"I can still feel you without touching"

It came as no surprise
when you stepped back
from the edge ,
away from an enigma's inception
on the cusp of a blissful dream ;
fraught by the serendipity
of what might happen ,
revealing
the hidden treasures denied
Wanting what was Taken
far more than
what could ever be Given

Beheld tantalizingly
in an admiring strangers’ eyes ;
if you want me to look away ,
I can still see you
without watching
Helpless to see
for the fog in my eyes ,
feeling you
tauntingly letting go
without jumping

Maybe it was your dream
            or ..,
maybe it was mine
Sensing whether
to stay or go
amounted to the same thing ;
the world gets small
hanging on to the ledge - -

on the verge at the threshold
... there are no maps
    to guide you
... I’ll have to pay
    for what you break ...
Now these indelible footprints
amble across my heart ,
leaving only the traces
- the passing of love

Insensibility sighs
like paltry subterfuge
looking down here ,
flauntingly ,
from a faux higher ground
Whispering through the silence
from your secret places
    knowing ..,
I can hear you
without listening

Be it so ,
wherever you go ,
- be the love
  you wish to receive
- love is  -
- touching souls -
even if only - -  for a conscious moment ...

Diminish not
the power
of unrequited dreams
while looking over the edge
expecting to fly ..,
just a step away
from touching hearts

            yet ..,
I can still feel you
without touching


harlon rivers © December 21st, 2014

The long benighted days of wintertide

...by harlon rivers

The impending winter skies
intrude upon
a waning December daylight ,
the clouds mercurial cadence
scrolls swirlingly across
the decaying
late autumn sky
atmospheric river currents coursing ,
laden with the reckless abandon
of an unstoppable
manic tumbleweed

wind gusts steal away
autumn's last rose petals’
surrendering flight ;
summer's fragrant chalice
just a fading memory ,
harbinger to a gathering
winter kismet ,
an imminently looming
interlude with
the long benighted days
of wintertide ...

harlon rivers © December 19th , 2014

Author's notes:

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons — SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. If you are feeling blue and don’t really understand why …this site link may help to understand the effects that the low light levels of winter may have on you.

#SAD

https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/NAMI-News/2013/Less-Sunlight-Means-More-Blues-for-Some

Help destigmatize mental illness --- Kindness matters

The intricate clamor of love ... befallen to silence

No conclusive words imagined
nor crowning words left unsaid
No promises made lightly
only to vanish like the decay
of a piano's final evanescent note ;
waning timbre betides
the haze of another lonely winter’s
cold light of day

The intricate clamor of love
befallen to silence ...
Such an absorbing contrast
between emotive naivety
and arcadian innocence lost

The land between the tides ,
blind hope abandoned at island’s edge ;
searching for a forgotten labyrinth ,
through the chasm at the crossroads ,
just beyond the washed out bridge
Clinging to comfortable with uncertainty ,
while holding onto something
you don't  need

Stop armoring a broken heart ,
it’s too late to take heed
Love is not some unhealed wound borne ,

there's already too much

in this world to make you bleed

The battle rages
within the muffled madness
deep inside the marrow
an unappeased soul
trying to stem the tide
a chastened loneliness

There’s no going back
for the lingering spoils
Unleash the quelling tourniquet
holding back the abashed tears ,
calmly succumbing to a numbing
sense of futility

And yet , the singer keeps singin’
the same ol’ song ..,
swelling to the intensity
that renders an awful silence ,
the consolation
masking the déjà vu
of the lingering ache ...

harlon rivers ... © December, 2014