Passing

one flame extinguished
while another adds it’s light
to the firmament

eyes downcast-
black armbands
wet with rain

Penance

another meeting-
I know your failings so well
as I do my own

rain slicked neon-
another club soda
graces my glass

Religion

knelt down before you-
my voice offered as a sign
of my devotion

scorched copper sky-
blood I’ve spilled
on your alter

Loneliness

reading into my
masochistic tendencies-
our old love letters

grimy windows-
a metal fan
stirs the air

White

the whiteness of bone
long buried in the desert
revealed by the wind

summer evening-
dogwood petals
in the grass

Humanity

the fifth of July
a time for reflection on
what we have become

saguaro cactus-
a small sneaker
in the sand

Mud

dark murky waters
dirt and debris stirred up from
raking the bottom

cold rain-
a dark past
muddied by truth

Light

a time of rebirth-
years spent living in the dark
rescued by your light

through the water
dancing reflections
from the surface

Seas

waiting for the sea-
an ancient mariner mourns
the arriving tide

bedraggled skies-
limp with rain over
an unkempt sea

Betrayal

in a shadow box
fragments of my broken heart
preserved and on display

shimmering heat-
pools of water
just out of reach