Shadow – Page 34 – Iron Haiku

moonlight runs into
the soft hollow of your throat
and spills down your breast
–
blue black night
the grey owl
becomes the moon

small talk in their booth
a dinner plate shatters and
she’s back in Iraq
–
turning winds
a yearling doe
prepares to bolt

luminous, rising
from below an ebony lake
in her hand, a sword
–
sunlit hillsides
shadows rolling
slowly to the shore

ripped from a deep sleep
waking up in tattered clothes
not sure where I am
–
full moon rising
my true form
no longer hidden

an ominous day
dark clouds pass before the sun
portents of ruin
–
stippled hillsides
revealing light and
fleeting shadows

watching you watch me
through heavily lidded eyes
as sleep becomes you
–
brindle underbrush
a chipmunk rests
beneath the leaves

a fire in the hearth
the snap of the autumn air
echoes in the flames
–
dying coals
fire orchids
in full bloom

walking with my thoughts
the sudden flurry of wings
once more I’m alone
–
circling on updrafts
watching the fish
take wing

running on instinct
pure adrenaline, and a
case of diet coke
–
pewter moonlight
silver fish turn
in pools of mist

a wolf’s low howling
echoes down the canyon walls
mournful and hollow
–
bathed in sunlight
a new swallowtail
unfurls it’s wings