the passing of unrequited love ,.. or something like it

you slammed the screen door closed

to the best part of my losing streak

blowing down the road like the wind

some say: “a rolling stone gathers no moss”

begets a heart’s defrayed silent drone

steal away your season’s sigh fleeting past

it’s been so long without a scrap or crumb

now summer’s back abloom at long last

that waning memory look in your eyes ,

comes as no surprise , hints once known by heart

looking down on me

like you’re higher ground

beneath those rhinestone clad paper wings ;

did carry burden’s weight , all torn and bent ,

against a stream of vanity and broken dreams

how I remember when you sang so sweetly

blinded by love can be such a liar

oh ! how unrequited love can be an empty cup

when you’re too thirsty to drink

when you’re down on your luck

I kissed your swellen lips passionately

felt the sensual sway of your hips

divin’ in blind into unknown depths

your mouth tasted so full of questions

eyes deep as restless blue ocean reflections

knowing I could n’er be the answers

unknown questions , answerless allusions ,

you still don’t know what love means --

fallow innuendos ne’r quench an insatiable thirst

can’t even tread water in an empty cup …

© harlon rivers ...June 2014

note :   ...just a vent or lament?

meloncholy thoughts of someone I once knew...

not so long ago, yet this haunting out of the blue...

perhaps a summer breeze rattled the screen door astir

and let the memories drift in ...

Song for Zula ... Phosphorescent

The Sublimity of Silent Understanding

You could see him walking hesitantly across the rolling vista hillside

Each step seemed to be carefully chosen

as if the fragile earth could be damaged by his footprint .  

Stopping as if he had arrived at the final destination .

His stature left the impression of a gentle man

You knew at first sight , there was more to him than that notion .

Seemingly always alone . . . like he was serving some life sentence

A solitary confinement that banished him to a life of solitude 

"Why do you trust me so,"  thought the gentle man ,

staring into the tall field of grass ? 

He realized what was thought in his mind ,

was spoken out loud breaking the silence .

They just looked back at him with raised ears ,

then looked away into the wooded grove as if to say ,

 “you know why”…

The soft baritone voice would often be heard

in the hush of nature’s tranquility .

He spoke to them as if he could understand their silent responses

from some other ancient level of unanimity of rhythm .

He sat on a nearby mossy rock very quietly

imagining he were part a oneness with the small herd .

He had a spirit that undoubtedly belonged " somewhere " 
unbeknownst to an unrequiting world

His ragged beard and salt and pepper untrimmed hair

left the impression he was from a simpler time

From a place where the world no longer passed by

on its search for rhapsody

Blending against the grey hued stillness of that boulder ,

He felt so grounded in nature and yet so misunderstood ;

irrelevant , invisible and abandoned by man , 

dreaming he was no longer human

as he melded into the arms of mother earth

Some slept , doe eyes closed , some watched with curiosity
His heart held openly in his hands ,
ached for the sigh of human touch

None moved away from the presence of the moment . . .

With heads and ears to the sky , they all seemed to move closer 

in an unguarded air of amity , as he continued to weep

"Why must I always feel like I will never be loved ? "

"Why have I never been accepted as I am anywhere but here ? "

Becoming fully immersed

in the spontaneous soul flow of tranquil harmony,..
... the silence of the deer replied ...