Siren-Song

Artwork: Blue Mermaid - Yoshimasa Tsuchiya, 2009

i love you
beyond doubt,
beyond pain,
beyond pleasure,
beyond joy,
beyond grief...

more than magic,
more than power,
more than substance,
more than even
life itself...

i lure you
to my
side,
i beckon you
to heed
this call,
this song,
this ode
to love
and longing
and passion
and life...

for
i love you
more than the sweet,
more than the bitter,
more than the sane,
more than the mad,
more than life,
more than death
and possibly
beyond.

Anger

Artwork: As She Began to Fade Away - Chad Merritt, 2010

i feel the
pain:
the rage
threatening,
roaring,
trying
to break out
like wings
through my
shoulders.

i am bowed,
and cowed,
and rendered
mute
and scarlet-
faced
by the
things
i cannot,
could not,
would not,
should not
say
lest i
kill with
a word.

i want
to lash out
to bash up
to mash up
to crush,
crunch,
cripple,
maim;

to rip out
slanderous
tongues,
to pop out
lying
eyes

for every
wrong
inflicted
upon my
heart,
upon my
soul,
upon my
flesh:

thrice
is the
price,
the
ransom
i name,
i seek,
i demand.

Nine Days

Artwork: While You're Sleeping - Audrey Kawasaki, 2009

the clock
ticks:

minutes pass,
seconds
of life
fluttering,
flitting
by.

i sit in
the darkness
and wait
even
as the
pain
cripples me
more than
i care
to admit.

the fear
breaks me
but i
try
not to
let it
show.

i think
of you
and think
too hard
and worry
myself
sick
and worn
and ragged.

and i
wait
still;
nine days
ere
my year
turns

and i
weep
and i sigh
and i
worry
myself
to
shreds.

Be Not Proud, My Foes

Artwork: Butterflies Trying to Escape Their Shadow - Peter Callessen, 2005

be not
proud,
my foes:

all is
not yet
lost!

i can
still
fly
free
from your
lies,
your dark
mumblings,
every
single
curse
you've
uttered
against
me.

be not
proud
of
yourselves
for you
are as
nothing,
are as
rubbish,
are as
dross:

you malign
that which
you
understand
not;
you scoff
at that
which you
fear,
which you
dread,
which you
know
will mean
your
end.

be not
proud,
my foes:

death
will have
her last
laugh
yet...

and you
will weep,
will moan,
will mourn,
and curse
the day
you
were
born.

when that
day comes:

good riddance
and get
thee
gone.

Grief and Circumstance

Artwork: Annie Duels the Sun - Angie Wang, 2010

i weep:

my heart bleeds
sore
within
and i know
not
what to
do

for all
are against
me,
none stand
for me;

my world
is fallen,
is black,
is bleak,

and i
am too
spent
for any
struggle

my heart
is weary
and all
i want
to do
is die.

730 Days and Then Some

Artwork: The Second Look - Carin Welz-Stein, date unknown

i wrote
you off
when we
first met:

you were
a child
fresh from
school;
a pest
who plagued
and pestered
and drove
me mad
for a
fortnight.

and yet
when once
again
our paths
crossed:

you seemed
to come
alive
at the
sound
of my
name.

when we
next met,
things took
a turn:

it's been
two years
and then
some -

and you
still plague
and pester
and drive
me mad...

but
in a
good
way;
a very
good
way.