Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert… Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Awake this Night

Awake this night past slumber time,
I can see that girl of mine.
Her face aglow with lover’s blush,
Into my arms I dream she’d rush.
To hug me close and speak my name,
Assure me that there has been no change.

All the world should rise and see,
Just how much she means to me.
But distance sets, quite like a crowd,
That tries to hide her in a shroud,
Of veiled fog and velvet mist.
A challenge I feel, I can’t resist,

Most fleet of foot I dash outside,
To find winged steed, a lovers ride.
Astride, aloft, onto the quest,
for this night I shall not rest
Until I have within my grasp
My loves own form and hear her gasp.

Two lips upturned, pressed to my own
A greater prize was never known.
To soar and glide among the stars,
For heavens prison has no bars.
To greater heights our love we’ll take,
The world below shall rock and quake.

But what is this? I feel the jerk.
A recall of a cruel fates quirk?
Eyes now stare to darkness deep
All of this time I’ve been asleep.
I not cry aloud, for when eyes close
I still see this love that daily grows.

~ by By Iron Otter©

STILL do the stars impart their light	 
To those that travel in the night;	 
Still time runs on, nor doth the hand	 
Or shadow on the dial stand;	 
The streams still glide and constant are:	         5
      Only thy mind	 
      Untrue I find,	 
      Which carelessly	 
      Neglects to be	 
Like stream or shadow, hand or star.	  10
 
Fool that I am! I do recall	 
My words, and swear thou'rt like them all,	 
Thou seem'st like stars to nourish fire,	 
But O how cold is thy desire!	 
And like the hand upon the brass	  15
      Thou point'st at me	 
      In mockery;	 
      If I come nigh	 
      Shade-like thou'lt fly,	 
And as the stream with murmur pass.	  20

He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread upon my dreams.
~ W.B. Yeats

Floating
Fluttering
Down they fall
Tiny flecks of sliver snow.

The child inside me smiles with glee
And runs to make a snowman next to the tree.

Death is before me today:
Like the recover of a sick man,
Like going forth into a garden after sickness.

Death is before me today:
Like the odor of myrrh,
Like sitting under a sail in a good wind.

Death is before me today:
Like the course of a stream
Like the return of a man from the war-galley to his house.

Death is before me today:
Like the home that a man longs to see,
After many years spent as a captive.

Support
Trust
Closeness
Strength when I am weak
The oak to my willow
Steadfast against the storms of life
You defy their winds and buffett the rain
You are always there
Standing tall

The walls have been shattered
How can this be?
One moment a prisoner,
The next I'm free.
Upside down turned right side up
I expected to be here for all eternity.
Tell me I'm dreaming
Tell me please
How could this happen to me?
Like a prisoner of war
I stand gaping at the open door before me
Incapable of realizing what this means
What it means to be free.
Fear paralyzes me
Terror closes in
A hand reaches out to guide me.
"Follow me."

In the darkness I scream
With tears of rage I pound my fists against the walls of my mind and cry,
Who am I?
My knees buckle
My strength fades
I crumble to the floor.
A whisper sighs,
Who am I?
Silence.
Tears fall, the darkness closes in
The cold begins to bite at me.
What do I care?
Who am I?
So cold.

A spark.
A light.
A tinkling like a bell,
Who do you want to be?
She calls to me.
Flashes
Images
A warrior, a mother
A teacher, a leader
Slowly the light grows.
Who am I?
Tears fall
A dreamer, A daughter
A student, A follower
At last the light surrounds me
She stands before me.
Dry your eyes little one.
You already know who you are.
Her smile is like the moon
Illuminating the darkest night sky

She sings to me then
Of places that were, places that will be
Of places that never where, places that never will be
Her voice sooths my soul
Tears fall no more
She tells me lost tales, forgotten stories
She fills the darkness with the light of many worlds
With the life of many people
Do they exist?
Will they ever be?
All that matters is that they are real to me.
Who am I?
I am whomever I want to be.

I am Me.

Where is the joy in pain?
When does yesterday give way to tomorrow?
Indecisions lead to suffering.
Humanity exists no more.
Pain
Suffering
Joy is not mine to have.
Peace was never mine to keep.
I would trade a million tomorrows for one yesterday.
Love hurts.
Pain lingers.
Joy is fleeting.
Remember the smell of chocolate cookies,
the sound of the fire popping,
the magnolias glowing in the starlight.
Hope lies.
Tears fall.
I had forgotten.
Forever my curse endures.
Tomorrow is all I have,
and it shall never again be yesterday.

The pain ebbed through her body, the cold slowly creeping up her am.
Fear
Saddness
Lonelyness
Terror
I don't want to die. So cold. Anything but the cold. Someone help me! I don't want to be cold anymore.
Darkness closes in. The night comes.
Alone
Fear
Saddness
Heartbreak
The cold travels further up her body, approacing her heart, her core. So much pain. Pain that leads to fear. Fear of the dark unknown.
A light
Joy
Peace
Warmth

Thank you. I miss you.