poetry

layers upon layers

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a residential enclave
in the urban landscape:
birdsong instead of fire engine sirens.

traffic noises come from parents
pulling in and out of driveways
taking kids to school
then going to work.

a woman who lives
on the corner of the block
feeds the strays, and sometimes,
even on a cold spring night,
piercing the darkness,
cats scream bloody murder
in the name of love..

©A. D. Joyce, 2017

 

the promise of april

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i came here to love you

through lifetimes
i have sought you
in every pair of eyes

i have strained against
the touch of hands
needing to feel your essence

and in spring
when the air reeks
of rain and dirt
i pick your flowers
and see your face
strewn among
the fallen cherry blossoms

i am not here
on this earth
to pull punches
i am here to express

i unbalance the equinox
with poems
obsessive and fevered

this is the promise
my soul makes
time and again
in each incarnation
and life form i inhabit

on this brand new day
i awake in the hope
you will soon be here
with me

 

 

 

 

 
©A. D. Joyce, 2017

 

the pisces solar eclipse

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an odd new jersey february
the waning days of the month
as warm as spring
tonight a torrential rain
heralded by thunder and lighting
and a howling wind

what does this mean
other than what it is
first this strange weather
then the pisces solar eclipse tomorrow
the end of a long cycle
the death of what no longer serves us
and a new beginning
new possibilities
new choices

or is this
a simple storm
now losing steam
thunder fading
into the distance
deluge slowing
to a single
drop

©A. D. Joyce, 2017

who has fallen

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on a hiking trail
a path barely as wide
as a footfall
marked only by flattened grass
and small rocks strewn
haphazardly,

maybe someone with a bum knee
has fallen,
someone who was out too late
the night before,
or a child running giddily,
too eager to reach the top of the hill–
not watching her step.

whose clothes were torn?
whose skin was broken?
who was bruised?

who laughed it off?
who cried?
who pretended it didn’t happen?

who stayed down?
who got up again?

©A. D. Joyce, 2016

Solar Eclipse 2016: Three Poems

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When I was a kid, I was fascinated with all things outer space–planets, the moon, stars, and sun. Solar eclipses were exciting, and I remember trying to make an eclipse viewer with pieces of cardboard. There’s a total eclipse happening tonight, so in its honor, here are a trio of poems from past posts. They hint at the possibilities and flights of imagination that the heavens inspire in me.

voidascenevolution©A. D. Joyce, 2016