ajaytyler

[ajaytyler]

Unbreaking Old Habits

I think there's something special in jotting down little slips of thought on pages stored in obscure corners.

Whatever's written is quite unlikely to be read but it's that zero point zero zero zero

one

that really stands out. Nobody's reading this. But, anybody could and that tiny gamble

gives it flavor

and elevates it from chore-and-bore to pleasant practice.

#poetry #poem #poem a day

[ajaytyler]

Security

More secure, they say-- New locks for the bland blue door. Strangers installed them.

#poem #poem a day #poetry #haiku

[ajaytyler]

These shackles weigh me down, Comfortable And familiar.

Stay or go, Yes or no,

It's a hard pick When the energy for What ifs Isn't around.

And so my dreams remain Cold, dull, and dear to me.

#poem #poetry #poem a day

[ajaytyler]

Re-collect

Here In this room I've forgotten just why I Walked into this room Here.

Travel is the last I remember, Uncomfortable, uncertain And all too fast. And now, peering out, I see that it Was not I That sped But the world.

Now, I am out of joint Looking for what I was looking for, Hungry and forgetful.

#poem #poetry

[ajaytyler]

If, Then

From the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

If, then, I say one thing and do another my hand shows my heart to be overfilled with lies.

If, then, my money is not mouth-bound, where is it? Where it is, my heart is also.

Depart; be warm and filled.

If, then, I do nothing after saying something what wages will I reap?

If I say nothing and do nothing what I leave undone is testimony as unkind as I.

#poem #poetry

[ajaytyler]

Topical Tropic

I've become a comfortable castaway; the island is not so bad. It has food and drink and telecommunications.

But the island is neither homeland nor dreamland.

He sent a ship; it's moored in the bay. I need only board to depart and be on my way.

Goodbye, dear rocks and stones which broke my bones, and mud pies that never filled me. I miss you though I've yet to leave, and the thought of that has chilled me.

#poem #poetry

[ajaytyler]

Something Different, Something Old

A stiff wind rattles the thin tin walls of a crude shelter. It's been left untouched. Alone in the forest at the end of a game trail, it looks like what it is: a child's fort made makeshift storage unit.

The child, now man, has returned.

Red-gold leaves crunch beneath his boots. He pushes aside the wood pallet that functioned as the door. Inside, on a pile of rocks he'd built to keep it from soaking in water when it rained, is the tarp-wrapped treasure he'd left behind more than a decade back.

He peeks beneath the faded blue layers of plastic. The heat and cold and humidity should have left a mark on the lacquered wooden box. Yet, even in the grey light that filtered through the branches above him, the box appears as bright and smooth as when he'd left it.

Tucking tarp and treasure under his arm, he leaves the way he came, following the winding route of the game trail.

Hours after he's left, the shelter collapses. Rest, at last, now that its charge has been retrieved.

[ajaytyler]

Knockabout

This road is magic. Where you end up depends on where you start.

Some folks give directions that seem to measure up sensibly but that won't take you to where either of you imagine.

Take this path directionless, however, and you'll still get lost. It bends and winds and twists in ways that would make you think twice about walking it

if you'd known how it'd go when you started down it.

And yet, looking back, the path is straight and one step leads to the next.

[ajaytyler]

Some days the words come tumbling out, Like children cartwheeling in the grass, Life-full and vibrant with joy to shout.

Other nights they come forth unwilling, Twisting away as soon as I let go. They shuffle about, say little, mean less.

In the end, even the ones wrought in objection Bring value to me I didn't know I'd lost Until I quit the effort to pull them up.

#poem #poetry #words are hard

[ajaytyler]

Hedgework

Eyes wide as my ears are open— Can you hear it? Like a dull murmur you can’t make out, The whisper of a story tickles at the edges Of my inner eyesight Just on the edge of seeing and believing.

A jumble of mumbles, Nonetheless something rises up; Something heard is translated To the form of figures and sight.

The difference is today, Unlike all the days that passed, I caught a glimpse of it. The shape, amorphous, Made a ridge, line and color.

Now seen, known, and further sought.

#poem #poetry #ramble

[ajaytyler]

Request

Take these thoughts, Lord, For they smack of madness. Take too these embers, For still they smolder.

Lift me out of myself So that I might be selfless. Disperse retribution from my tongue, That my hunger would become pure.

Fill, build, and wake me That I might forsake me.

#poem #poetry #prayer

[ajaytyler]

Remember

Do not forget in the valley What you have seen from the peak.

[ajaytyler]

Buried Deep, Build Your Own

Montenegro! Dear old friend, I thought lousy walls-- Hushwise quiet sepulchres That banged with life if sightwise. This means no more Than a mosaic mirror, The glancer greater Than the phantom, A shadow flickering in glass.

#poem #poetry

[ajaytyler]

Marvelous Siege

The walls vibrate under fire, Rumbling throughout the night, Yet I sleep in steady peace. Though this become a forever-siege, I'll be forever safe from its heat And know no more than passing fright. In the center of the city I keep the treasure, A precious prize made marvelous to me. I am city and sentry; this gift, though mine, Came neither from me nor of me: Lovingkindess of a kind of love That could stir a broken heart To beat with life again.

#poem #poetry #Poem a Day #Psalm 31:21

[ajaytyler]

Cleaning out the Attic

A lockbox-- Lid tighter than The pickle jar's When I refused help, Preferring it remain Unopened-- As secret, As dangerous, As captivating, As Pandora's. Lucky me, This one only holds Something I've forgot.

#poem #poetry #Poem a Day

[ajaytyler]

These Days

You wait at the door, Calm and enigmatic, While I scramble for Things I'll need. It's tradition, one of mine, To forget something, And have an item left behind. So long as it's not expensive, I'm okay with how that goes Because I've been waiting, Longing for the road.

#poem #poetry #Poem a Day

[ajaytyler]

An Arbor in the Storm

An angry willow tree, twisted up In a mad tangle-weave of leafy ropes, Knotted, frayed and stubborn, Interrupted its eternal mourning To conjure a tapestry For a weary traveler who stopped To gaze across the lake in thought In relative shelter from the raindrops. Such a beautiful tree, that willow, To tend to another's comfort.

#poem #poetry #Poem a Day