Tag: loneliness

“Sea of Trees” published at Manuela Timofte’s blog In A Love World

On By Mike U.In Poetry3 Comments

Hello, friends. Manuela Timofte has kindly published my poem “Sea of Trees” on her esteemed blog In A Love World. Much gratitude to you, Manuela, for hosting my poetry on your wonderful blog.

“Sea of Trees”
© 2019 by Michael L. Utley

To slake my thirst
With dew from leaves that never see the light
Arboreal the tears that fall and quench
The darkest dreams

To fill my bowels
With loam whose cloying scent bespeaks of death
Arboreal the taste of living earth
My hunger begs

To see the gleam
‘Neath tenebrous shadows and rayless groves
Arboreal the blackest night in day
Below the boughs

To run rough hands
O’er scabrous bark and hardened boles and moss
Arboreal the pillars scrape the sky
In breezes weep

The silence holds
Forbidden knowledge
The silence holds
The universe
The silence holds
The truth…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

Sea of trees

Also, please consider following and subscribing to In A Love World, a place where wonderful poetry abounds.

“When Field Work is Done” published at Manuela Timofte’s blog In A Love World

On By Mike U.In Poetry18 Comments

Greetings, folks. My poem “When Field Work is Done” has been published on Manuela Timofte’s In A Love World blog. Many thanks, Manuela, for your generous support of my poetry. Much appreciated.

“When Field Work is Done”
© 2021 by Michael L. Utley

When field work is done and soil tells
A tale of fragrant earth in russet tones
When ground-mist hunkers in secluded dells
And eventide descends upon the swells
Of solemn and discordant distant bells

I follow god-beams west, these tired bones
Sun-gilded in the cool remains of day
As fields pass beside the cobblestones
And honey-hives a-swarm with buzzing drones
And cudding cow in pasture lows and moans

The neighbor’s barn, a faded sun-bleached gray
Leans sleepily as I approach the bend
Where cobblestones succumb to moistened clay
And farm cats mouse-hunt stealthily in hay
And foals and piglets gambol as they play…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

When Field Work is Done

Also, please consider following and subscribing to In A Love World, a place where wonderful poetry abounds.

“The Apple Tree” published at LatinosUSA

On By Mike U.In Poetry31 Comments

Hello, everyone. My poem “The Apple Tree” has been published at LatinosUSA. Sincere gratitude goes to editor Nolcha Fox for sharing this poem with all of you. Thanks a bunch, Nolcha.

“The Apple Tree”
© 2013 by Michael L. Utley

The apple tree
Behind the house
Has long ago
Stopped bearing fruit

It stands alone
In sickness bold
Half its branches
Dead or dying

Leaves the hue
Of summers past
Defy the sun
The pouring rain

Bound there in
White-knuckled grip
On mournful twigs
On listless boughs

As autumn fades
The leaves succumb
Each one a
Small gold suicide

Each gilded drop
A dying spark
A universe now
Mute in death…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

“The Apple Tree” by Michael L. Utley

I hope you’ll consider following and subscribing to LatinosUSA–a place of unique visions and creative voices from around the world.

“The Footbridge” published at Manuela Timofte’s blog In A Love World

On By Mike U.In Poetry21 Comments

Hey, everyone. My poem “The Footbridge” is available for your perusal at Manuela Timofte’s blog In A Love World. Sincere thanks to Manuela for her kindness in sharing my poetry on her wonderful blog.

“The Footbridge”
© 2021 by Michael L. Utley

That derelict footbridge
Has finally failed
Stranding us on
Opposite shores
Of the abyss
Words
Like rotted planks
Litter the gorge
Below
Desires and dreams
Dashed
Upon indifferent rocks
Silence is all
I hear from you…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

The Footbridge

Also, please consider following and subscribing to In A Love World, a place where wonderful poetry abounds.

“There Were Daisies,” a collaborative story by Joni Caggiano and Mike Utley, published at Hotel by Masticadores

On By Mike U.In Stories21 Comments
Photo © Joni Caggiano

Greetings, folks. Just a note to let you know “There Were Daisies,” a new story collaboration with my friend and poet extraordinaire Joni Caggiano, is available at Hotel by Masticadores. A big tip o’ the cap goes to Joni for sharing this adventure with me and providing her uniquely lyrical and profound writing. You can find more of Joni’s poetry, prose and photography on her blog Rum and Robots. Also, many thanks to editor Michelle Navajas for sharing this story with her readers. Be sure to check out Michelle’s new book Afternoons That Tasted Like Love in Manilla.

An excerpt from “There Were Daisies”:

The sickly pond, lifeless, the hue of bad dreams and uneasy regrets, fumed quietly, forever giving up its pallid ghost to the aloof heavens. With anguish stinging my dry eyes, I was drawn to a fleeting remembrance…

We sniff petrichor, my wife’s smile brighter than the morning sun. An early kiss of water on the green grass in fertile soil draws us toward a tender embrace. We interlace fingers and hold tight, clinging to this treasured happenstance. We hear the sigh of the oaks and see a white quilt of dandelions and daisies dotting our clear pond. Fish jump as frogs meander along the edge. Bass notes from bullfrogs cling to our ears as my wife begins to pirouette barefoot, and I am without words, enamored and in love with her grace.

Ghosts, my mind whispered, this is a world of ghosts, ephemeral, intangible memories that linger in shadows and call in soundless cries to no one. Where once was life, now there is only the torpid peal of silent bells amid an eternal night…

You can read the rest of our story here:

“There Were Daisies” © 2026 by Michael L. Utley and Joni Caggiano

Also, please consider following and subscribing to Hotel by Masticadores, where you’ll discover a world of wonderfully imaginative and profound writing.

“The Trunk” published at Manuela Timofte’s blog In A Love World

On By Mike U.In Poetry30 Comments

Hey, everybody. Just a note to let you know my poem “The Trunk” is now live at Manuela Timofte’s blog In A Love World. My sincere appreciation goes to Manuela for her generosity in sharing this poem.

“The Trunk”
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley

There is a place for things
That don’t belong in
Other places
That sere and weathered
Trunk that hunkers lupine-like
Amid dust-addled attic shadows
Wood split and gouged
With time and neglect
Iron bands and fittings
A crumble of rust
Lockless clasp broken
From endless breeches
And pryings
I should have
Replaced that lock
Eons ago
The ill-fitting lid
Is too loose
More decoration
Than function
And tends to rattle
Of its own accord
Far too often
For what’s inside wants to
Breathe
Stretch
Pop knuckles
Champ teeth
And feed
And only I can
Contain it…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

The Trunk

Also, please consider following and subscribing to In A Love World, a place where wonderful poetry abounds.

“Bus Stop” published at LatinosUSA

On By Mike U.In Poetry26 Comments

Hello, folks. I’d like to let you know my poem “Bus Stop” is now available to read at LatinosUSA. Much gratitude goes to esteemed editor Michelle Navajas for sharing this poem with all of you. Sincerely appreciated, Michelle.

“Bus Stop”
© 2025 by Michael L. Utley

she stood there
stoic and still
as a river rock cairn
at the crossroads
bus stop
every afternoon
alone
save for her
reluctant shadow
that always seemed
to pull away from her
clawing at the gravel
to unpin itself from this
dirty-faced girl
with willow whip arms
and a mangled knot
of corn silk hair…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

“Bus Stop” by Michael L. Utley

I hope you’ll consider following and subscribing to LatinosUSA–a place of unique visions and creative voices from around the world.

“From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon” published at LatinosUSA

On By Mike U.In Poetry30 Comments

Hi, everyone. I’m pleased to announce my poem “From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon” has been published at LatinosUSA. A sincere thanks to editor Michelle Navajas, who always goes above and beyond, for choosing to share this poem with her readers. It’s truly an honor, and I’m grateful for you kindness, Michelle.

“From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon”
© 2025 by Michael L. Utley

I have waited long enough
among midnight forests
and somnolent bamboo groves
the furtive whispers
of pensive yurei
a forlorn supplication
to dissolve further
into the rayless world
of lost souls
to seek the sleep
of bōkyaku

cloistered among
susurrating reeds
I bathe my feet
in Sanzu’s nocturnal tears
adorned in fragrant
willow shadows
as koi drowse
in the depths of dreams
and kitsune slink
clandestinely
their night-thoughts
unfathomable…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

“From Tsukiko, While Watching the Moon”© 2025 by Michael L. Utley

I hope you’ll consider following and subscribing to LatinosUSA–a place of unique visions and creative voices from around the world.

“Forgotten” published at Manuela Timofte’s blog In a Love World

On By Mike U.In Poetry9 Comments

Hello, everyone. My poem “Forgotten” is now live at Manuela Timofte’s blog In A Love World. Thank you so much, Manuela, for sharing this poem. Truly appreciated.

“Forgotten”
© 2021 by Michael L. Utley

Those who fade away
Dust-covered and forgotten
Hushed in melancholy thought

Those of us denied
Peering through the river reeds
Watching joy drift out of reach

Who will remember
Those abandoned on the path
Those who fall by the wayside

We the silent ones
Mournful ones invisible
Just a burden nothing more…

You can read the rest of my poem here:

Forgotten

Also, please consider following and subscribing to In A Love World, a place where wonderful poetry abounds.

“Bus Stop” published at Hotel by Masticadores

On By Mike U.In Poetry33 Comments

Hi, friends. I want to let you know my poem “Bus Stop” has been published at Hotel by Masticadores. Many thanks to Editor Michelle Navajas for sharing this poem with her readers. Thanks a bunch, Michelle.

“Bus Stop”
© 2025 by Michael L. Utley

“she stood there
stoic and still
as a river rock cairn
at the crossroads
bus stop
every afternoon
alone
save for her
reluctant shadow
that always seemed
to pull away from her
clawing at the gravel
to unpin itself from this
dirty-faced girl
with willow whip arms
and a mangled knot
of corn silk hair…”

You can read the rest of my poem here:

“Bus Stop” by Michael L. Utley

Also, please consider following and subscribing to Hotel by Masticadores, where you’ll discover a world of wonderfully imaginative and profound writing.