Abandon

Each day I have waited for you
By barrels filled with empty sand—
The long pipes lying beside them
Are layered with dust by misuse,
While wires that hang overhead
Still squirm with waning energy.

Yes, here, amongst the rats at night
With their growls of putrid wrath,
Have I grown weary of lonely waits;
The hot rays of waning sunsets
Glanced my cheek, whereas my beard
Grew long to touch the twinkling stars.

The Five Sins of Cavalcade

I saw you once, you smiled twice
And laughed three times again.
We walked by day and thought it night—
We didn’t know it then—

For all our talk, and all our play
Was only fun indeed,
We did not walk in our own way
But followed fourth in lead.

While rounding circle we would wind
Got lost in outer space,
And all the virtue we could find
Not ever could we face.

With amber cheeks and eyes of blue—
Could loose myself inside—
Contrasted lightly to the hue
Of stormy southern skies.

I smiled once, you laughed aloud,
But laughter not with lips,
They were with eyes that scanned the crowd
As long as lashing whips.

That held me hard, a grasp within
Your consciousness, the cinquain sin.