broken inside broken in two broken promise that didn’t come true broken happiness broken joy broken life all destroyed broken dreams broken hope broken will no way to cope broken spirit broken mind broken in pieces and left behind ©copyright 2023 jai unbounded quatrain
Image via Pixabay
some spirits are as fragile as a rose
sweet as honey, lovely to gaze upon
but easily damaged
by callous souls who heartlessly ravage
scribbling hateful words with sharpened crayons—
soft petals wilt ‘neath weight of heavy prose
leaving door open to rot and disease
rose abandons hope, does a sad striptease
©️2023 jai
wounded couplet
Image by Jiří Rotrekl from Pixabay
the wolf is at the door
he howls…I moan
he knows I am in here
afraid and all alone
the wolf is at the door
he claws the ancient wood
he knows I am behind it
he knows I will taste good
the wolf is at the door
his nose draws in my smell
tastes the sweetness of my fear
his appetite I will quell
the wolf is at the door
I rise to let him in
this night will witness penance
past time to pay for sins
the wolf is at the door
I gather my courage close
my fingers curl round the icy knob
I let in the lupine ghost
the wolf is in the door
he growls...I scream
thrust my dagger into his heart
carve out his bloody wet dream
the wolf is on the floor
I smile in satisfaction
he thought I would be an easy meal
too weak to take bold action
the wolf dies on the floor
no longer a threat to me
I write my name in his cooling blood
for other wolves to see
©2023 jai
Image by Peace,love,happiness from Pixabay
there was a silly girl
who didn't see
the mistake she made
by trusting me
she gave her heart
she gave her all
and I tripped her up
just to watch her fall
I felt big by
making her small
used sarcasm and anger
kept her back to the wall
I didn't listen
I didn't see
that she stopped loving
wanted only to be free
now I’m sorry
but it comes too late
for too long I sowed meanness
and now I reap her hate
©️2023 jai
Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay
crow arrives on nighttide
feathered aphotic revenant
slips in the window
while she sleeps
burrows its sharp beak
into her seasoned flesh
and tears at
the most tender morsels...
doubts
insecurities
fears
savors the sour flavors
of being hurt
of being fooled
of being played
again...
she learns not to sleep
stays ever vigilant
lest crow
swallow everything
her pride
her independence
her reason
her life...
in the morning light
she sometimes wonders
if crow is real
is a force without
or instead
lives within…
a black cancer
of bone and blood
cawing chaos, while
beating sharp wings
within each breath
scraping claws
through fragile capillaries
frantic to escape
its self-made
prison...
©️2023 jai
Image by Angel Milostan from Pixabay
wrapped tightly
in rusty barbed wire
the caged heart beats
listless and erratic
an out-of-time clock…
tick-tock
cruel thorns stab
draws tainted blood
that drips poisonous and black
down constricted ribs
forged by shame and blame…
plop-plop
©️2023 jai
Image by Birgit Röhrs from Pixabay
death becomes her... smoothed the seams that lined a tired face erased the hurt from eyes of green flint hushed the blush that colored angry cheeks purged the pain of a life, empty and spent death becomes her… hollow hope packed its overstuffed bags romantic ruminations stepped out the door borrowed tomorrows went on vacation and now sleeps serenely ‘neath sandy shores ©2023 jai
Image by Armando Orozco from Pixabay
his dead body rests beneath gloomy cypress trees that will never tell of the hatchet in his skull nor the sin he committed ©2023 jai tanka
she’s not good enough someone told her so dripped poison in her ear a long time ago the mirror confirms shows dull frizzy hair a nose too long ugly body when bare the paper confirms when she scrawls with pen mediocre writing no contest it’d win the past confirms no good deeds done no sacrifices made no battles won the present confirms a dull empty life no one’s darling no one’s wife the future confirms what she already knows nothing will change down that long dark road ©2023 jai
Image by Mandy Fontana from Pixabay
Eagle sails the tranquil heights captaining impregnable thermals serene, content, alone distant from life and love and pain wrapped in a safe blue cocoon nothing can touch her and she touches nothing but... from afar she has seen Wolf has studied him his powerful body thick warm fur compassionate eyes and wondered what it would be like to enter his orbit would... he stroke her chilled feathers touch her with kindness speak to her of love of need of want of forever build her a strong nest that could withstand any storm and the drought of long days or... would he lure her in lull her with honeyed words calm her with knowing touches bewitch her beguile her break her then tear out her heart devour her cooling body and spit out the hollow bones so... Eagle slows her descent perches in the thorny tree above the watching Wolf stares into his eyes into his heart into his soul but she can’t see beyond all her fucked-up yesterdays so she waits, praying for clarity ©2023 jai free verse
Image by Jaime Orejuela from Pixabay
On the Fringe of Darkness 