The Memory of Light

The Memory of Light

A stillness strove to soothe the unbridled darkness
Shadows mystic shape did tether behind
by frayed thread ,
Drew me backwards while I sought ,
strung to the memory of light

Thoughts bound to contravened affections
Trussed to what once seemed
unfettered certainty
Fading allusions disavowed without balm

A lonely silence hauntingly pulses ,
Drowning out the learnt sagacity of solitude
Ache of a parched heart famished for solace ,..

Hearken quietude ... 

not a word spoken
yet everything is heard ,..

Staid in the serene respite
Understanding the natural
Detachment of disregard
in the turmoil of human struggle 

in search of truth ...

© Harlon Rivers ...  2014

Life hanging by a frayed thread

Life hanging by a frayed thread

so precious is she this volatile one
rescued he from the torn a perfect storm
unconditionally ennobling a broken heart
as it raged arduously this land and sea

how can a fading heart love so strongly
pulse weaker each vulnerable passing day
a love that bridged a forlorn lonely chasm
bereft an impossible emptiness too vast to fill

her heart’s grandeur spans his cosmos every twinkle
fraught by the weight too much gravity to bear
the breadth her unconditional love’s murmured imperfections,
eveanesce a waning life well lived

together their unbounded love hangs in the balance
juxtaposed beneath the sword of Damocles
the rumbling murmurs of a brave heart’s whispers
her bequeathed love once made him whole


black eyed dog lies in the fragile, shatterable balance
yet , a broken heart enlightened by unconditional love
time takes time, keeps on ticking sorely on your own
same old mountain ,..  is a steeper climb alone ...

harlon rivers   July 2014

... an overwelming reason to go digitally dark

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 ... 

Fallen from the arch of a rainbow

Fallen from the arch of a rainbow

Words written to steal away
the ache of somber silence
Diminish the twinge
an unheard heart pulsing restlessly

There’s a kind of solitary hush
chafes inwardly with a deafening lament
Invisible in the dewless starry eyes
as obscure onlookers pass on by

Pensiveness as vivid the memory
the incandescent quenching sun
Yet this weightless state still borne
never touched by a single caressing sole

Gravity cascades rippling downward
rolling like the flood a surging tide
Swamped by whelming distant memories
climbing over the rainbow arch of love

Swept off its expansive colour'd high-wire
into a lonely solacement woe betides
Free falling off the edge
a befallen amazing grace

Sinking level with a bottomless ocean floor
Suspended wistfully adrift
the cold dark rogue gypsy currents sway

Dreaming of looking up beyond the bounds
at last forevermore . . .

harlon rivers ©...5.25.2014

to the bird on a wire with song

To the bird on a wire with song 
♫♪♪♫♪
by harlon rivers

The burgeoning spring cadence
enchants the dew suffused air
Thoughts of a wealth fresh fruits and flowers ,
vegetables , new tomorrows
edifies this long awaited morn

Passing season's natural cycles continuum
ever changing season’s ebb and flow
Fallow ground battered mercilessly
by tempest prevailing wild wind-song

Drawn the unsown garden plot's alluring kismet
dormant 3 seasons languidly fleeting traces past
spate of pouring-down rains passing
beheld many wintertide’s wrath

Frost heave scared flesh
rough-hewn malignant deep freeze
Staid in abandoned quietude
patient beclouded moment’s pause

Incandescent stillness stirring
aneath the waning yellow moon
Sojourn a restful sleep's lullaby
soon to be passionately unmasked

Not long ago but waning memories
blanketed with a frozen variegated white ;
lying naked in silent atonement
barren of botanical life

Abundant with earthen elements
enriched in respite yet ,... Foxgloves strove ,
strewn about by past summer breeze ;
seeds sprout like mind of their own
caretakers , the ground they call home

Bird on a wire ruminating psalm
knowing each breath
is the conscious moment sung
Song Sparrow sings so sweetly ;
no sweeter melody a daybreak's known

Musically musing without worry
where the next worm will crawl ,
the one who often ponders
this hallowed garden ground ,
a steward of the earth's treasures

come back home yet never gone

Pacing blissfully the daybreak
spade and trowel keys in hand
whistles in melodic whispers
to the bird on a wire with song

Paired chickadees chatter whimsically
overlooking from atop cedar roof-line
calloused hand hollowed houses perched
atop deer fence post high throne

Mountain foothill's richness
loamy dormancy awakens unto sunlight
unlock its hidden earthen magic
a new dawn's awaited genesis take flight

Heart of earth’s opulent gifts
her bequeath dowry opened reverently
Humus aromatherapy wafts
ancient earthen aromatic soil

Mother earth opens her soul ,
to break bread ;
sown seeds of wholehearted hope
For to reap the abundant harvest
of a simple life well lived

Mushrooming sagacious harmony
with the spirit of the universe
listening to the resplendent essence
nature's uprising sonata sung

Black crow listens ,........
what language is spoken from heart of soul
in dim light by familiar voices intone ;
listening to the dawning unseeded garden's
broken silence , beckon a time for moving on ...

May 18^th , 2014

authors note: 

A daunting shoulder rotator cuff injury and long rehab has kept me from doing many things I love...this writing, with dirt beneath these nails, my land has been cultivated and now in the planting process after 3 seasons in limbo, life goes on...

We are not that different this land and I ...After writing and reading I ponder this life and me in this space, were thoughts this fallow land I embrace as home, really just introspective purging metaphors of a season finally changing , new seeds sprouting at fallow forlorn crossroads frozen in time ?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

I’m more than you know
I’m more than you see here
I’m more than you let me be
I’m more than you know
A body in a soul
You don’t see me but you will
I am not invisible
I am here

There is no them
There is no them
There’s only us
There’s only us
There is no them
There is no them
There’s only us
There’s only us
There is no them
There is no them
There’s only you
And there’s only me
There is no them

...from Invisible...U2