against me
Did I clarify all clamoured in heart and head?
moth to flame, I remember you hate them,
don't hate me
but also, remember- they all end up dead.

You'll never know, just what a blessing our time was
Precious stone, as you know are important to me
I am that Roman candle, actinic in pearls
my fog soon in passing, and I will be free.

So please, don't let too much dust cover our glow
Synchronicitous, meant to be, beautiful, rare
Something splendid as that, should be held in the heart
Hands of time have a tendency- obscure and tear.

so here I am, peaceful
so here I am, salient
the memories of your arms around me, your chest

so here I'm imagining your face before me
how perfect our moments
Thankyou, lover;
I'm blessed.
I drove,
clutched and shifted gears.

He directed.
“Go straight there. Turn right here.”

I did what he told me—
only to find myself
stopped on a steep, side street,
in front of a line of cars
and too afraid to shift.
“I can’t do it,” I said.

He clenched, yelled.
I cowered,
gunned the engine,
let out the clutch.
But before I risked the stall,
I pressed in the clutch and the brake.

He shifted the car into neutral,
pulled the emergency brake.

While we switched places,
he apologized to the drivers behind us.
2010
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