Burning Bridges

Just a filigree of love's desire
Entangled red-gold threads of fire
Dreams burning ‘neath the midnight sun
My moonlit diamonds come unstrung

You're fire by night, and ice by day
Got too many dragons left to slay
Secrets whispered to the wind
Unheard, but by wayward kin

My passion, hanging on the line
Lust infused and steeped in wine
I keep singing for my daily bread
Still hungry for the words unsaid

Mysterious treasures flutter by
Dream ghosts haunt the darkened sky
Memories toss on blackened seas
Twisted in love's filigree

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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When Pablo Speaks

When Pablo Speaks
Date: July 10,2012

My mind to frolic, with words of Frost
Slides between and then is lost
Drifting ‘round to fellows long
My thirst is deep; desires strong
Filled with all that Maya says
Flits in and out my meddling head
And ah, when Pablo speaks of love
My heart's aflutter with pure white doves
Around the beat, who else but Poe
A deep dark place I've come to know
I stop to ponder the words worth
As if I've nursed them from their birth
I settle to hear the rambling brook
Where Gwendolyn baits my eager hook
Then ‘long comes Oscar, running wild
I listen like an eager child
When Langston paints his colored hues

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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The Indelible Word

The Indelible Word
Date: March 29,2012

I'll travel into tomorrow
With two poems in my pocket
And a cold beer in my hand
Knowing, as I've always known
That you cannot love
Yet, I cling fast to keep my muse alive

It is not "you" that I love so doggedly
It is the pain of your denial that wrings my heart
And drives me to your door time and time again
Groveling for words that scorch my soul

It is not your lips, your hair, your taste
That fuels the passion trapped within
It is merely your indifference that sends me frantic
To the inbox for one more insult
One more chance to fire up the furnace and fling venom across the lines

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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I Understand 'Fantasy

Will there ever be a place in your heart
Or is this thing, just fire and sparks
A burn that's held me, decades long
How can it flame, and still be wrong

If not for love, then just for spite
I'll hold on with my dying might
You cannot rip this love from me
I'll hold it tight, you wait and see

Midnight finds you in the burn
Sleep won't come, you toss and turn
Up at two, you still can't sleep
You fry the wires, ‘stead counting sheep

I'm not angry, won't make demands
I've simply failed to understand
What keeps you coming back for more
When you don't understand what a heart is for

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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Eulogy At Midnight

Eulogy At Midnight
Date: December 1,2011

Night songs whisper through the air
Wind ghosts comb her twisted hair
With time bent back and furrowed brow
Love vows carved upon her bough

A hundred years of age to show
A splendid sight come rain or snow
With roots entwined beneath the sod
Her arms held high, in praise to God

Moonbeams gloss her rugged skin
She mourns the loss of youth and kin
Across the valleys, timbers fall
Making way for human sprawl

Yesterday majestic, tomorrow bleak
Nothing more to hide or seek

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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Circling, Circling

Circling, Circling…
Date: December 5,2012

Circling back to scene of the crime
Laying it down, repeating the rhyme
Like falling falling, torn from the sky
Still fanning the flame that passed me by

Cloud nine floating just above my head
I keep reaching for the stars instead
It's a grand illusion that can never be
I've blocked it out, I refuse to see

I'm burned up, burned out, I can't admit
Cause I've held too long to call it quits
A fire still burns deep inside
If only a spark, could turn the tide

So I circle back to the scene of the crime
Singing my songs, repeating the rhyme

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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I Sowed, I Sowed

At the heart of things, I sowed, I sowed
And waited for my gifts to grow
But tender roots could not take hold
In a hardened soul…so dark and cold
Yet inside of me, it thrived, it bloomed
It burned away all doubt and gloom
Now every breath that swells in me
It steady grows, just like a tree…

But inside of you, it could not grow
Was stifled by the falling snow
Unable to embrace the flames
Was satisfied, with fun and games
I gave my heart to make it real
And spread the passion that I feel
But songs of hope, were not enough
To rise above the fangs of lust

There's nothing I can do…or say
Time won't sweep the fire away

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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It Takes Two To Tango

It Takes Two To Tango
Date: January 12,2012

There’s a side of you that I had to learn
I didn’t see, until I was burned
I refused to hear what others said
Was warming by your fire instead

But, you’re just the shadow of a song
Baiting me to sing along
You’re always there when I am weak
To hitch a ride on my defeat

You’re spewing flames across the wire
I’m a paper doll, catching fire
You set the trap, a Trojan horse
To watched me burn, you’ve no remorse

You play the game so very well
Obsessions glossed so I can’t tell

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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Ode To My Gumption (Or Lack Thereof)

Ode To My Gumption (Or Lack Thereof)
Date: January 20,2012

I’ve written more prose, rhyme and drivel than I care to think
I’ve sang trite ballads of love and loss
Lamented of how you tore me from the sky
Then discarded me like a well smoked butt
And in between
I baked casseroles filled with our passions
Flambéed them with fire and tidbits of doubt
I slathered on oils of flattery, some sweetened, some spiced
Then dressed myself in finery to parade
On the thin ice of yesteryear’s dreams
I’ve stood in blizzards, decades long
Knocking on the door, but knowing damn well
I’d never be asked inside
I’ve sat down time and again, trying to pull my teeth
Scraping my innards dry in hopes of understanding
The words to the simplest songs
And, time and again, I’ve come up empty

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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He Speaks To Me At Midnight

When all is still, the potion spills
Soft shadows on the grave
In windswept dreams, where silence screams
Of passion that I crave
Away in flight, on wings of night
Held captive in his snare
He stokes the fires…of my desire
And chains me to his lair
Each night I bend, to whisperings winds
They haunt my midnight skies
He softly sings, into my dreams
Such wicked lullabies
I hold on tight, to his delight
I'm a puppet on a string
He whispers flame, upon my name
In a raging midnight fling

His purchase price, cold as ice
Leaves me fraught…alone
Left searching in the waning night

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poem by Leria Hawkins
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