Showing posts with label Brooke Shaden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brooke Shaden. Show all posts

Monday, October 5, 2015

Caught in a dream



She hovers light as bird in a nest.  Yet her feet are lead, tangled in history of hurts and twigs of betrayals.  It has been 3 years now, but tonight when the moon glints coppery red, the past recoils like black tide shrouding  her vision.   She can hear the whiplash of his words, like a storm circling overhead.  The hard fist of his hands, gnawing fear in her chest.

Slowly, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand as if to rid of acid-laced memories.    Outside, the wind rattles crushed soda cans on the streets, sweeping them like lost feathers.   She thinks of leaving the city and starting a new life somewhere. A place to call her own with a small garden.   Sinking deep into sleep, she hears the ticking of the clock.  Every second reverberates, as echoes of gunshots.  As heartbeats of runaway prey.


red maple leaves
blanket rose-less garden,
night is tinderbox




                                                                  By Brooke Shaden

"Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream." - Quote from Kahil Gibran

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday - The prompt is open all week, so come and join us!    Thanks for the visit ~

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Mirror, mirror

you are the polished
glass
my eyes mend
everyday
lush  
red lipstick
carefully drawn
over delicate wrinkles   

your edges are
stitched
with precision
while mine  
wallows
damp with shallow 
rain
& flaws with each
sharp thunder clap

i wince
under your bright
harsh light but
once the moon lingers
his fingers on your oval frame
you are ivory window
opening
you are third-eye needle
piercing 

beneath the milky 
layers,
a face
waiting to be unmasked-

   


Credit to  Brooke Shaden

Posted for Imaginary garden for Real Toads - Ode to Quotidian Hosted by Karin
and Poets United - Thanks for the visit ~

Thursday, March 26, 2015

a light for the tarnished souls


Title & Photography by Brooke Shaden 



Wind, tinder my words
ivory blade, glinting silver
than winter's splintered ice

Sun, flint my shadows
reddening my cheeks to bloom
than spring's first plume

Sky, marshal my feet 
to carve a path sieved  
of autumn's dying leaves

Sea, lighthouse my way, with bird's
eye, I hurdle storms, ignited 
by wildfires of summer nights

Wind, tinder my words
Sun, flint my shadows
Sky, marshal my feet
Sea, lighthouse my way, with bird's

eye, I witness the
beautiful

                        in me -

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight, Hosted by Bjorn Rudberg ~ I took the constanza poetry form and played with the ending ~  Thanks for the visit ~

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Voyage of lost souls


The path of Lost Souls
Photography:   Brooke Shaden


in the dead of winter season
you build a trail
of paper boats
beside the dock of black ships

at night, when all is still
you set them sailing towards western sky
where the red moon waits

to run its silver-blue fingers
across its bows, like a violin player
threading silk strings with sweet air
of oblivion

i pause and watch you
waiting by Lethe, underworld river
this is your ritual
disguising tricks with musical flair
to tempt & slaughter my energy


under my red veil, 
i conceal my remaining possessions:
witch hazel oil, fire wand
& finally, my mother's crescent -shaped knife
which your rustic hands will gladly pay
for a feast
of my sacrifices


i have given up many things for this voyage - 
      my innocence to discover names of every truth
      my roots to hold one forbidden fruit   
      & taste its skin & seeds, for myself 

and i will not be deterred even if 
you say that I am  
      on the path of lost souls
      cusp between earth's deepest divide:  shadow & light
      a ghost on long dusty road
wind-struck,

searching to find what she has lost

irretrievably 




Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight - Hosted by Brian Miller
And Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Get Listed for October - Ghost Stories

We are to used at least 3 words  from the wordlist from M:
fairy, portal, sacrifice, feast, smoke, winter, slaughter, spirit, veil, ritual, trick, disguise

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

If I were

If I were a word, I'll be always at the tip of your tongue

Warm as ripe red plums
On autumn season

Or perhaps melting ice cube
On summer night

If I were a word, I'll keep your memories as keys

Blazing as flames
On long cold winters

There will be no betrayals
As every seed will rise on first day of spring

If I were a word, I'll map the flight of geese & butterflies

Turning out of sight
To where the sun rides a unicycle over the blue ocean

If I were a word, I will boldly travel with my eyes closed
Forget gravity, fear & making mistakes

Listen to chatter of hummingbirds 
Billow where the wind goes

Towards you
Of infinite possibilities





Posted for:   Poetry Jam - If I Were
and Poets United Mid Week Motif - Exploring

Saturday, September 27, 2014

in midst of autumn



when maple trees catch fire
so do my words conspire
to gather as grey crows
piercing dry sky in throes

why are lands snarled at war
when none can square the score
as more heads will rot, roll
i wear black gown for fall

my hand holds a feather
soft, when sewn together
can be blue shawl of peace
when will we learn to cease

using faith as charade
as each leaf turns red jade



Wild Birds Burning
Photography by Brooke Shaden

Posted for OpenlinkNight of D'verse Poets Pub - Thanks for the visit ~

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

From ashes to bones


Time slips between the stones
& falls on the water

My lungs are drowning in salt
I offer no resistance to lack of air

I am so tired of fighting
for every breath, for every fitful sleep

Death sits on my chest
with tyrant coat, ever a watchman without a name

What coins can I give to him
when I think nothing of myself, a mere shadow 

that wants to vanish & hide
beneath the deep tunnels of the sea 

But somewhere your hands
come in a burst of light

Is this a dream?
Your stranger eyes are kind

As if you understand my pain & shame
You lift me up on your shoulders

and say my scars are worthy
of a warrior

Do I have wings?
The air pounds of energy, I am drawing

a phoenix in bright colors
The sun is my birthright

Under which I will build my ark 
with my other sisters 

I will be the language of my making
From ashes, I write my name anew:

life-giver, protector of children:
Woman



Phoenix



Posted for the D'verse Poets Pub- Passion of Brooke Shaden - We are getting inspiration from photography and inspiring words of Brooke Shaden.   Cheers to all the women who rise above abuse, injustice and discrimination and have been victims of human trafficking. Also my admiration goes to everyone who give women a chance to gain their own dignity & independence.