He’s forgotten how to smile,
Does not dream, nor hope to fly.
I’m sorry for him- more’s the pity,
To have no memory to make a wish,
For those happy moments truly lived
The ones you make and those you give.

Copyright 2016.   L. L. Shelton.

Her laughter, playful, amusing as a babbling brook in sunny spring;
Her smile, soft and promising as the sky before a gentle summer rain;
Her temper, changing, colorful as the leaves finding their hue in autumn;
Her posture, suggestive of deeply rooted seductive strength, solid as ice in winter;

She decorated his days as no other before her.
She infiltrated his thoughts in spite of time, in spite of distance.
She fascinated. She infatuated. She infuriated.
She pleased him as honey pleases the tongue.

His soul, nurturing his passions as a mother nurtures her young;
His mind, enslaved by intrusions welcomed as the morning begs the sun;
His heart, the master of illusion, as is Narcissus as he stares into the pool;
His dark delight grown wild in deepest night as the hungry jackal without prey;

He had to have her, but refused to plead her hand.
He must possess her, yet own her he would not.
He burned. He languished. He smoldered.
He forced her as winds force the storm,
Pinned her beneath the purple linen
Befitting the virgin daughter of a king.

She, used carelessly and tossed aside, as the bowl that held the soup;
He, placated only briefly, as the hog fed but an ounce of grain;
She, puzzled, a flash of anger in eyes as translucent shimmering glass;
He, lay breathless and confused, a hint of pain upon his chiseled brow;

Her rage now replaced by drops in glistening rivulets ran down golden cheeks.
His hurt now replaced by hardened stone held fast within his bronzed jaw.
Her tears trailing the valley where her heart throbbed, come to rest between ravaged breasts.
His princely face is set in grim determination to forget.

Copyright 2015. L.L. Shelton.

Memories like sand and snow
Fill my head till it overflows
Pour through my heart
And won’t let go

Murderers can be
As sentimental
As mothers
You know

Time swirled through my life
At the speed of light
Like sand and snow
Long ago

Something surely lost
May never be found
Be forever
Bound

Trapped like sand and snow
Twirling through globe
Of fragile glass and
Twisted past

Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.

(For My Sons and for Adam)

I saw the egg
‘Twas lying there
So delicate and blue,
Inviting to investigate,
Oh, what’s a boy to do?

I saw inside
The baby there
So soft and warm and new,
I didn’t know until that day,
The blessing that was you.

Copyright 2014. L.L. Shelton.

Mind is mystery,
Sin its history,
Holiness its victory.

Copyright 2014. L.L. Shelton.

Running ahead
To capture a moment,
Finding it gone to add to my torment.

Racing behind
To find where it went,
Now breathing hard totally spent.

Where did you go,
Life everlasting?
I can’t catch up!
You’re always in passing.

Copyright 2015. L.L. Shelton.

Time is swift,
Like the buck
Crossing the yard
Before the dog.

My arms ache,
Long holding
Nothing at all
Before the dawn.

Copyright 2015. L.L. Shelton.

We are usually wrong when we say forever-
When we say always, ever-after, and never.
These are ideas we’re ill-equipped to perceive-
Much less to conceptualize, live, and believe.

Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.

December storms
Come and go,
Yet only seldom
Bring the snow.
Stripped trees
And starker skies
Reflect our sighs.
As bitter winds,
Unfeeling night,
And colder days
Become our plight,
Bring on that magic,
Gentle and white.

Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.

Ice is coming
On the ninth.
Fairy dwellings
Of gingerbread
Will be faked.
Graham crackers
Surrounding
Cardboard cartons
Will be lost
In the storm.

Copyright 2017. L. L. Shelton.