A Bookish Sonnet

The pages of the book, like inked skin
beckon to me from table near my bed.
They whisper in the twilight hours again;
and push the thought of sleep out of my head.

The cover creaks echoing in the air.
I cringe and hold my breath to hear you speak.
I know disturbing you is quite unfair;
though I cannot resist a fleeting peek.

The typeface fairly shimmers in my sight,
while words and phrases quickly draw me deep.
I’m lost within the lines, while slow the night
passes by, in hours bereft of sleep.

The cover whispers closed with morning’s dawn.
Again, I’ve traded sleep for fancy’s yarn.

Thirteen

thirteen March
and the days
march on
moving toward
the ides of
ancient history
toward infamy
betrayal of one
who believed
himself beloved

and you my friend
loved companion
will you conceal
your heinous intent
will you injure in
the coming hours?
I mark the calendar
pages as they turn
ever nearer the
ides of yore – do you?

Constraint

dark and crimson wine
washes my tongue
soothes the tattered
edge of my nerves
left by the tearing
dispute, misunderstanding

words ricochet against
the walls in my head
untamed, scattered, tangled
I fight to sort them
press them to make sense

they refuse.

in this teeming place
cigarette smoke gathers
overhead like the fog
clouding my heart
choking me, making it
difficult to breathe

questions that resist answers
fill my mouth, barricaded
at my lips by fear and disbelief
I sway unintentionally
in time with the music
I’m not really listening
still it moves me subliminally
fuels this restless anxiety

deep in my body I discern
a longing to break free
make a break for the door
escape into icy winter night
where the wind will rake
against my chest, grip my heart
with its bony fingers, forcing
me to feel raw, sensate reality
to loose the emotional flood
dammed inside my walled heart
burst the walls, let questions
escape in a torrent

but fear sits on my lap
weights me to my seat
if not for this pen, I would be
totally silent, avoiding chaos
that threatens to spill
from my weary heart