Nagame (Long Rain)

 

 

We begin the journey home from windy shores and seagulls galore. Hues of blue and grey ominously mingle on the horizon as patter becomes pelt against the windshield. My sunglasses hide pools of pain on the brink, mimicking the skies.  I am the passenger on these long drives, musing away miles, soaking in cimmerian clouds until I rain. These are moments for writing elegies of those still breathing. These are my dark secrets I dare share of time lost and obsessions with the inevitability of death. Maybe it is the monotonous rhythm of tires on wet pavement that plays to my melancholy heart. Is it any wonder that flowers grow up and rain falls down?

 

rain beats in doldrums

shrouded sun waits for downdrafts

torrential  tears

 

 

Toni leads our Haibun Monday prompt titled “50 Shades of Rain”. She shares with us the many artistic Japanese words for rain. Focusing on one of the words, we are to write a concise paragraph of non-fiction prose followed by a haiku about rain…how it makes us feel, the inconvenience of rain or the beauty of rain.  Haibun Monday is open all week. Feel free to join in!

 

 

 

 

My 2AM

 

My two a.m. is a darkened cocoon

Where the words and I transform

I am swaddled by the freedom

En-kindled by the darkness

As the keyboard tap dances

Under the moonlight of the monitor

My two a.m. is a borderline I dare to cross

Where night mingles with the day

Random thoughts come out to play

I sit on the edge of my eyelids

Holding them up to the light

And I peacefully fight

Because the winner is always me

Slumber or finished piece

 

We are incorporating “2 a.m.” into a poem for dVerse this week.

 

 

 

Missing Hope

Somehow the sun

Sneaks in

Unnoticed, even shunned

By those not ready

For the flicker

Of a flame already snuffed

So many times

By paralyzed thoughts

Of reality known

And dreams departed

Somehow the sun

Slips gently

Making contact, though rejected

By hearts still twisted

With past and pain

Blocking rays, restricting light

As life gives moments

Short yet sweet

To collect and keep

Or resist and release

Strength Where There is Nothing Else (50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years….#12)

#12. “You are much stronger than you think. You just have to tap into it.”

There is an abyss that exists in my mind.

I have been there.

It is a place of darkness, unimaginable hopelessness , shock, denial, fear…but most of all, it is empty.

It is nothingness with the relentless power to end you as you know you and your life as you know it.

You try to move…..you can’t.

Cold reality has its grip on you so tight, it is easier to succumb to it, than it is to fight.

The ground you walked on crumbles under you and the only way to go is down.

You bounce around in the tunnel of blackness, empty headed.

There is no mercy here. You surrender to the unidentified force that surrounds you.

Nothing else means a thing. This place is center stage and you are the audience tied to your seat.

Nothing moves. Nothing cares.

You are still.

Sometimes there is more strength in stillness, in silence.

Sometimes what we don’t do is stronger than what we do.

Sometimes our strength is not about our stamina, courage or our energy.

Sometimes……it comes from the faintest whisper in our mind, the weakest part of our sanity……the dimmest light.

Sometimes we can only find enough strength to extend one tired and desperate  hand

……and hold on.