[x]

Something fell. How could a sound so loud
have been a dream? Yet how could a sound
so loud have left a silence thick as this?
There is so little sound you might be deaf.

You say, "hello," softly, to the dark.
You hear your voice clearly through the air.
The lighted clock says four A.M.
Did something fall? It could have been a dream.

It may have been the picture in the hall.
Why did you hang it with a single nail?
Or was it something not so near as that,
whose size and mass you cannot say?

Was it here in the city, a block away,
a mile? There would be sirens, surely.
Or was it something both near and far -
did a world slip dow

Love Walked Alone

Love walked alone. The party was nearly all
such parties ever are – faces, voices, open arms.
But she had stepped outside without a word
or sign, then left the building for the street.
There she bent down, undid her shoes and stood
on the sidewalk in bare feet. She knew the city well,
had traced many paths through it, heard many times
the same hearts beat, the same voices, the same
silences and sighs. She could hear them now.
But every walk brought surprise, and tonight
there was singing somewhere, how far away
she was not sure, but a great many voices rose.
She went in what seemed the right direction,
following the grid o

No Time for the BluesI had no time for the blues,
but they had time for me.
They came to my house
about a quarter to three.

I had to get out of bed
when they knocked on the door.
But why had they come?
They would not tell me what for.

I was awake with the blues
for the rest of the night.
And oh, I saw the blues
by the dawn's early light.

It was a quarter to nine,
I had things I should do.
But I couldn't go out,
I was feeling so blue.

And so I said to the blues,
you must have somewhere to go.
They glanced at the time
and they answered me no.

I had no time for the blues
but the blues didn't care.
All the time in the world
is what the blues h

GapAt one end of the restaurant table it is the year 2012
and C. has just returned from a trip around the world,
to Brazil and Egypt and South Africa, India
and Thailand and New Zealand. At the other
end of the table it is 1945 and M. is in a jeep
beside a highway in Germany as 27 Sherman tanks
roar by at sixty miles an hour. I sit in the middle
and perform the spell that keeps the tanks from
crushing the table and my grilled flatbread
and my India Pale Ale and my wife's tomato
soup and grilled cheese sandwich and all of us
who are here beneath their treads. I can do that
with ease, yet spectacular sparks arc across
the voltage drop bet

My Blue ChildI let you go now, my blue child.

Fly away, I make you wings of memory and pain.
The wings that offered healing once would not come again.

Your pain is now complete, your pain is past.
Our pain is torn and tearing, our pain will last.

I played a counting game upon your back when we were small.
Then I had your wounds to count. I could not count them all.

A prince come from a star, with golden hair;
I took you to my heart, I held you there.

You were my own, and every threat to you made me fierce.
Now I must be, yet cannot be, fierce enough for this -

to let you go now, my blue child

WordsWords hate me. When I send out the word "no"
it disguises itself as "yes" and that is what
people think I mean. I shake my finger at it
and call it a very bad word. It scoots off
and hides under the table out of reach.
I sit and weep and ask it why it hates me,
why do it and all the other words hate me.
If I try to use the words "that makes no sense!"
they join hands and skip away together
and people take them for "what a great idea!"
They hate me and I don't know why,
what did I ever do to them? All but a few.
"You" is a word of integrity, it has never
been unfaithful to me. "Love" is a word
with bad habits, it is alway

Pursued BluesThe speed limit here is fifty,
but I'm doing a hundred and ten.
If my luck holds out till morning,
I might make it home again.

I've been moving since October
and they haven't got me yet.
I keep my eyes wide open
for every trap they set.

Sometimes I say a prayer to heaven
for the damage all around.
There is justice high above us,
but who can call it down?

The speed limit here is fifty,
but I'm doing a hundred and ten.
If my luck holds out till morning,
I might make it home again.

If I do get home tomorrow,
I will not be there long.
I'll put my arms around my people,
and then I will be gone.

But it's not so much the staying,

Waiting for My Rider BluesWell, I'm waiting for my rider,
I hope she gets back soon.
We really should be leaving
if we are going to reach the moon.

My rider is a sweet one
and she likes to navigate.
But we got to get a move on
or we are going to be late.

She went into the city
to buy us bread and wine.
If she got lost inside the market,
getting out could take some time.

There may have been bad weather,
and she was caught by a storm.
Just as soon as she gets back here,
we will both be safe and warm.

She may have met a crowd of people
who were watching a parade.
She may be waiting till it passes,
and they move a barricade.

She may have heard s

Barbed Wire Ballad

Bring more barbed wire. Bring the heavy rolls
of twisted steel and metal thorns. Wear
heavy gloves, unspool the wire from the roll,
make loops atop the wall. Bring more.

Bring more barbed wire. Here are metal stakes
on which it may be hung. Go on and on.
Here is a wire cutter for when we are done,
but that will not be soon. Bring more.

Bring more barbed wire. Here are people
to keep out, there are people to confine,
here a place to make secure, here we are
on our side, thank God. Bring more.

Here are people, there are people,
here a border, here a barrier,
here are places, here are people,
here a wall and here the

Browse More Like This

more ▶

More from *RichardLeach

Legal BluesI got so blue that I was thinking
it must be against the law.
I got so blue that I was thinking
it must be against the law.
The blues broke in and robbed me,
they took all the joy they saw.

So I found me a policeman,
to arrest these blues.
I said, "Please, Mr. Policeman,
would you arrest these blues?"
He said, "Son, I'd like to help you -
I got to give you the news.

"The blues go so far back, son,
they can't be made illegal now.
The blues go all the way back,
they can't be made illegal now.
They're old as drink or as the devil,
there is no way it would work out.

"Well, if the blues were illegal,
cops would deal wi

What is this fire
within me now?
Is it contained,
will it break out?
How can I sleep
when I must keep
burning?

Gift of the night,
play of the light.
What will not burn,
that I will learn.
Morning will come
when I am done
burning.

What will this fire
be in the day?
Out of the night,
something will stay.
I will show,
you may know
burning.

Blues for YouI'll sing you up a storm, babe,
and then I'll keep you dry.
I'll sing you up a storm, babe,
and then I'll keep you dry.
Come on into my kitchen -
we'll watch the clouds go by.

If you should need a driver,
you can always count on me.
If you should need a driver,
you can always count on me.
You will be my only rider,
we'll go from sea to sea.

The way I feel about you
is a natural fact.
The way I feel about you
is a natural fact.
I was sleeping and you woke me,
now dreams won't take me back.

I can sing about your secrets
and no one will ever know.
I can sing about your secrets
and no one will ever know.
All the people who

View Gallery · View Prints

Featured in Groups:

#Word-Smiths

#TheSimulacrum
Keep your verse terse

#15-Minutes-of-Fame
World famous in 15 min or less

Details

Submitted: January 9
File Size: 546 bytes

Link

Thumb

Statistics

Comments: 45
Favourites: 25 [who?]
Views: 298 (2 today)

[x]

A mirror

by *RichardLeach, Jan 9, 2013, 12:46:24 PM
Literature / Poetry / General Poetry / Free Verse

I have a mirror that shows another face.

I have a face that asks to hear a song.

I have a song with room for light.

I have light that is the red inside every color.

I have a color that is waiting for its name.

I have a name that means tenderness.

I have tenderness caught in a mirror.

A mirrorby *RichardLeach

Literature / Poetry / General Poetry / Free Verse

©2013 *RichardLeach

Inspired by a night on my shoulder by Hanan

The image above the text is Hanan's and is used by her kind permission.

We published Unlike Things Must Meet in 2011. Our continuing collaboration is A brave unbodied scheme.

Kindly featured by

~~joy 0 0~~

~~wow 0 0~~

~~mad 0 0~~

~~sad 0 0~~

~~fear 0 0~~

~~neutral 0 0~~

*Markus43 May 11, 2013

Reply

*KatDiestel May 12, 2013

wow - have you played with pink floyd

Reply

*Markus43 May 12, 2013

Thank you, no (but that would be a wonderful experience)...that melody certainly emerged from distant influences by them

Reply

*RichardLeach May 12, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

Mark! Man, that is excellent and wonderful and I love it! Wow. Such great guitars. And it treats the words so very well. You made my day with this. Thanks so much!

Reply

*Markus43 May 12, 2013

I was actually sitting down to lay down some ambient tracks for video production when this unfinished piece loaded up and it REALLY made my day. Love that spark.
Thanks for all you do.

Reply

*RichardLeach May 13, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

Being able to create stuff - images, poems, music, song - what would our lives be without it.

Reply

*Markus43 May 14, 2013

We are peculiar creatures that way...(in the old English vernacular)

Reply

*dimajaber Apr 25, 2013 Professional General Artist

feature: [link]

Reply

*RichardLeach Apr 25, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

Reply

*dimajaber Apr 25, 2013 Professional General Artist

Reply