Brief Glances

brief glances, imparted under flirtatious design,
the sizing of possibility's true measure,
drift irrepressible speculations to the forefront
of a perplexedly sensual mind.
those musings—of scalding pressure,
applied in desperate finesse,
to the gracious curves of woman's bend—
set nervous lips to smiling in frank longing
as pins prick blushed and dimpled cheeks.

The Dark Man

it is not that I do not thirst for knowledge
or pay mind to the concept of the day,
but at times it seems as if that territory,
that place where issues coalesce then spill forth,
is as foreign to me as the moon.
I cannot expound in writ upon the dark man,
about the drudgery that was enforced upon him,
and the poverty that then befell him.
nor can I construct rhetoric,
drawn of a century and more,
whereupon the grand tale of his struggle to find dignity
in a world which seemed designed to vilify him
would find me acclaim.
only in spoken exchange can I extol my thoughts
on how he has redefined his talents,
the dark man is no longer a universal object of disparagement,
now he is close friend and perfect complement
to that which was held pedestaled above
the reach of his competent palm.
and the ability that was always his due,
as it is woman's due,
has not stopped old glory
from snapping sharply in the breeze.

An Unforgiving Past

time streams forward,
a winding procession that no longer plays of suffering,
the myriad disappointments have rested eternal
and the discontentment of the last few ages
has faded out,
soft strings plucked in sharp concord.
oddly, though, no true claim of authorship
exists upon happiness,
too much of the legend of my sensibilities
remains unwritten.

they are no less consuming,
these immense volumes of shelved feeling,
no less a much sited source of tribulation
in this new interim.
my heart persists as a multi-faceted jewel,
chiming fervent prisms about the enclosure
of crimson and ivory which houses it.
my wishfully soaring soul
survives the cast of still shadows,
ribbons of dark matter that fetter it
to the waste of an unforgiving past.