x. Sigh

Your sigh woke me.
My alarm clock did not ring.
Didn’t ring loud enough
to beckon me from sleep;
didn’t ring loud enough
to call me in from dreams.
But your sigh —
Your sigh was enough.
A thouand miles
across the world,
across the seas,
your sigh was enough
to drag me back to clarity
back to waking reality
back to here and now
and you and me.
My alarm clock didn’t ring
couldn’t ring loud enough
to break the bonds of slumber
but your sigh,
a breath,
a murmur,
no more than a whisper
of longing
and wanting
and needing –
Your sigh was enough.
Your sigh is all it took,
all it ever takes.
From nightmares it saves me;
on bad days it comforts;
when anger strikes it calms me.
This morning it woke me.
Your sigh.
Though no one else
Nowhere in the world
even heard the sound,
My whole body ached;
my soul, it stretched toward you,
tried to leave me
and go after you.
I felt your sigh within me,
felt it welling up,
it filled me
felt it bring you to my side
felt you wrap your arms around me,
pull me close and
hold me tight.
Your sigh said,
I never want to let you go,
and though your arms
were a thousand miles
across the world
across the seas
over mountains and
through the trees
I heard your sigh as if
you were right here.

xxxi. Tanka

Outside, the rain falls.
I watch the flowers rejoice;
it has been so long
since last it lavished them so.
Inside, I am still waiting.

 

 

Find a history of Tanka, here.

xxx. Today

Across windswept plains,
Your love reaches me;
Through letters and IMs,
I know you still belong to me.

We charted a new course,
Knowing it would fail,
But promises when love is new,
Are like sandcastles before the tide.

What she thought was love,
Was to be the end of her,
For when she found out she’d been wrong,
What had she to live for?

What happened that night,
It was more than sex;
It was an excuse for what they felt;
A way to forget their love.

His gifts were wrapped with care,
And left her breathless and weak;
How could she now say,
What she had come to say?

 

 

Inspired by a series of prompts on Twitter, from both @MyWordWizard and @PoetNub