Twin Angels

There once were two girls clinging to a cliff. Around each of their waists a rope was tied, connecting them together. The middle of the rope was lost in the heavens above them; a rock neither could see holding their rope. Each girl loved the other fiercely and unwisely. Both tried to pull the other upward towards safety. They tried and tried, each getting more angry at the other.

"Just let me fall! I'm stronger than you!" Shouted one.

"Let ME fall," the other cried "YOU have more to live for!"

The girls battered themselves bloody against the cliff, neither wanting to lose her friend, until they had grown so angry with one another they began swinging back and forth on their ends of the rope, hitting and cursing until the rope snapped; sending both girls spiraling down to what looked like their doom.

Neither noticed that the other had sprouted great, beautiful wings in the fall. They flew in opposite directions, tears in their eyes, each believing herself to be the sole survivor.

Sanguine

In front of the screen,

Absentmindedly tearing the skin from my lips,
I feel like I’m forgetting something
As the blood drips down my chin.
The filter of my cigarette
Soaks up the trickling river
Of things I forgot to remember.

The Escape of the Snakes from Sinister's Zoo

In the late, late night
By the light of the moon,
The snakes escaped
From Sinister’s zoo.

The big one said
“We have things to do”
But the little one wanted
Something to chew.

“There’s a warm air vent
Across the room;
Won’t you bask under the
Big, round moon”?

The big snake pleaded and wheedled
And conceded at last
To accomplish the little one’s
Desired task.

They squirmed under rugs
And wove around chairs;
They would settle for bugs
Before going back to their lairs!

But there! Sticking out from under a cushion
In the pale moon’s light,
The little one’s scales gave a shiver of
Hungry delight.

Some strange new creature
Thought itself safe from her teeth
So silently slithering
She attacked from beneath!

The big snake was sleepy from exploring all night
But just as he began dozing away
Something gave him a fright
His poor tail became prey.

While the little one lacked
The advantage of size
She had never been known to give up
On her prize.

With her unknowing teeth
Latched onto the bigger snake’s tail
He whipped the small snake around
Like a leaf in a gale.

“I’ll show this intruder
Just who makes the rules!”
And he shot out to consume her;
Eyes glittering like jewels.

When the sun shook the sky
To rouse it from sleep,
The Keeper returned
And heard nary a peep.

She found her snakes vanished
And a strange tear in the couch.
Down on the floor something glimmered
So she bent into a crouch.

A collection of scales
Caught the first rays of sun
Torn from their tails
When their little adventure had ceased to be fun.

No other trace of the snakes
Has ever been found;
Just a tear in the couch and some scales
On the ground.

It’s thought that the snakes,
So determined were they,
Managed to eat one another
In their misguided fray.

LESSON: Know the difference between an enemy and a misguided friend.

Never Give Up

Never give up.
When your endeavors are crumbling,
And your dreams have lost their will to soar,
Walk on.
Walk on through the dark and
The uncertainty.
Walk through the broken-glass shards of your optimism.
Wade through the sweat and tears of your unrewarded hard work.
Walk on, brave soul, though the way is long.
Never give up.
When the world mocks your courage,
Calling you naive, a child in your hopefulness;
Never give up.
Let your passions raise you far above the clouds of their doubt,
And of your own,
And you will persevere.
Strive ever higher, and you may yet touch a star, strong soul.
Never give up.

I, Myself

Endless nights of sound and fury,
Clawing the nerves of my spine-
Stopping briefly to compress my breast,
And bone, and sinew.
Eyes wide open, glazed with voices.
A shivering creeps to the four winds
Propelled by the breath of my lungs,
of my body, of my soul.
A mad light fills my mouth; overflowing.
A grim smile splits my lips and my face
Tears through the lie
And reveals the feral beast in its natural habitat.

The Stars are in Our Eyes

Soaring on high, through the zephyrus expanse of sky
Heart singing in harmony with the drumming Earth
I am one with my home, and at peace with the Great Mother.
Above, the cosmos dances wildly as we raise our voices in praise
Of life, and of the sheer joy of being here in this land;
Our sacred space carved out of stars and spirit,
Lush and forgiving of our paltry trespasses,
And loving us from the soles of our feet, to our wondering eyes.
I touch down on the mossy ground,
Inhaling the breath of the land, letting the planet fill my starving lungs,
And crouching down, the ground has more stars than the sky.

The Flight of The Morrigan

And from the hearts of men,
Bloodied and glorious as Cú Chulainn,
Sprung daughter of Ernmas,
The Morrigan.
Raven-black wing swept,
The battlefield trembled beneath amber wolf eyes,
Souls of the fallen rose up to lift her wings,
The Babd, The Nemain, and The Morrigan.
The warrior falls to the flash of the blade,
And screams his last war-cry; his call is her name.
Above him she wheels, she dives, and she soars,
The Anu, The Macha, and The Morrigan.
As the sun bleeds its last o’er hills and the heather,
The souls of the dead have dispersed in the ether,
And the whole of the land hears the wings of
The Morrigan.