Tag: betwixt and between

blind eyes close

Image of a writing journal and a pencil. — *Photo by Dariusz Sankowski on Unsplash*

gazing hand & shadow
this bone, this muscle
untouchable & tiring
skinstained with night
painted to stars myrkr
heavy, they anchor
a heart sent to slumber
under wood & gloaming
a kiss to blind eyes close

01 Apr 25

sleepless

sleepless hands crab & 
clutch at taut muscles
frozen long nights
eyes seeking skies for
the host on the ride

01 Apr 25

smudging space

sage bundles in a pot for smudging — *Photo by Ginny Rose Stewart on Unsplash*

i smudge space most days
inviting spirits to my smoke at
campfires within indoor plains
for no reason at all
but to give them space to
rest their weary before
they carry on & then on

31 Mar 25

A mercuric lake
Photo by Ville Palmu on Unsplash
I have many thoughts trapped inside my head. I cannot free them because they are thoughts without words to go with them, or the words that might go with them are inadequate to express those thoughts. Trying to express those thoughts feels too much like, as Alan Watts would have put it, trying to bite my own teeth.
If I managed to construct those thoughts into something that could be understood, if I could find the words and unstop this mute mouth — would anyone read them anyway? I mean, really read. I am fairly certain that they cannot be words that can be heard, so I do not dare speak.
I have for a very long time tried to personally touch these thoughts, hoping to better understand people who struggled in much the same way as I do now to express inexpressible thoughts. Now that I am on that path, I understand their struggle. There are no words, we need a new language altogether to get at the words needed to explain explain explain. Maybe, I think these thoughts can only be expressed sideways, with a slipstream sense.
After I slip into the wilds, do you think you could find me? Would you want to?
The buzz of insects over a mercuric lake…
30 Mar 25

two-twenty

sunlight shining through old growth woods — *Photo by Simon Wilkes on Unsplash*

my body is my drum
humming at two-twenty
thumps per minutes
from my thumb, terraforming
my world before my eyes
turning inside to see
where everything is
leaves and evergreens
with buzz wing dragonflies
dancing pastel skies
slumbering in dream
under a springtime sun

hanging words on oak
my heart bursts wide

30 Mar 25

hear her

a path in the middle of a dark forest — *Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash*

fever head her
birch song wind
russet leaves dead
sleet ticktaps pines
as she stands strong

hear her, hear her
under the wood
alder sap & painted
hear her, hear her
underdark
underwood
shadowsonged

fever head her
blackthorn pricks
stone the river run
river under ice
and brambles strong

hear her...

30 Mar 25

adrift

flood homes we float
from staircase to stair
debris seeking alone

adrift, scattered words
waterstained india black
flowing as souls do wet

hands our fingers bite
sending words awry
breaking fountains
     feathered

washing stone

28 Mar 25

south lane

these shadows on the moon
cast a face of yours in pale
throwing stars numbered
sharp, cutting and fallen
will we remain the unforgiven?

in one year or three
we will see if you walk
down south lane dreams
see if knots truly bind or
if unkindly ones give tell

the ocean's scent carries
even here

27 Mar 25

the fool

finally, a step into tomorrow
i shook my head, no no no
we won't go back to those
we won't go back

for here is alone in the
beat of the drum of the
heart of the wood in the
dreaming of the years
now

shadowfall & the
autumn decay bursting
forth underboot scenting
my way home

26 Mar 25

burning inside

Campfire — Photo by Ville Palmu on Unsplash

burning inside and writhing
with their words spoken
during long ghost nights
carried in smoke on the wind
hey hey sang they hey hey
medicine for the longing within

passing white sage silver
on the circle all around
the pounding of our hearts
the bellows of our winds and
the burning inside and
the burning within

24 Mar 25