Muse ... a poem

Muse

I want to 

make you sweat

Inspire the notes

that drop and drip

onto a music staff

Treble and tremble

'til you play a song 

motivated by me

I want to 

light the fire

Make you burn

red strokes of heat

across a bare canvas

yellows and oranges and golds

of wet paint that leak creativity

but dry as a masterpiece

I want to 

flip the switch

Create electric imagination

that courses through your veins

shocks your nerves

sparks your senses

and leaves your skin hot

with frenetic energy

I want to be the something

that produces anything

and becomes your everything

I want to be your muse.

~cdw~

03/25/14

Say Goodbye to the Air ... a poem

Say Goodbye to the Air

Only one or two more days until
time stands at the station corner – still.
And waits to board that midnight train
leaving Georgia and traveling to North Carolina again.
Until that day, I will patiently sit
and wait for a phone call that I’ll never get –
the call where you bid farewell to me here,
but I know you won’t, so I’ll say goodbye to the air

and hope it finds you there.

~cdw~
February 2009

embrace ... a poem

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embrace

You told me not to hold you tight

but what was I holding on to?

When we embraced, I squeezed your waist

You told me not to need you

I buried my face in the center of your chest

Inhaled and tried to breathe you

I shut my eyes ‘til I saw spots

Determined not to leave you

But hugs can only last so long

and what good do they lead to?

A forehead kiss? I was dismissed.

I should have taken heed to

your warnings that said, “loosen your grip.”

Your worried gaze deceived you

I ignored that look; I thought it love

and now I’m left to grieve you.

~cdw~

09/04/13 

blue ... a poem

blue

I've been crying over you

shedding tears that stain my cheeks blue.

Close my eyes and hide my face

hoping that no one sees a trace.

But when my palms try to dry the pain

all they do is smear the hurt again.

Then I wash and scrub with water, soap.

Clean away the woe and re-reveal the hope.

But the dream is gone and love, in vain,

Drowned in salty sobs, bitter acid rain.

And my skin – moist and choked with heartbreak,

flushed the dark indigo of a body suffocated –

lost its glow, the rosy rush of love obtained.

Sunken, shadowed, hollow, royal-tear stained.

~cdw~

09/03/13

revolving door... a poem

revolving door

my emotions are clear glass
push my door 
I'll take you for a ride
slow and steady
not automatic

hands pressed, you're in control
leaving fingerprints
smudges of your words
we go 'round and 'round
you let no one else enter

I stopped to let you in
I tried to keep us moving
you slipped right out, mid-spin
I'm left to pirouette alone
until you decide to slide
back in again.

I just keep spinning.

~cdw
1/11/13

Intangible Memories ... a poem (Part 3 of The Detox Trilogy)

Intangible Memories
(part 3 of The Detox Trilogy)

I can look but can't touch

the reels of underexposed film

that capture our moments

our memories

together but not.

I can look but can't touch

your hand holding the camera,

your finger on the shutter,

the flash flickering bright

before my hopeful eyes, blinding me

before I can recover cynicism.

I can look but can't touch

the globs of paint, the gluey paper,

the brush strokes of color 

that smoothed out a lone house 

on a deserted street

in mixed media and 3-D.

It hangs on my wall,

a permanent fixture in my memory.

I can look but can't touch

the pain behind your coal black eyes.

Passion slowly sparks a fire there,

but you let self pity and the determination

to suffer alone snuff it out and me out, too.

I stumbled from your quaint bluegrey stone home

choking on mary jane and incense,

the stench of responsibility smoked me out

and left me dazed and confused 

and missing you.

I can look but can't touch...

can't turn the page on the story.

Fate had begun to write about us.

You're a storyteller

and a prophetic dreamer.

You knew how it could end,

but even Fate gives us the right

to choose to change her.

I can look but can't touch

and can't turn off

my dreams that haunt me

whether I'm awake or asleep,

at my desk or in my bed -- 

dreams of you courting me --

useless, hopeless fantasies

of a Ghanaian king 

who had finally found and wooed

his ebony queen.

It's wise that I can't touch my memories

or I'd grab and fling them into the Atlantic sea,

anchor first, and watch them drown.

The chain locked and wrapped around 

my ankles and knees.

What's the use in saving memories?

~cdw~

03/22/12

Apple Tree ... a poem (Part 2 of The Detox Trilogy)

Apple Tree
(part 2 of The Detox Trilogy)

high, high atop the apple tree

my juicy fruit swings
alone and untouched
Twenty feet tall
out of easy arm's reach
You've got to flex and stretch
if you want to grab hold of me

I didn't place myself high
God pulled me up
I just reached for the sky
I leaped toward my dreams
and lifted weights so I could climb
tall trees and rocky mountainsides
I thought fulfilling me
would indirectly attract the young 

and hungry herbivores
out to rule their world

But surprisingly, it seems
my height, smooth and shiny skin,
body - heart shaped and sweet -
Mind and Spirit, too
are just that intimidating to you

It's hard for me to believe.
I'm just a lone, seedy apple
germinating the ground
bearing some fruit
trying to reap what I sow
on a branch high, high up in a tree
Buffing out my blemishes
Working on my shine
Ripe for the picking
Reflecting the sun off my skin
Capturing the moon in my eyes
and waiting patiently
for someone hungry and determined enough
to desire me.

~cdw~

Intimacy ... a poem (Part 1 of The Detox Trilogy)

Intimacy
(part 1 of The Detox Trilogy)

Your full lips on my forehead

our lingering embrace

drinking pinot noir from coffee mugs

sitting on your knee

lengthy late-night conversations 

your long blinkless stare straight through me

three soft kisses at the nape of my neck

in the dark

your fingers tangled, tugging at my curly kinks

a tickle fight on my bedroom floor

eskimo kisses in your front yard

cuddling that never led to sex

listening to your tales of Ghana

my pet name, Abena

your rants about injustices at work

and in the world

your passionate musings about your next creative project

the story of your mother's illness

the story of yours 

your abstract painting that hangs framed on my wall

waking up the day after Christmas in your arms

your nephew's tears when I had to leave

and what became your final prayer of thanksgiving

What we had was intimacy.

But intimacy sans commitment leads to disappointment

and is the bloated stomach of a malnourished body--

Painfully empty.

~cdw~

03/19/12

Rejected

Rejected


Guard the heart, to be protected.
Oh the woe to be rejected!

She and I stand side-by-side.
Then you choose to hurt my pride.

Beauty, brains - outside, within.
Can I ever love again?

All my efforts spent on you,
But you failed to tell what's true.

Waited, patient, day-to-day.
Your roaming eyes went astray.

The third wheel to your lemon car.
Detach me, and it falls apart.

Away from me! She stole my dream.
And I, ejected from your team.

~cdw
07/19/2010

Read Your Mind

Read Your Mind*

Each thought is intricate
words and actions intertwine
lips moving, no comprehension
and I can't read your mind.

You tell me secrets
we converse to unwind
they don't know your feelings
but I can't read your mind.

Late night phone calls
texts to waste the time
you hide pieces of the puzzle
so I can't read your mind.

I ask so many questions
you answer with one line
mysterious in all your ways
I'll never read your mind.

~cdw~
12.17.08

*This poem was used as lyrics for a song composed by AVG Trio*
Just add songwriting to my repertoire. :-)