Sheltered

Falling-Out

Doors slammed shut,
a voice raised in decibel,
“You hit me!”, she screamed,
and vanished over the threshold.

He watched lowly from the street
as her image lost all focus,
and pictured his world without her
in front of his camera’s lens.

Incoming calls rang,
but none he wanted to answer;
not adding up to the digits
equating the label he longed for.

He tried many times to reach out,
but he was blocked, forbidden,
like an evil New Orleans entity -
a disgrace after heartbreak.

Months went by in his loneliness,
eye’s swollen after fighting with tears,
wearing his own abuse, but still,
discounting the wrong he’d done.

Down to his last ounce of pride
he bellowed out, “I’m sorry!”, but,
was it an apology to himself, or,
was it that he’d wished she heard it?

Tanka Poem - Locoemotion

Poetry in motion,
leaving the mind’s temporal
like a moving freight;
emotions riding aboard,
some delayed, others on time.

- Jg
 

For Better or Worse

Diamonds fashioned under a rainbow
Water dripping on a manicured hand
Feelings inscribed inside vows
No bending, no breaking, no pressure

Arguments pointing fingers around
Clocks ticking in anxiety needing time
Tears producing regretful apologies
No retreat, no regress, no spite

Memories growing through hard roads
Late nights with lullabies crying loudly
Idle hours restless exercising worry 
No pain, no gain, no intermission

- Jg

Muse

Beautiful melanated being,
like a masterpiece on canvas
painted every way but perfect,
someone has an eye for you

Stretch marks…um..I see growth,
every movement you’ve made
staid about who you are,
far from what made you scared 

Those dimples sit deep,
yet they don’t negate your smile,
still strong enough to brighten day,
to fulfill an ardor in him that stays

-Jg

Epidemic

Gun shots ringing out,   
no answers for the loved ones    
of a young innocent child    
 
-Jg

Incomplete

Tired of being—

the laugh of the joke,

the fun of the poke

with no hopes, what dreams?

Screams with no voice,

soft as that of a mouse

trapped and tapped out,

hollow like holes in the cheese

-Jg

Sheltered

Summer's night had a sky blue,

I remember very clearly

being caught dead to rights,

but it was worth it to see you

Pebble stones aloft, thoughtful,

falling over and again like I had

all for your enchanting creation,

though flaws didn’t miss the eyeful

A glimpse of you felt as always

like the endless perspective of stars,

greeting me at the weathered window pane, 

wanting and wishing the desolation away.

- Jg

Recognition

A prisoner in my own mind

shackled to the brain’s stem,

I keep conjuring that belief,

Off to See the Wizard

She was all of my words spoken,

but choked became the reality

of gravity taking the sanity

from the mind she gave me.

Made me?

Oh nah, but she helped paved me

like a yellow brick road

til I had a heart for the first time.

Mine she was

but mind she was home with herself

accept where she wanted to be

as I could not find my courage.

Core is...

not deploring a woman of the isle

leaving her on an island 

to be a man for herself.

-Jg

State of Mind

Sugar, sugar

molasses brown

sweet like cereal milk

at the end of my breakfast.

My zest leads from you

following your footsteps

out from bed

headed two steps closer to future.

Two steps closer to pewter strands

having grown old together,

tattered some through the journey

while still forging our black love.

Us,

evermore touching shoulders

seated at the thrown

creating an empire.

-Jg