(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#313)
my world begins and ends
at my window
lonely winter moon
…..
(#314)
blood and feathers
the sky falls into my palm
a young boy’s shame
…..
(#315)
calligraphy of sorrow
etched on her wrists
autumn’s demise
…..
(#316)
fast asleep
in the heron’s belly
the stilt hut
…..
(#317)
one cup one bowl one spoon
and a thousand silences
winter’s bitter feast
…..
(#318)
when it’s time to laugh
I will laugh; until then
let me cry
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#271)
blurred images and
a smudge of words on a page
is this all I am
…..
(#272)
puddle of cold wax
where my candle burned out
waiting for the light
…..
(#273)
thirty-six hours
between my tears and your death
a lifetime since then
…..
(#274)
fallow fields, dry ponds
fences in disrepair
long-dead memories
…..
(#275)
hope stretched thin and taut
across brittle bones of time
a dry husk of life
…..
(#276)
sorrow’s bedrock or
hope’s aquifer; either way
naught left but to dig
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#259)
fallow fields
granary of memories
not fit for planting
…..
(#260)
mackerel scale clouds
and silver shark fin moon
eventide rolls in
…..
(#261)
cool moist predawn air
condensation in my heart
stillness in my soul
…..
(#262)
evening rain
I break bread alone
in the dim stillness
…..
(#263)
memory garden
I hoe every living thing
just to kill the weeds
…..
(#264)
summer zephyrs sail
the green grain ocean
wheat waves
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#235)
so much damage done
by such delicate fingers
and a blackened heart
…..
(#236)
how soothing the words
whispered to a shattered heart
by her serpent’s tongue
…..
(#237)
days of green silence
heart fern-bound in oak shadows
dreaming with the trees
…..
(#238)
I have not yet reached
terminal velocity
my life in free-fall
…..
(#239)
carved into the bark
of my heart, her initials
overgrown with grief
…..
(#240)
bright sun hurts my eyes
just as hope singes my soul
best to stay inside
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#187)
the forsaken vase
still stands where you left it
waiting for your flower
…..
(#188)
in the end
my heaven could not redeem
your hell
…..
(#189)
memories of you
litter the oak-shadowed grass
I tread carefully
…..
(#190)
coy spring tarries
just beyond my winter heart
how I yearn for her
…..
(#191)
strawberry spring
the false hope of redemption
as the storm draws nigh
…..
(#192)
my destitute mind
is as barren as my heart
all the words have gone
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#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
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#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
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#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
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#145)
whispers of the dead
desiccated teasel stalks
haunt the winter field
…..
(#146)
fuyu no shika
scornful mountains echo
mournful stag’s lament
…..
(#147)
in the end
my heart gropes in darkness
on life’s lonely path
…..
(#148)
jade remembrance
the hitch in my chest
as my heart shatters
…..
(#149)
barren winter field
this heart of mine
bereft of yours
…..
(#150)
in silence in shadows
cold earth trembles beneath
blanket of regrets
“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 