Shade 40: O Ithaca

No suitor can at all compare
To what love hath drove me to
From the darkest depths of the deepest caves
I return for you
The siren song was tempting sure
And the cyclops’ strength immense
But in my heart I was homeward bound
Nothing could stay me hence
From the rocky shores to the deadly pool
Many crew my friends have died
I’ve buried them but stayed my grief
For I would not bury my pride
My love for you will never wan
It flourishes more than you will know
If you insist on testing me here
Just fetch for me my bow

Shade 39: The Rack

Standing in line at the DMV
And the seconds tick tick by
I do not know how long it’s been
But I fear I’ll be here till I die
The circus of employees here
Seem so mad at all of us
I just need my license renewed
I’m trying not to make a fuss
They take offense to everyone
And it’s clear they hate their lives
Why do I need this stupid card
I don’t even like to drive

Shade 38: Hemastis’ Well

The ripest peaches turn to ash
While cool clear lakes turn dry as sand
The vibrant rainbow dulls to grey
The red red rose withers in my hand
And the deepest dreams I’ve dreamt since youth
Once fin’ly reached are shallow tides
For there is no value or beauty for me
Without you by my side

Shade 37: Scale of Emerald

Test my skills and cunning by dropping hurdles in my path
While the path already had hurdles of its own
Try to make it ever harder just to see how I’d react
To see if I’m deserving of the prize that I’ve been shown
But don’t doubt my ingenuity, my cunning, or my skill
They lead me clear through snares and toils and still are at my side
I may not see the answer now but I swear I will prevail
And my vict’ry will be twice as sweet for the depths that I’ve been tried

Shade 36: On the Mountain

The road has been so very long
But at least I’m not alone
You’ve helped me share my burden
Walking t’wards the dark unknown
All this time I feel we’ve been waiting
Though I don’t know whatever for
Now everything is said and done
So I suppose we wait no more
There’s fear and apprehension
Waiting for what tomorrow brings
But my friend, I am glad you are with me
Here at the end of all things

Shade 35: The Spider in Sunlight

A spider sat in sunlight
Basking tranquil on a rock
And a moth flew down at this unusual sight
He said ‘Spider, this is curious
You shouldn’t be here now!
Spiders hide inside their web until the night.’

The spider simply smiled
He said ‘Moth don’t gen’ralize.
I may be a spider, but not like any spider you have seen.
For one, my web is welcoming
And I enjoy the morning sun
And I don’t eat other insects, for its mean!’

The moth was quite surprised
While the spider said ‘It’s true!
So leave me here in peace do not rude!’
‘I am sorry’ said the moth
Embarrassed to be sure
‘But I’ve never met a spider who did not think of me as food’

‘Then sit with me a while’
Said the spider to the moth
‘Have a little trust and you may just make a friend’
So the moth flew to the spider
Where they sat upon the rock
The moth said ‘spider you were right, I didn’t mean to condescend’

The spider smiled charmingly
As he bit into the moth
Saying ‘Never doubt when logic says to run
For nature dictates what we are.’
And the moth knew he was food
But he was right and he sat paralyzed, dying in the sun

Shade 34: Prismatic Spray

Where’s the thunder that I used to know
The bright white light shining through my soul
The fires gone and it left a hole
But that won’t bring me down

Now the days and the nights blend in
It’s so boring that I can’t begin
To shed out of this dying skin
But that won’t bring me down

There’ll be rain in the field one day
Pouring down on the folks who pray
But the clouds are so far away
Still that won’t bring me down

Don’t let them see what they might have won
Keep your faith waiting for the sun
When the rain comes you won’t drown
So don’t let that bring you down

Shade 33: Passing in the Night

Shh… I love you
But it’s a secret just for me
And though at times I want to shout it
I just smile quietly
I keep it locked away forever
In that place I keep for you
And I know that when you look at me
You have a secret too

Shade 32: From the Cauldron of Impossibility

There was a day the Earth was dry
Naught but a rock of fire
A thing so set in what it was
The God’s themselves could not conspire
To change the landscape overnight
Of a world so harsh and hostile
It seemed a fruitless stymieing plight
How could it be worth while
But when the ash and soot had set
The clouds though wispy thin
With courage high and patience great
Began to settle in
For though the trek would be so long
Nearly impossible they knew
Drip by drip and drop by drop
They turned this brown rock blue

Shade 31: Mr. Gilbert Gets Crunk

To sip the suds of sweetness
In a booming bawdy bar
I remain in my replete-ness
Cause I can’t control a car
I would like to linger longer
But I fear I’m facing far
And my sweat is smelling stronger
Than a tub that’s topped with tar

There’s a lot of lovely ladies
Flirting freely in the fore
Giving men but mystic ‘maybes’
Which makes ‘em want it more
They desire dainty flowers
Till their drool drips to the floor
And have been binging here for hours
Certain sickness is in store

The room is rung with riddles
Lasting late and long
Of felines playing fiddles
And of sailors singing songs
The pub has a plethora of patrons
And I’d bet that you belong
Among the maids and matrons
Here assembled in our throng

Shade 30: From the Writing Desk of V. L’Moane

Dear Lawrence,

I have news, I’m not doing so well
If you are reading this it means that I’m dead
Dear Lawrence don’t weep, do not greave for me now
For there’s important things must be said
Of all of my nephews I loved you the least
You are obnoxious and callous you snot
So put down your tissue and dry those fake tears
For God’s sake be the man that you’re not
Now as you well know my fortune is vast
And my generosity famed through the state
This is the reason for me writing you now
For there are tensions I must alleviate
Dear Lawrence you crap, you are out of my will
I leave not a penny for you
Do your remember the Christmas you called me a cow
I assure you I certainly do
You said they should milk me, and put a bell round my neck
And find me the old bull that I crave
You laughed and you laughed all Christmas day
Now it’s me laughing… just from the grave
Give mummy a kiss from her favorite sister
Dear Lawrence good luck on your own
Do not pity yourself though your brothers are rich
Chin up

Sincerely, Victoria L’Moane

Shade 29: Ashen Victor

What life can grow in this barren waste
This land of iron desert
Where fire and ice battle years on end
And they’re both too tremendous to measure

What lure is there in the darkening red
That stretches beyond the horizon
With cliffs and with crags so different from here
But with no visible fruit to cast eyes on

Yet beckoned we are to the cold sterile dunes
This rocky metallic gravestone
It offers so little but temptation is great
To attempt to understand the unknown

Shade 28: Pioneer

Load the wagons, get the Ox
Depart at dawn is best
With what provisions and reserves we need
We’re heading dreamward West
The trail is long, the journey hard
We’ll be tested to the core
But we’ve done all we can to ready ourselves
So let us wait no more
We’ll ride the road that few have rid
And turn our backs to strife
By sticking hard when faith is frail
We plant a brand new life

Shade 27: Red Eye Dark Night

In the dark of the night as I lie awake
Quite obsessed
Begging rest
For my mind to take

No repose do I find lying in my bed
But I wait
Contemplate
What goes through my head

I am still ever still as the night time creeps
Inching by
For a while
But dear God no sleep

Twisted shapes in the dark dance around the night
Beading sweat
Silent yet
While my fever spikes

And the moon waxes on through the night it creeps
I’m obsessed
Begging rest
But dear God no sleep

Shade 26: Midnight Blue

I see the flashing neon hidden by the fog
Tucked inside an alley off the street
The door is plain and cold and there’s just a little sign
That invites me to my own midnight retreat

The softened yellow light leaks out beneath the door
As it opens to admit my leather shoes
The usuals are slumping after hours at the bar
While Baxter in the corner wails the blues

His mellow saxophone plays the anthem of the night
A striking match and clink of cups the only other sound
This is where the lonely drink in quiet desperation
So I join this motley crew to which I’m bound

But at least here it’s familiar and there’s nothing unexpected
Where the harlots and the business men entwine
A layer of cigar smoke lingers like a mystic haze
And everyone has secrets on their mind

Like so many nights before it began with such potential
To free me from the doldrums I know too well
But like a mariner to the sea I’m pulled back into this haven
To finish out another evening in a solitary hell

Shade 25: Out of the Maze

I’ve solved you, completed you, figured you out
I’ve got the equation for sure
I know all the secrets that you hide within
For you can confound me no more
You subtleties once were so enigmatic
You puzzled my brain to the core
But now I’ve applied the right reason and logic
So now at night sleep will endure
O Now when I revisit your memory
I can’t believe I was stumped so before
The answers so simple the meanings so clear
The impenetrable wall has a door

Shade 24: Portrait of Morningside

The sun is high
The day is cold
The street is wide
The pavements old
The bricks are cracked
The trees are bare
The walls are stacked
The sirens blare
The people curse
The children cry
And none converse
Or even try
They don’t pay
Attention to
What people say
What people do
The garbage piles
Within the streets
It stinks for miles
Like rotted meats
I don’t know why
But there are some
Who say they like
To call this home

Shade 23: Sliver of Gold

The Piper plays for Springtime
His dulcet minuet
That whispers through the air and greening leaves
The bubbling brook will echo
Where the ivys climbing yet
The warm and gentle melody he weaves

The minuet is faint now
But grow it ever will
Until resounding through the world it blows
For now though death is lingering
And the trees are frozen still
The seed beneath the ground slowly grows

Shade 22: Lecherous Gluttonous Sloth

My dreams are not ridiculous
It’s dreaming that you hate
How I could try to strive so high
To change the landscape of my fate
I see your misery on your face
You’ll wear it to your grave
So take it out on my ambition
But I’m not the one enslaved
I will pursue the things I love
It gets me through your day
It’s the reason I don’t hate myself
And you’ll never say the same

Shade 21: The Cupboard was Bare

The surface of the lake is crystal clear
The fertile field is vacant
The whispering wood has no one there
The summit of the cliff is barren
The caves below are deathly still
The canyon floor is silent
The wheel is at rest beside the mill
The river is no longer violent
Tranquility fills the world around
And nothing stirs to wake it
Not even the birds or leaves make sound
And I don’t think I can take it

Lulled into a lurid haze
Need to rouse my lazy brain

Shade 20: So You Think You Can Beat Me In Scrabble?!

You may know more words than me
But I have something that you lack
A homicidal tendency to stab you in the back

I don’t have any consonants
You just laugh, but I don’t mind
I may not let my hatred show, I just bide my time

So get your triple letter score
On a word that is six tiles long
But I have an advantage too: none will miss you when you’re gone

Now let’s put the board away
And drink to your victory
But when I poured the glasses full I poisoned yours, tee-hee!

You didn’t see the Arsenic so
You’ve no need to defend
You may have won at Scrabble tonight, but I’ve won in the end

Shade 19: The Beachwood and the Bellows

The wolf winds howl and prowl the streets
With numbness in their stare
They pale your lips
And fingertips
And freeze you with their glare

The ice gnomes stalk and walk the road
They trudge with chilly airs
And cast around
A cold unbound
That reaches everywhere

The frost witch flies the skies of day
And stings with bitter façade
Through drifts of snow
The winter winds blow
For the Great White Cold walks abroad

Shade 18: Beginning Long Ago

Amidst the Autumn’s crimson sky
A gentle breeze did waft
A journey’s scent has passed me by
Upon the wind so soft

The journey’s path is not chosen in route
Nor is it in valor
But it’s paved in way
By light of day
And bathed in the stars’ silver shower

So blow a trail for me to tread
A road to follow hence
And I will ramble clear of head
And cast away pretense

My eyes are fully opened now
Gazing swiftly down the road
Standing here and waiting for my future to unfold
Whatever paths that it may behold
As I travel down my way
Singing to the break of day