(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
(#181)
three chickadees…
winter’s ellipsis as earth
pauses in thought
…..
(#182)
winter cattails
frozen tiki torches glow
in silver moon-fire
…..
(#183)
in night’s cold silence
old snow-laden branch succumbs
too many winters
…..
(#184)
warmth and light and love
all the world’s hope resides
in my glowing hearth
…..
(#185)
messenger moon
conveys hope to my lost love
through the years and tears
…..
(#186)
light in the darkness
dawn of hope or setting sun
I cannot decide
“Thus the Evening’s Stillness Deepens”
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
I don’t want to break the peaceful
stillness of this winter evening
as the gloaming deepens and the
shadows freeze upon the hills
I don’t want to leave my footprints
on the pristine frozen fields
where the haggard cornstalks gather
contemplating harvests past
I don’t want to burden forests
slumbering in hiemal stasis
dreaming of the coming springtime
and the warmth of summer sun
so I’ll tell the moon my secrets
shed my tears in silent prayers
rest my head on silver shoulders
close my eyes and bare my soul
there’s so much to say this evening
as I wait in darkling meadow
for the object of my fondness
as she peeks between the trees
she has never kept me waiting
she has never left me wanting
she has never sent me reeling
in the throes of winter’s woes
I can hear her humming softly
as the stars begin to sing in
perfect cosmic harmony an
airy astral aria
gathering her scarf and mantle
she ascends as alpenglow paints
roseate blush on pale cheekbones
crimson tincture on her lips
as she rises I stand helpless
in this chilly empty clearing
I am powerless against her
I surrender to her glow
there’s a kindness in her visage
as she turns her gaze upon me
there’s compassion as she wraps me
in her shimmering embrace
thus the evening’s stillness deepens
thus the frozen fields glimmer
thus the forests drift in slumber
thus my damaged soul renewed
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#31)
my exhausted faith
flows just as the drift ice flows
breaks and melts away
heaven’s reflection blurring
in the sea’s saltwater tears
…..
(#32)
I catch the water
dripping from the icicles
in a mason jar
as a gentle reminder
that I do not weep alone
…..
(#33)
moon paints snow angels
on forgotten midnight fields
only clouds can see
sleeping souls oblivious
to shy winter’s artistry
“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
(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
(#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
(c) 2022 by Michael L. Utley
(#163)
old apples
frozen to the ground
the silent orchard
…..
(#164)
juniper berries
blue sky’s children nestle
in cedar cradles
…..
(#165)
my horse is old
and my cart is broken
the depths of winter
…..
(#166)
winter granary
rice sacks are empty
and spring may never come
…..
(#167)
thoughtless chickadees
bear the winter’s burden
while I succumb
…..
(#168)
in the evening snow
hare tracks on the mountain path
silent, soon to fade
(c) 2021 by Michael L. Utley
(#28)
Sere crone winter sheds
Iced waraji at the door
Hangs her hiemal veil
On the windows, frigid laugh
Desecrates the sacred place
…..
(#29)
Shima-enaga
Silver-throated winter-borne
Yuki no tori
Huddle in Hokkaido chill
Little clouds alight on branch
…..
(#30)
Weeping winter’s tears
Cannot cloak in drifts the rift
Between earth and man
Frigid hearts and bitter souls
Bury world in human shame
Silent Pariah 