(c) 2023 by Michael L. Utley
(#343)
in these dead woods
only the storm crow
knows my name
…..
(#344)
an entire universe
in the bowl of my old hands
and still I’m alone
…..
(#345)
red-wrought destruction
right-wing nihilism wears
a death’s head grin
…..
(#346)
there’s no need for books
when guns speak louder than words
red-hat terrorism
…..
(#347)
blood on our hands
bullets don’t discriminate
another child gone
…..
(#348)
love and lenity
the earth pleads for sanity
as the bullets fly
(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
Silent Pariah 