Where once she was filled with starlight
Sparkling in her eyes
Now she lives in a strange twilight
Where the moon will never riseHer life is lived in her memories
Pictures flicker in black and white
Showing faded documentaries
Of when things used to feel so rightEmotions in monochrome
Lingering shadows in her eyes
Lost in her internal catacomb
Where the moon will never rise
Her calm and cold manner is beyond reproach
Unsmilingly following the path of duty
Difficult to know, yet hard to approach
Unaware of her unassuming beauty
Dealing with problems with finest precision
The life lived alone, well that suits her just fine
Controlling her world without indecision
Then why do I want her, need her in mine?Long dark hair and eyes that see through me
Dreaming of her every time I close mine
It seems I’ve spent half an eternity
Living in shadows bereft of sunshine
For once in my life I want to be noticed
To see her smile when i walk into the room
I’m the invisible man, I just don’t exist
A seed of desire that’s unable to bloomSo you will move on to faraway places
Leave me behind even though you don’t know
Maybe one day you will remember the faces
That you left behind when you decided to go
Perhaps you will wonder what you left behind you
Having chosen your freedom over the shackles of man
Maybe you will discover that love does have value
I hope it will find you one day if it can
A time of ending
A bitter truth
To give up defending
The mistakes of youth
That somehow became
Vagaries of age
Still burns the flame
Consumed by the rage
Haunted by history
No use pretending
There’s no real mystery
In a time of an endingBeginnings were so sweet
Joys held precious inside
Swept off your feet
A beautiful bride
Remember those days
Tears sting her eyes
So many ways
To bury the lies
Some from your peers
But most from yourself
A dusty book of the years
On your own bookshelfRomantic notions
Buried and lost
In life’s great oceans
Where dreams are tossed
Swamped by the waves
Drowned in tears
We are all slaves
To the passing of years
We paint smiles on our faces
Though doom is impending
And we seek out our places
And times of an ending
He returned to gaze on the mountains high
Snow tipped peaks that scraped the sky
Beautiful yet deadly in their majesty
Uncaring of the passing humanity
Who in the mountains shadow live and die
some in this shadow still must lie
And some have carried loss from the past
Returned to face their pain at lastReplay those memories from a childhood day
When life or death was a game to play
When two climbed that mountain wall
One returned, one not at all
One always lost, one never found
Somewhere on that frosty ground
Should mournful weary souls decry
There still his white bones must lie
Entrapped by wild flowers roots and stem
Where eagles sing his requiemHe gazed upon that mountain high
Where such forbidden secrets lie
Of the two, he was the truly lost
Left behind but at what cost
In his dreams memories abound
And a friendship lost cries to be found
He heeds the call with weeping eyes
The child he once was replies
He knew he would climb the mountain again
Where Eagles sing a requiem
In the dying glow of the sun declining
When the world slows down to rest
And the moon rises, its moonbeams shining
To shine a light on the nightly unrest
In It’s pale light ominous shadows will make
A hangman’s noose against a wall
A man who did his own life take
And a rope to break a fallA clock ticking a sound so pleasant
A Time Machine to count the beat
To draw in the changing present
Reject the past in its defeat
Yet nothing changed but everything broken
Tears from a mother, regrets and despair
The whole world turns on words unspoken
For though still a presence he is no longer thereHis memory lives in all those who loved him
They pray to their Gods for the sake of his soul
But they wonder what demons he harboured within him
That damaged his mind and swallowed him whole
What could have been done to his state of mind
What circumstance did lead to his plight?
So many unknowns and all intertwined
So many wrongs that no-one can rightThe grandfather clock keeps on counting its heartbeat
Calling the future without judgment or fear
What’s done is done and is now just bittersweet
Memories of times when he was still near
Every day he’s waits outside the post office in town
If anybody speaks he just greets them with a frown
Looks as though he’s waiting for someone who never shows
He waits there all day until the evening then goes.
One day I got the courage to ask if he’s ok
He just looked right through me until I turned away
Then I heard him speak quietly as I made to leave
He reached out and stopped me by grabbing at my sleeve
He asked me if I’d seen her, he says she’s very late
That he’d arranged to meet her here, so he has to wait
She said she’d be here for him but she’s never there
He begs me to tell her, to make sure she aware
I said I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are waiting for
There’s no-one else I’ve seen, hanging around this store
Are you sure it’s here your meeting, is this the place to go
Who is it your waiting for, is it someone that I know?
He pulled out a sepia photo, the sort our grandpa had
But it looked like it was older, like when grandpa was a lad
You could see that she was lovely, thought the print was faded and torn
One thing was certain, she would have been old before I was born
I realised his clothes were from a bygone age
When cravats and cummerbunds would have been all the rage
He was dressed to go a-courting in a century or more now gone
Somehow lost in time, he waited, to a return to “when” he was from
I promised I would wait, he said. Forever if I must
A promise I must not break, I owe her love and trust
So walk on by, my friend, and wish me well if you can
So I left him that day, a lonely but determined man
And as the years went by, the post office became a store
Then a private house, then a couple of flats or more
But always I would tip my hat at the man waiting there still
And I would marvel at the love that could inspire such strength of will
Then one day he was missing, I stopped and looked around
I realised he was gone and was nowhere to be found
Perhaps I wondered if time had claimed him and returned him to his own
I prayed he was safe and well, I felt somehow left alone
That night I heard a voice calling out as I slept
My friend he said, my promise has been kept
All these years of waiting, finally I am free
my love, my love, has finally come to be with me
In my sleep I smiled, for even old men like me can care
The sepia lady in a photograph now was real and standing there
Then they waved goodbye and left me, back to their own time and place
And I woke up this morning with a smile upon my face
Copyright Tallisman 2022
She sings her musical repertoire
Dancing alone in her front room
Pretending to play a Spanish guitar
Imagining her Flamenco costume
A rose held lightly between her lips
Dress flowing and swishing the floor
Feeling the touch of his hands on her hips
Her imaginary toreador
Ten years on she’s lost those dreams
One child and one on its way
To tired to chase these old moonbeams
A life in disarray
But sometimes she hears the Spanish guitar play
Childish daydreams rise to the fore
For a moment in time she is swept far away
In the arms of her toreador
A child of my times, restless and seeking
A future path to lead me to truth
To listen to tutors endlessly speaking
Then dismissing their wisdom with the hauteur of youth
Sitting exams with low expectations
Winging those tests on a wing and a prayer
Outside the window she was picking carnations
That’s when I first began to care
For the girl
For the girl with the long dark hairA bloody war for reasons no one understands
But for people like me the bloodstains were real
Politicians in silk gloves to hide the blood on their hands
Profiting on the dreams that they steal
Death begat ghosts and the ghosts they were abundant
Until I could see them just about everywhere
So they locked me away making my dreams redundant
Dreams that I wanted to share
To the girl
To the girl with the long dark hairNow I’m old and lonely looking out at a winters scene
But turning over my memories like pages in a book
Building a story of a life that could have been
If I could have avoided the paths that I took
I mourn the loss of youths possibilities
Melancholy surrounds me and lays my life bare
And I worry about the probabilities
Would life have been fair
To the girl
To the girl with the long dark hair
Where the hunger is
Where the desire
Born in desperation
Raised from the mire
Struggle through life to
Raise themselves higher
But we’re all running
Into the fire
Twisting and turning
No avoiding our fate
Feeling the burning
Is this love or hate?
The struggle consuming
You’re beginning to tire
But you can’t stop running
Into the fire
Feeling so alone?
It’s part of the game
Without a sweet lover
There’s no-one to blame
Baby, If you want me
Look to the funeral pyre
I’ll be dancing like a flame
Into the fire
He reaches out and puts his arm on her shoulder
Pulls her close and into his space
She trembled as the darkness enfolds her
As she sees the look on his face
He kisses her hair and whispers his guarantees
“No one will love you as much as I could”
He puts his hands around her neck and started to squeeze
Somewhere an owl hooted deep in the wood
The moon and the stars conspired for romance
Heedless of those that hunt by their light
Young lovers caught up in the passions of loves dance
Unaware of the monsters that crawl in the nightHe laid her down gently in the heather
Kissed her lips in whispered goodbyes
Promised her that they would always be together
The moonlight reflected from her open eyes
He thought it was no more than he deserved
The love he offered was always the best
Such love, he mused, should be unreserved
Such unspoilt memories to take to her rest.
And the moon and the stars kept on shining
Uncaring of ill deeds done under their light
But it’s not natures way to be redefining
The role evil plays in the heart of the nightAnother town and in another bar
Another hopeful smile exchanged
Two hearts beating under another star
One mind remains deranged
And so the world keeps on turning
A desperate lovelorn dance
Lonely hearts keep on yearning
Playing a game of chance
And the moon and the stars oversee all
Illuminating all the sins of men
Bedevilled in the grip of another nightfall
The record starts playing…again and again..
In the midnight hour
She lies awake and cannot sleep
She’s lived her life in an ivory tower
But now she’s just counting sheep
She wonders how she got life so wrong
How she ended up so alone
Ponders until the blackbirds song
Restores the sun to its throne
In the midnight hour
Her melancholy a dark abyss
Praying to a higher power
That there’s more to life than this
She stares out of the window
Eyes reflections of the moon
Hours passing by but oh so slow
The dawn must be coming soon
In the midnight hour
She remembering how love felt
How it would grow inside and overpower
Until it felt that her heart would melt
She yearns to taste that love again
To feel it bloom in her heart like a flower
But all she has is loneliness and pain
To see her through the midnight hour.
Copyright Tallisman 2022
This poem was inspired by reading a lovely poem by Jay Maria Simpson called The Silent Vision. Jay has kindly allowed me to link back to it.
20th May 2023. StoryStars story of the day!
Watch the moon, does he smile
Will he hold your heart a while?
Take the pain, hold it tight
Diffuse it through his pale moonlight
But dawn will come and all reborn
My heart returned to be forlorn
My memories also will renew
And I can see the face of you..
Bitter tears, so well remembered
Bitter love so well dismembered
Torn apart, ravaged and spurned
But oh so deeply I have yearned
I curse the dawn and miss the night
Look for oblivion in cold moonlight
But dawn colours the sky in autumnal hue
And I can taste the scent of you..
The rising sun will bring no heat
It brings the taste of bittersweet
It’s rays of gold darken my heart
It’s shadows a perfect counterpart
For how can I welcome the day
My life just mournful shades of grey
On the roses glistens morning dew
Memories of the tears I cried for you
Death conquers all
Some live in the shadows, anonymous and afraid
Beaten by life, feeling alone and betrayed
Shunning all company, friendship and care
Knowing only the struggle, the hate and despair
They see death as a destination on a short rocky road
Where the burden they carry they can finally unload
So they await in their shadows and listen for the call
In death they are freed, as death conquers allSome live in the light, confidant and strong
Buoyed by life’s energy to carry them along
With friends a’plenty, they never give way
In life’s battles they will always carry the day
For them the journey of life is what gives them breath
They cannot perceive the surety of death
So they stand righteous, unbending and tall
But finally must yield, as death conquers all
The moon stared down upon this land
Impressive in its full splendour
Surrounded by a million stars
Robbing the night of its shadows
Illuminating the impossible
Exposing the incredible
Setting the scene for legends
To be reborn
From the womb of imagination
Into the quiet of the nightThe river happily meandered
Through the realms of mankind
Passing through woodland
As ancient as the earth
Trees that had seen
The birth of history
The life of the mythical
The death of reason
Yet still holds the secrets
Of true immortalityIn the forests heart a clearing
Now bathed in the full light
Of the spiritual moon
Where for a moment
The scurrying creatures
Paused in awe of the sight
As a single Unicorn
Stepped from the wood
It’s single horn glowing
As it feeds on starlightThe world paused in wonder
At the magnificent sight
This beautiful creature
Lost to creation, a millennia gone
Surviving only in mythology
And in the memory of immortals
And in the heart of the forest
Where the ancient Gods
Turn their backs on this world
And weep for their creations
There are those who stand together
And others who drift apart
Bonds supposed to last forever
Crumble from the start
For some they follow their own creeds
Others follow their own desires
Some take depending on their needs
Others what their greed requires
Some pray to a God that’s benign
Others to a God that rages
Some live life to their own design
Some live their life in cages
Some worship only what they see
Others only what they are taught
Finding religion in imagery
Or salvation in theological thought
Some cry for a past that’s not forgiven
Some weep for futures pending
For the path that on which we’re driven
Leads only to an ending
Some laugh in the face of fate
Some whisper in the wind
Some love where others hate
Some pray where others sinned
We are but a single drop of rain
In a storm battering eternity’s shore
A fly caught in a hurricane
Then lost for evermore
In this place where blood was spilled
A place where many men were killed
Each fighting for a dishonourable cause
Where some distant lord will take applause
And count his coin with sweating hands
The price of death in foreign lands
Paid by the blood of fighting men
Who never returned to home again
Their bones restless in unfamiliar ground
Thrown together in a burial mound
No mourners there to vent their grief
Grass grows on the soil they lie beneathBut still there are those that mourn
In the places they were born
Where streets of smoke deny the day
And candles burn to light the way
Where some still weep and some still wait
Unable to comprehend their fate
Time sheds hope like a tree sheds leaves
Some live now only in their memories
As the world moves on they are left behind
Still searching for a love they cannot find
No tombstones stand, no flowers or wreath
Grass grows on the soil they lie beneath
She sings her songs in the silence
Her voice so strong and free
Her words for a while a sweet pretence
An echo of normality
Her words are that of sadness
Lost loves, lost hopes, lost lives
She sings among the madness
Brings unexpected tears to my eyes
I don’t know who is singing
But her voice breaks my heart
For a moment hope is clinging
And my soul shatters apart
Inevitably the song was ended
Life continues as before
For a moment in time I pretended
Life was worth living for
I long to hear that voice again
To revel in it once more
In a world so cold and inhumane
I felt my spirit soar
Floating high upon her sweet song
To where the Gods hold sway
Losing briefly all thats wrong
Feel my worries fall away
Maybe I heard an Angel sing
And into paradise trod
And for the flutter of an Angels wing
I tasted the scent of God.
we are dust and shadow
Ethereal ghosts
Moving in life’s undertow
Within temporary hosts
Doomed to live for eternity
Yet to die and be reborn
Lost in our self pity
Tortured and forlornWe are forced to roam
Through the realms of man
Outcasts from our natural home
The Gods cursed our clan
Once Angel born and pure of heart
Now ancient and laid so low
We questioned the Gods and they tore us apart
Leaving just dust and shadow