smoke screen

tell me this: 

were your words ever true

or just a smoke screen

hiding your true intentions

you said all the right words

and did everything right

to ensnare hearts and minds

pulling the wool over eyes

you played the game

all too well

- Written for dVerse Quadrille #258: Screen, Your Screen, We All Screen

7:00 AM

he came into the diner

to nurse a hangover

with greasy food

she was sitting in a booth

drowning her sorrows

in strong black coffee

their eyes met

he lazily smiled 

she sipped coffee

at the counter 

a waitress counts down 

the time left in her shift

outside the October sun

peaks through blinds

in her pocket

she carries words in her pockets

to lift her spirits when fading sun

sours her mood

when she wishes to write poems

to the moon and stars

sometimes she needs to wipe away

fallen tears

she squeezes those words in her

hands and smile

- Written for dVerse Quadrille #257: A Pocket in Your Poems

the lovers

"The Lovers" by John Atkinson Grimshaw

Courtesy of Picryl.com

in the early light

they embrace not 

wanting to let go

forbidden love keeps 

their hearts aflame

in the midnight hour

yet in dawn’s light

they remember their place

is not in each other’s arms

they depart solemnly

holding onto shared kisses

that will fade in sunlight

- Written for dVerse Poetics: Through the eyes of John Atkinson Grimshaw

on the eve of Autumn

Photo by Plato Terentev

Courtesy of Pexels.com

today I looked out the window

and saw the gray clouds that

announce autumn’s arrival

and I cannot stop my heart 

from grieving the loss of 

flowers and hummingbirds

dancing through gardens, 

the long hours of daylight 

and the warm sun on my skin

- Written for dVerse Quadille #256

I want out

I really want out

but where will I go?

I don’t own a fortune

many responsibilities

calling out my name

but it does not stop

my mind from wandering

off to fantasy islands

where everything is warm

nothing weighing me down

- Written for WD Wednesday Poetry Prompt #799

xenolith

we sometimes smile 

to hide the pain

we bury our secrets 

deep into mountains

to never see the light

these feelings form 

a xenolith that one carries 

until the weight becomes 

too great as one slowly sinks 

into the deep trenches of the sea

- Written for dVerse Quadrille #255: X marks the spot