The Storm

Introduction

UPDATE: Thursday, July 5, 2012 8:49:33 AM. I just noticed that this poem was marked private, I guess from the beginning, I have no idea why—maybe because it sucks. I’m opening it up to the public now, and perhaps I’ll fix it sometimes.

Main Content

There is a storm gathering behind me
wanting to surround and envelop me
billowing dark clouds sneak up waiting
for their chance to explode
lightning strikes burst from the edges
the glowing buzz a warning—
a rattle snake about to strike

my chest clenches around cold agitation
threatening to take my words
I need to scream or I’ll loose my voice
and go unnoticed and unrecognized forever

my thighs tighten and burn
urging a quick getaway from
the now monstrous storm front

that cuts off my escape route
I turn and turn again but the agile
clouds envelop me
I spin in a mad twirl
looking for a break in the clouds
a frenzied search for silence

the storm solidifies, becoming a concrete cell
I pound at the walls and tear at the cracks
but it closes in

my voice echos in isolation
my body tense and my throat burns
as my words are ripped away

I burn alone voiceless in the void

Sestina

once again I blend into the shadows
my existence dedicated to the prowl
seeking, again, the pain of betrayal
and as always, I will find it tonight
between and beyond anonymous streets
once again I burn as my rage turns cold

colors, out of place in the grey cold +
dance before being swept up in shadows.
contempt forces me back into the streets,
you are not here, it’s time again to prowl
claustrophobic in the purposeful night
I seek once again that knowing betrayal

I follow the pounding smoke of betrayal,
its stench clings to you, I pick up the cold
scent; track it to the next stop of the night.
ignored, I drop back into shadow. +
I allow bitterness to fuel my prowl
as I march my anger down ragged streets.

Harsh winds conceal my stride through lonely streets.
exploding anger echos betrayal,
counting out the rhythm of my mad prowl.
reds and yellows crystallize in the cold
eventually joining the black shadows
continuing the string of sleepless nights.

The relentless solitude of bitter nights
coerces me into steam filled streets +
where I am compelled to join the shadows
to seek your final callous betrayal.
once again rage cuts me with hard-edged cold
as I continue the dance of the prowl.

Becoming as harsh as you are, I prowl
Each house, each alley, each club of each night.
I will find you, I always do, as cold
as the city, as harsh as the hard streets.
Dutiful and ugly in your betrayal
I resign and make love to the shadows

I prowl these streets
seeking tonight’s betrayal
in the cold shadows