“January’s Scion”

On January 23, 2022 By Mike U.In Poetry27 Comments

“January’s Scion”
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley

January’s scion, born of winter
messenger of midnight’s dark domain
harbinger of fearful futures
herald of the past’s persistence
bearer of remembrances of
what shall surely be

I’ve succumbed to January’s Janus
peering ever forward and behind
frozen firmly on the threshold
of what was and what may soon be
doomed to bear the weight of all things
for eternity

there are reasons January haunts me
memories unmeltable come spring
anguished glacial recollections
nurse at doleful mountain’s bosom
hiemal tempest screams its sinful
arctic lullaby

blizzards pummel me across the decades
breath sucked from my lungs I cannot scream
woeful winters resurrected
stain the present, tinge the future
I cannot let go, my tired
mind encased in ice

mountain path from past to future voided
bone-white drifts of January’s wrath
stalk the trail in hulking silence
passage is impossible here
miles of dead denuded forest
bar my way ahead

I can’t scry the future in the darkness
terrifying in obscurity
thrumming rumbling shakes the earth as
cloying caustic vapors fester
sulfur-scented volcanism
lies ahead for me

close my eyes and I can see the carnage
close my ears and I can hear the cries
spewing peaks of raining cinders
fire-bomb the desolation
I can sense the future tremble
in uncertainty

memories entombed in frigid white flakes
worries of the future caked with ash
undead past alive and raging
unseen future salivating
waiting restlessly for me as
time moves ever on

“A Few Haiku (30)”

On January 18, 2022 By Mike U.In Poetry42 Comments

(#175)

the burning earth
raging sea and starless sky
nature’s broken heart

…..

(#176)

the blowing snow
winter’s children play hopscotch
on frozen fields

…..

(#177)

nine thousand miles
and years of pain lie between
my heart and my soul

…..

(#178)

does she remember
in her tropical winter
my world of snow

…..

(#179)

drafts have stilled the hearth
killed the fire in my soul
endless winter night

…..

(#180)

ice in wash basin
fingers too frigid to wash
cold thoughts from my mind

“A Few Haiku (29)”

On January 15, 2022 By Mike U.In Poetry36 Comments

(#169)

my unsettled thoughts
blanket my winter world
in restless stasis

…..

(#170)

winter’s bitter dirge
prelude to spring’s soliloquy
hope waits in the wings

…..

(#171)

from womb to tomb
winter’s ever-present shroud
white cloak of despair

…..

(#172)

heaven’s secrets
whispered in the hiss of rain
on elm leaves

…..

(#173)

to those whose stories
go unheard by dearth of care
nature lends her ear

…..

(#174)

all hope is not lost
though harsh winter batters me
the golden suisen

“A Few Haiku (27)”

On January 11, 2022 By Mike U.In Poetry40 Comments

(#157)

memories of her
drift on plains of sorrow
the driving snow

…..

(#158)

the withered forest
cruel winter shames the trees
into submission

…..

(#159)

the blush of winter
cold flirtatious wind kisses
my cheeks and nose

…..

(#160)

clear winter night
moon tends her silver garden
of star flowers

…..

(#161)

my personal winter
heart too deep in permafrost
for love’s healing thaw

…..

(#162)

cracks on pond ice
kintsugi heals frozen earth
as lotus slumber

“A Few Haiku (26)”

On January 8, 2022 By Mike U.In Poetry35 Comments

(#151)

drifting blizzard snow
not deep enough to inter
all the world’s sins

…..

(#152)

fallow field
without love and compassion
there can be no hope

…..

(#153)

the thresher’s flail
I am not yet able to
leave my past behind

…..

(#154)

iced boughs bend in shame
winter’s woe too bitter for
weeping willow’s tears

…..

(#155)

silent winter night
sound of my heart’s muffled cries
bereft of echoes

…..

(#156)

bitter reckoning
seeds of love in time shall meet
the harvester’s scythe

“A Few Haiku (24)”

On December 29, 2021 By Mike U.In Poetry21 Comments

(#139)

snow in hut shadow
bitter heart
refuses to melt

…..

(#140)

abandoned nest
filled with drifted snow
sorrow incubates

…..

(#141)

frozen tracks
my past waits for me
up the road

…..

(#142)

frigid pond
thirsty fox waits in the woods
as I break the ice

…..

(#143)

chilly winter breaths
heron, kitsune and I
speak common tongue

…..

(#144)

no sun no moon
earth in funeral wrappings
all hope is lost

“A Few Haiku (23)”

On December 21, 2021 By Mike U.In Poetry19 Comments

(#133)

winter blizzard
mountain’s clouded mind confused
avalanche of thoughts

…..

(#134)

my life stains the page
complicated crimson kanji
too obscure to read

…..

(#135)

arctic kitsune
little blizzard stalks the drifts
crimson raicho plumes

…..

(#136)

darkest winter night
echoes of abandoned prayers
dwindle in the void

…..

(#137)

wind and sea and sky
permanence of change
impermanence of life

…..

(#138)

snow on footbridge
heron tracks the only sign
of life that matters

“A Few Haiku (22)”

On December 18, 2021 By Mike U.In Poetry10 Comments

(#127)

serrated sea shells
flay unfeeling fleeing feet
my numb soul bleeds out

…..

(#128)

bits of blue shell
and broken soul mark my fall
from heaven’s nest

…..

(#129)

old pond and ocean
renewed with each thunderstorm
my soul begs for rain

…..

(#130)

your name etched
on every cobblestone
this road leads nowhere

…..

(#131)

frost on suisen
sheen of wistful memories
melts too quickly

…..

(#132)

buds on barren twigs
kanji writ on sleeping trees
promise of the spring

“A Few Haiku (21)”

On December 17, 2021 By Mike U.In Poetry26 Comments

(#121)

old rain barrel
dark waters of
forgotten dreams

…..

(#122)

first snow
white kiku on
autumn’s casket

…..

(#123)

stone cairns
mark my future; stone heart
marks my past

…..

(#124)

no more songbirds
nest in my heart
your voice fades

…..

(#125)

old mountain’s silence
questions answered
as I climb the path

…..

(#126)

rain turns to hail
my heart takes a pounding
from my tears

“Exhale”

On December 16, 2021 By Mike U.In Poetry19 Comments

“Exhale”
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

A handful of words hastily shaken
Thrown like dice against a filthy brick wall
Skittering across deserted sidewalk
Bouncing into foul gutter rill
Profound thoughts from a tired mind

Is this all I have to say and if so
Does it even matter when no one cares
These words buoyant as a waterlogged corpse
Sink slowly beneath the surface
Of a world bereft of conscience

I mix metaphor and stark imagery
Insert heart and soul, blood and torrid tears
Craft a paper boat to launch on oceans
Of antiquity and futures
Yet to be and watch as it sinks

Words fall like proverbial autumn leaves
Raked into pretentious piles of damp dross
To become compost to feed the dull worms
Of bitter earth and mindless murk
Where nothing echoes but darkness

I have shouted from the tops of mountains
I have whispered in sepulchral shadows
I have groaned in blackened pits of despair
I have lost my voice so often
I can no longer hear my thoughts

Sharpened edges of serrated starlight
A thousand vapid cuts my soul bleeds out
I offer up my penance to the gods
Ragged blood-soaked sheaves of parchment
Etched with runes of my existence

It is not sufficient for redemption
For what are words but empty utterance
The fetid breaths of wretched souls exhaled
As dying light slips languidly
Beyond aloof eternity

Silent Pariah

Tag: creative writing