-2013, Charlottetown
At the end of the day I put my pens and brushes away
I shut down my computer, shut my lessons, shut my books
At the end of the day. I turn off the lights
Bid all goodnight and welcome the night
At the end of the day when it creeps in on spider legs
Swallowing the light and the sky turns gray
It’s the end of the day and the dark sets in
And my world narrows down to the thoughts in my head
Because at the end of the day the world disappears
And I live only in my mind pondering
If another day will end for me at the end of the day.
© Cindy Lapeña, 2013
Charlottetown
on moonless nights as this i find
in aimless flights of dreams, my mind
and though a million thoughts cruise by
the last one ever makes me sigh
i’ve dreamt of hills and mountains tall
greens and plains, i’ve seen them all
the moon and stars are common sights
likewise the sun with brilliant light
on earth the sweetest songs i’ve heard
and all but one were sung with words:
all haunting tunes of love-worn lines
that fade too soon with passing time.
the sweetest song if ever true
all nature sings when i’m with you.
so
here i sit
another night
slowly passing
creeping with the seconds
towards another day
recounting
memories of
you
dreaming
as on a mistral vessel
floating
o’er a sea of
passion spent and
past reckonings
fading
in the mist
in vap’ry clouds
of moon-forgoten
dew
rising
as only
you can cause them
to encircling
minds fogged
with
unspoken lines of
musk-scented
emotions
shackled
by unyielding norms
created by
pickled
brains beyond
the shadows of
shadows free
dancing
rejoicing
o’er birth of
eternity merging
pulsating with
slivers of
reality
sparkling
reflecting
an image of
my love.
And when night has passed away
i watch you asleep amidst
ravished bottles and
satiated ashtrays lying
on despoiled carpet that once
was a manicured lawn
and sigh.
echoes of the past toll
in mind drunk with
thoughts of sleeplessness and
you as
fingers numb from touching
play lullabies in your hair
in broken chords and
arpeggios long-buried in
the archives of humanity and
transmit the ravaged lines of
romance in haunted
melodies unheard
through your heaving bosom
bare but for the osmotic
film of heartbeats
that shield your soul.
parched lips trace
lines upon your face
searching hopelessly for
an oasis of response and finding
mirages of dreams unwrought
remaining mirages of dreams wrought
in tangle of hair and sweat and
blood.
you stir
raising your face ravished
by the secrets of sleep.
what seeds have the spectral silence
now embalmed in prisoned consciousness
that struggles to flee from
the choking grasp of dreams?
i am useless.
and so remain as i
can merely watch you sinking
deeper into
the poisoned pit of
as deathless slumber and
in the frenzied orgy of
vilified abstractions of sleep
i covet the company of
your mind.
slowly
moon rises
creeping inch by inch
over the silhouette of a sleeping edifice
dark but for the watchful eyes
of windows softly glowing
with the spectral light of incandescent lamps.
distant stars flickering
add their wavering lights
to the chilling air
compounding the silence that
you and i share
between long-drawn breaths
sitting on cold steps as we
await the morning.
wondrous stars
never do i cease
wondering
never tiring
casting brilliance
in darkened dome
and below
reflections
soft beads of white
in Poseidon’s bed
gently lulling vessels
in warm embrace
i rest.
where the darkness?
where the night?
come,
giver of light
extinguish thy fire
that i may hide
i seek a cloak
that may cover me
that i might be
enwrapped
solitary
that i may unburden
my troubles
in your omnipotent being
that i may silently weep
alone
that no other may share
the bitter tears
the pain
it seethes
through my very entrails
it consumes me
mercilessly
i beseech thee night!
bear me upon thy fiery wings
i flee
i long to flee
far away
to join eons
of light
of night
to rid myself
of mortal trappings
to seek Charon and
journey the river Styx
where darkness
is forever
i long
for
what?
Cindy Lapeña: Creativity Unlimited 