Sadness – Page 23 – Iron Haiku

black leather collar
tight around my neck lying
prostrate at your feet
–
cold stone-
village pews
stand empty

just another day
thoughts and prayers for the dead while
no one does a thing
–
a quiet morning-
evil flourishes
in the silence

documenting war-
pages inked with the spilled blood
of the innocent
–
shimmering heat –
blood pools
in the desert sand

staring at the clock
trying to understand the
cruelty of time
–
aching for sleep-
minutes collect
in piles on the floor

I can’t sleep at all
visions of the restless dead
inhabit my dreams
–
moon shadows-
a raven robed
in cobwebs

brown rivers swollen-
remnants of our prior lives
piled up in the streets
–
autumn sun-
in my living room
the black waterline

no one’s allowed in-
there’s only room for me in
this suit of armor
–
swift water-
armored scales
dimple the surface

a placid trout stream-
three old fishermen stand casting
amid the lilies
–
light rain-
three koi hide
under the bridge

I hit a doorknob
or tripped and fell down the stairs-
I’m just so clumsy
–
an autumn eve-
the sky lit by
a house on fire

sunday afternoon
on the line the week’s washing
left out in the rain
–
empty bottles-
even the baby
has stopped crying