January 7, 2011 “woman…fujisan” third in a series
“woman…fujisan” third in a series
from her misty throne
Fuji ascends azure sky
love, just a pittance
©tlh 1/7/11
The image is of a woodblock print of Japanese artist Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: (#27) Tama River in Musashi Province
January 5, 2011 “woman…fujisan”
“woman…fujisan”
**
brooding mountain heart
bares her soft frozen shoulder
fujisan scorns me
©tlh 1/5/11
The image is of a woodblock print of Japanese artist Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji: (#8) Inume Pass, Koshu.
January 1, 2011 “thoughts at midnight”
***
“thoughts at midnight”
outside my midnight door
the darkness is shattered
by gunfire and bombs
thunder-rocked air rattles my floor
stillness and tranquility
vaporized in the flashes
are ringing in my ears…
the travail of two years
the ebb
of the dying old
the possibility
of the infant new
memories and dreams
past and future
for a moment
then…
another explosion
announcing…
a birth
a death
a beginning…
the end
©tlh 1/1/11
December 31, 2010
Dreams
Two thousand ten was a year of dreams…
dreams born…
dreams aborted…
dreams killed in their prime…
dreams living one day at a time…
dreams, too feeble to last, that died of natural causes…
dreams never dreamed because of fear…
I wonder…
What dreams may come next year.
©tlh 12/31/10
December 28, 2010 “a single thought”
***
“a single thought”
she is my thought at sunrise
in my sunsets she dwells
she waits for me in my dreams
I hear her voice in the depths of my slumber
she whispers
she smiles
she laughs
her eyes lead me into my destiny
I see into her soul
there she holds my heart
and hers is mine
love is ours
we are one
©tlh 12/28/10
December 23, 2010 “Winter’s Night”
*****
“Winter’s Night”
*
snow lies on the ground dimly gleaming
icy fog creeps furtively across the frozen scape
muted moonshine’s frosty glow
gives a pearlescence to night shadows
a cacophonic dirge of silence sounds
for snowbound trees
bowing to a heavy mantle of white
ceding their verdant glory
to the rimy majesty of winter
©tlh 12/23/10
December 19, 2010 “the anvil and the crow”
“the anvil and the crow”
black crow
with onyx eyes
midnight pools
in midnight skies
watches with his flinty orb
his black beak clicking
to the pounding beat…
ting…
tink tink
ting…
tink tink
the avian smithy’s piceous hammer
rapping the rhythm
tapping the time
to the paean of my soul
the inescapable gaze
through sooty haze
the curious bird
discerning the meaning
of the syncopated peening
my heart
drawn from forging fire
a white hot glow
in the eye of the crow
beating
atramentous wings
forming it
shaping it
upon Love’s cold anvil
©tlh 12/19/10
Listen to this here:
December 12, 2010 “Ah…Mistletoe”
“Ah…Mistletoe”
frosty mistletoe
high in the sycamore tree
visions of red lips
snowy river flows
neath the frozen mistletoe
thoughts of warm kisses
gray winter shadows
lovers sharing winter’s breath
spy the mistletoe
©tlh 12/12/10
December 8, 2010 “frozen”
“frozen”
*
the sky is frozen
so is the wintery air
the snow sticks it to the frozen ground
until it’s hard to breathe
the crystalline atmosphere
claws its way into my lungs
begrudgingly imparting life
to my icy veins
ignoring the gelid stains
the desolation pains
of the cold-black aloneness
that is my frozen heart
©tlh 12/8/2010
December 5, 2010 “her kiss”
“her kiss”
the letter she wrote
is sealed with a kiss
her red lips kissed the paper
and kissed my love-sick heart
my longing eyes
have pored so often
over the loving note
that the words are worn
and the page is falling apart
but like a favorite quilt
on a cold winter night
the words comfort me
and the lips that kissed the paper
warm my lonesome heart
©tlh 12/5/10
December 3, 2010 “snow kissed”
“snow kissed”
take a walk with me in the snow
across the soft blanket of quiet snow
and listen with me to the hush
that has settled in the valley
on the cedar and pine
and rested in my heart
for I know you are mine
as we walk hand in hand
in the pure white glistening snow
kiss me among the fluttering flakes
falling feathers from angel’s wings
that tickle our smiling faces
leaving behind traces
of silver trickling across the spaces
that no longer exist between us
the melted crystalline passion of our lips
kissing in the shadowless glow
tasting the sweetness of love…and new-fallen snow
©tlh 12/2/10
November 27, 2010 “outside the box”
“outside the box”
when the sunrise is rising
into your life
don’t think it’s just the morning
when dark clouds are parting
to show some blue sky
don’t think it’s just the weather
when the moonlight is lighting
your way in the night
don’t think it’s just a phase
when butterflies are flying
down deep in your heart
don’t think it’s just a feeling
when it’s sunshine and blue skies
moonlight and butterflies
it’s my love loving you
©tlh 11/27/10
November 24, 2010 “Thanksgiving Day”
“Thanksgiving Day”
*
Be thankful
that’s what it’s all about, we try to attain
the state of mind , we seek to obtain
on this Thanksgiving Day
Thank you
is easily said or thought at the least
as we stand at the head of a bounteous feast
on this Thanksgiving Day
Thankfulness
in a land of plenty is well understood
but it slips our minds more often than it should
on this Thanksgiving Day
To know true Thankfulness
is to find the peace to lift empty hands
at the head of a barren table in a desolate land
and say…Thank You
on this Thanksgiving Day
©tlh 11/24/10
To each of my friends across this small world,
whether you’re American or not,
I wish the happiest and most blessed
Thanksgiving Day
Sincerely, Tracy Harris
November 23, 2010 “impressions”
“impressions”
*
November rain falls from sagging clouds
crawling like smoke
across the cold landscape of late Autumn
obscuring mountain tops in a misty chill
permeating the bones of the earth and man
the valleys flowing with a silent fog
in remnants and shreds
that drag and catch in the knotty fingers
of a lone, gray tree
its bare gnarled hand clawing at the invisible sky
from a monotone field the dim dreary haze
creeps across a rain blackened fence row
and through the rickety slats of an ethereal red barn
to my window
the wet glass rendering the scene
like a sunless vision of Monet
I shiver behind the foggy frame
as I turn to search for a blanket
©tlh 11/23/10
November 22, 2010 “love her”
“love her”
*
broken heart
my
broken heart
torn asunder, torn apart
by another
for something other
by that evil
devil’s dart
fiery flaming
deadly aiming
eternally maiming
devil’s dart
that struck me
as I stood
where first I met her
beauteous eyes
assuring
never demurring
so alluring
beauteous eyes
and heard her honeyed voice
and bereft of any choice
but to listen
as the golden drops glisten
upon chords so strong
a dripping, gripping
siren song
slipping
into my heart
like a velvet blade
softly killing me
chilling me
willing me
to chance
to dance
through the fear
to music unclear
that I cannot hear
for the sounding
of the pounding
in my ear
telling me
selling me
compelling me…
to love her
©tlh 11/22/10
Listen to this here:
November 21, 2010 “care lessness”
A Sunday 160 @ Monkey Man
“care lessness”
set sail west
to the setting sun
to the arms of love
the arms of one
who beckons you come
o’er the tide
be ever by my side
oh, never mind…
you’re no sailor
©tlh 11/21/10
November 20, 2010 “tears that you cry”
“tears that you cry”
I tasted the salt on your cheek
see the glistening corner of your eye
hear the crack in your voice
feel the tremor in your hand
as you courageously try
to hide them from me
and not let me see
all of the tears that you cry
but I see it all in your face
please tell me my darling why do you weep
when the sunshine is warm
and the sky is so blue
why is the sadness so deep
what are the fears
that draw out the tears
what are the secrets you keep
hidden inside of your heart
I wonder where do you go when you’re gone
when the world is too much
and it comes crashing in
when you feel like being alone
I wish I could tell
your escape from this hell
and help you carry this stone
©tlh 11/20/10
November 17, 2010 “Optimist’s Limerick”
what’s a snowball’s chance in hell
not all that good I can tell
but I’ll take on those odds
and defy all the gods
and hope that this love turns out well
©tlh 11/17/10
November 15, 2010 “gravity”
I was viewing the Apple Core Nebula Saturday night at a local observatory.
I realized that what I was seeing actually occurred around 1200 years ago.
(the Nebula is approximately 1200 light years from Earth)
1200 years ago, in the year 810, Charlemagne was Emperor in Rome ,
and Venice, Italy was being founded.
Everything I was looking at, all that beauty, was from long, long ago.
*
*
“gravity”
*
my words are lost
scattered across the blackness
chaotic
tumbling end over end
into the voids and vacuums
and the cold
icy ink of a loveless cosmos
where every object I see
is only an image
from the past
racing to my eyes
at the speed of light
like the sparkle of a star
and I’m nothing
more than a wordless astronomer
trying to draw words from space
without gravity
because my gravity is gone
***
©tlh 11/15/10
(photo from Google)
November 14, 2010 “untitled”
Sunday 160 @ Monkey Man
(untitled)
*
How do I
stop the world spinning
make a new beginning
change the universe
How do I
start it all again
do without the pain
try to break the curse
find true love
*
©tlh 11/14/10
November 13, 2010 “iron heart”
“iron heart”
***
rusted iron heart
of a rusted iron man
turned to dust
in the steely chest
of his faceless form
rusted away
a slow decay
through salty years
of raindrop tears
without the love
of his iron maiden
***
©tlh 11/13/10
(Photo by tlh)
November 12, 2010 “dream forgotten”
“dream forgotten”
*
I awoke in the middle of a dream
in the midst of some scape
a fleeting vision
of happiness
contentment
or maybe sad darkness
a foggy memory
the fog entering
through my sleepy eyes
as they open
the dream fades into the mist
my heart
vibrating in my chest
like butterfly wings
reaching for the phone
by my bed
a familiar ringing
in my head
it was her ring
I smiled a sleepy smile
as my hand reached
I heard the ringing
the far away ringing
from deep in the fog
the sad foggy darkness
of a dream
misplaced
or forgotten
©tlh 11/12/10
November 9, 2010 “chains”
“chains”
at the dying of the day
when the sun has set
and the western sky has bled
its flaming red blood into the thirsty black horizon
and the cold darkness of winter
with hard icy fingers
grips the night and the souls who are trapped in it
until all lies and untruths
strangled
bereft of light and being
are left lying
nothing but shadows of shadows
I am blinded by the thick jet
of fears and stark reality
truth
smothering
chilling
truth
hangs upon my shoulders
like sooted chains
like a hundred soot black chains
each link a memory
every memory
a breath
a touch
a glance
a smile
a sigh
a tear
until sunrise
I embrace the chains
©tlh 11/9/10
November 7, 2010 “plain truth”
“plain truth”
Stumbler
Bumbler
Fumbler
Fool
Poor man
Rich man
Beggar man
King
Preacher man
Sinner man
Wise man
Cretin
Great and Small
are undone all
by fickle love of
Women
©tlh 11/7/10
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