Feste's Lute

Caduceus

Serpents taunting,
mercury unbinds
the silver spheres
that populate her vines.
Sconces twisted,
candles on their sides,
baubles rob
her faint reserves of time.

Grim

Glasses bent
and tumblers
in the drink,
sinking with
abrasive appliqués.
Attention spent
on petty frames
and fickle games
that add their worth
in cents.
Brooding, sick,
silken thick,
braided tendrils twist
around your neck.

Epics

We toured the ages
writing as we went,
scribing out
incredulous events.
Carved dark mazes in our rage,
conjured minotaurs from sage.
But dreamers melted as
we turned away.
All innocence must fade.

Imperiled

A simple night by far.
A thoughtful sigh
at hates left on
your plate.
Aye, on your plate.

Fabric at your thigh
aligned too simply.
A risk among the strict,
starred eyes stray
for trysts, careening
fingers twist
and softly sigh.

Ion

Crazed,
the hidden mass.
Dazed kids,
their hazel ids
an energetic blaze.
Self, a potent
maskerade.
The hazy maiden skips
unstable states.

Sea Foam Remnants

The ground was scraped away.

It’s over.
It was wrought
in other timelines.

Particles and half-lives
belayed our fate.

Other times, unknown days,
the vague scent of memories
decayed.

Branching paths beneath the haze
and limbs the winds must break.

Poker

Corners flipped,
discarded, shuffled in.
Stacked with jacks and
seen with queens at clubs.
Canyons, buttes and bluffs,
tabletops of scenic green.
Stability is chipped away
in handfuls, ante-matters
prone to meet.
Embers die against the screen.
Bellows rage,
but Decency proceeds.

Attention

These are let and spent,
rough rentals in our consequence.
Let the brazen race begin.

Form and trace long-lasting,
the audit lent us confidence
(rehearsal in a sacred maze).

And where we went,
a pence sufficed to split the weight,
our gravity had aged.