I put the kettle on. (Forever since you loved me) Set the cup and laid the linen. (Forever since you held me) Steeped the leaves and measured honey. (Forever since you kissed me) Sipped my tea and wrote my thoughts. (Since forever, Love, forever)
Threads are scattered across my lap. How long have I lain cross this table? Tic Tic the Clock in the back of my head - and the table rocks. Threads. Thread... bare in my hands. The original tie -in. Like a macramé hanging - in its unformed state yet frayed from sliding fingers. And the time. Ceasing. Unceasing. I relent. the hands, the pen, the plug. Toc Toc the Clock. Stand - and the threads scatter Across the floor. Shelley Rae Bell
you only know.
shines on me.
while I suffer notes of weariness
shadows play in minor key.
and I see
notes in blues and reddish hues.
Up and down the scale it goes
a song begging to be free.
shelley rae bell
Do I keep things out? Or in?
I cannot tell. I would not say.
Forged bars are where doors
would compose an opening.
I held the blacksmith’s hammer.
And tongs when I breathed fire.
Placed each bar in tedious fashion.
A wartime plan.
Do I lock the door against? Without?
I select. I would indulge.
A secret keepers combination.
A brave companion.
shelley rae bell
Where the light is
Between the night and dawn,
the sound of waking birds calls out and then responds across the view.
Not alone. But…
Waves meet the shore and slash against
the wooden pilings underneath some burdened boards.
A lonely chair sits, awaits its owner, cold and damp from dark’s scrutiny
Waits for mornings warmth and dissipation of night’s cold, unfriendly offering.
Where the light is
between the dawn and darkest night, the sounds of life grow dim
and sleep falls across the waters.
Waves rustle to the sand and tickle wooden pilings.
I watch my feathered friends hurry ‘cross the waters to their safety.
I envy. Then…
These splintered burdened boards hold me,
I lay down and feel the breath of day breathe out.
I let dark’s scrutiny cover me in hope
that morning’s light returns.
shelley rae bell
My love pours out to sea and is ravished by the waves.
And in that dissipation,
bleeds up to the sky.
I want to slip away and hide
in a still dark night
and be a shadow.
Watch the world
and from afar observe.
I will record what others live
with pen and lens.
I’ll be a breath upon the scene
and slip away unknown.
A stealthy thief of stories
Bathed in the camouflage
Of bravest face
And will of steel.
~sbell
Shelley Rae Bell 