Chance – Page 20 – Iron Haiku

living on the edge –
tasting the forbidden fruit
and consequences
–
future regrets-
I send a drink
down the bar

a rusting iron gate-
beyond the overgrown path
crumbling headstones
–
bristlecone pines-
deeply rooted
to the earth

my journal entry-
today I start another
lap around the sun
–
willow branches-
a crack appears
in the robin’s egg

plying the trade winds-
seeking safe harbor under
an ocean of sky
–
rolling seas-
sails reefed
before the storm

shut in this fortress
long days spent looking over
my kingdom of sand
–
rising tides-
my castle begins
to crumble

as the sun goes down-
I turn the final pages
of this well worn book
–
a ashen moon-
mist descends
upon the moors

the village emptied
bodies lay unburied with
no one left to mourn
–
tumbleweeds-
sun scoured bones
picked clean

ghosts of the future
block my way and haunt me with
all I could have been
–
heavy rain-
our great oak
uprooted

building my fortress
I bury my emotions
beneath the first stone
–
cacophony-
late night frogs
in my stone walls

alabaster skin
flush with the pain of pleasure
however fleeting
–
lilacs in bloom-
bees harbored
in the blossoms