Poetry

Downtown Premiere

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shuffling past the pampered penguins
flashing a pitiful crude broken sign
wasted, tattered, raw and sickened
she cries, pleading for small mercies

flashing a pitiful crude broken sign
to the sea of uncaring fat shiny faces
she cries, pleading for small mercies
they hear nothing, see little, care less

to the sea of uncaring fat shiny faces
dashing herself against their indifference
they hear nothing, see little, care less
she breaks, drowning outside their harbor

dashing herself against their indifference
stoned face apathy, merciless, unmakes her
she breaks, drowning outside their harbor
the penguins move on, ignoring the wreckage

Puzzle

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This dusty, pretty box
Left high on a shelf
Dusted off, lid lifted
Filled with shattered pieces
Of dreams, once bright…

Who will care enough
To take them out
Sort them one by one
Put them together again
Let their beauty shine, whole?

I will. I will.
For the dreams I see
Taking shape again
Are far too beautiful
To remain broken in the dark.

One piece at a time
Each day laid to rest
A step taken in faith
Another part revealed
To be cherished anew…

©2016 Aaron Brown

Bloom

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Unexpected, this encounter
Strange, this warmth of early spring
Through windows long closed, ‘gainst winter
Thrown open again, feeling the breeze
Welcome, spring’s awakening

Winter is beauty, haunting
Spring is life, returning

Listen, as flowers to rain
Revel, as birds ‘tween clouds
Live, as lovers in bloom

©2016, Aaron Brown

 

Carpe Diem

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old man in an old boneyard
busy and bustling, brimming
strung out with memories
of those frivolous dead

the weight of years
lay in solemn state
atop his weary heart
heavy with pain and fear

characters strung in lines
stains of ancient tears
streamed across weathered cheeks
with flowers strewn below

memory-engraved stone
reads dearly beloved,
here lies
etc, etc.

you know what he said.
and live it all, wring it dry
before it’s gone, whispered
on turning away.

©2014, Aaron Brown

Homeward

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I bled out my soul to the emptiness
Until there was nothing left in me
Empty, I found the wisdom of silence

The heart of the desert spoke to me,
Saying: let it all go.

Release your old hurts, you’ve survived them.
Unchain your memories, you’ve outgrown them.

I wept all night, listening to the stars,
And left soon after sunrise, refreshed,
Committed to movement after stillness

The highway home shone from the overnight rain.

©2014 Aaron Brown

Commute

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Riding the latebound night train
alone in my car but for a shade
slouched down in a far corner

Silence ‘cept murmurs in cadence
from rails and wheels discussing
bits of Sartre’s dangerous dreams

Each lonely stop welcomed in turn
by doors flung suddenly wide as if
to startle the trash on dark platforms

In this quick sharp hiss a deep sigh
the train speaks from boredom with
hustle and bustle and hurry to wait

Tension mounts thin rising echoes
of ticks for tock on the stopwatch
culling wisdom’s last second down

Abrupt angry doors click closed
hissing disdain at worlds outside
so uncaring of schedules and time

Lurch off in darkness again
for more swift rattletrap chatter
‘tween wheels and rails and ties

Squabbling on like hens peck choice
in shadows cast by tomorrow while
time measures Siddhartha’s resolve

Be spendthrift of minutes and miles
in pressing on toward faraway stops
for I am unready to step into night.

© 2006, 2014 Aaron Brown

I remember

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the day we first met
the color of your eyes
the smell of your hair
the shine of your smile
the joy of your laughter
the day i fell in love with you
the thrill of holding your hand
the shiver of your whisper in my ear
the texture of your skin
the warmth of your embrace
the press of your lips on mine
the taste of your kisses
the tenderness of your touch
the pleasure of your body moving with mine
the rhythm of your breathing while you slept
the smile you had for me when you awoke
the pain when you walked away
the silence of the words you didn't say
the emptiness where you used to be
the ache where my heart used to beat
the sound when i fell apart
the length of forever, broken 

darkness.

the music that brought me back
the friends who carried me
the strength to stand up again
the sting of the needle
the tug of the thread
the hurt of closing my heartless chest

living.
breathing.
forgiving.
a lifetime.

the shock of finding you again
the years rushing back upon me
the time i spent rediscovering you
the moment i realized i love you still, more

i was afraid

of seeing my heart, still held by you
of the pain of remembering you
of the joy of remembering you
of being hurt again by you
of opening myself again to you
of wishing for what i may not have with you

i asked, will you please

hold my heart for me a little longer?
help me find the strength i need?
help me up if i fall down?
help me open up myself again?
help me put my heart back,
dear friend?

©2014, Aaron Brown

The Air We Breathe

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Should the swan feel sorrow
for the wind in her feathers
when confronted with envy
from a fish in the water below?

No.

The fish would die in the air above,
the swan would die in the water below,
were either to trade the wings
they use to fly in their own versions of the sky.

O,

Air they both need, to live to breathe,
but the way they each receive
is different, unequal, special
each neither right nor wrong, just

So.
©2014, Aaron Brown