Legerdemain

                                (Image from Feritrad.org)

Love lost is the most exquisite pain.
A crushed heart bleeds worse than the reddest rose.
Tears are real but unbelieved.
Words are mocked for being slave to sentences.
Lies can pass for the truth as craft is refined.
Promises linger for as long as they are heard.
Lecture a loser and he wins.
It's all sleight of hand.

Water Jungle

(Image from Vi.sualize.us) An old friend greets me on my way to where the sea meets the past Resplendent in brown and green Even as a fisherman lifts his outrigger out of the water Its yellow underbelly pregnant with the promise of supper I swim through the grass among lions, zebras and blowfish Float face up into the heavens A plane cuts through the air determined to land on an island of reef I'd rather forget If I had my way I'd stay in the water forever Let its warm-cold armless embrace Keep me safe and understood like no other Samaritan stranger-lover Looking good on near negro skin shining slick dirty in the sun Lusts dead for decades revived by hunger for rich pretty meat wrapped in kindness and pity Monkeys can't be choosers Peanuts thrown into the cage are gifts for the poor animal that dares tell you he still loves you You the fool can be fooled again Your choice in a sea of tears and fears

Phoenix Rose

                                                              (Image from M1.behave.net)

She rose from the ashes

of her past best forgotten.

Phoenix, always the dancer

gliding through the ballroom

of life. Every man wants

her to be his wife.

She smiles, she shrugs,

brushing off the gray off

her shoulders even as her eyes

look around the greenery,

to tomorrow. Her feet take

her to travel in a chacha

that only knows moves forward.

The joy in her laugh slays
the cries of yesterday.

Tears dry into diamonds,

the most cherished of gems.

She calls out a name. It rhymes.