Poet. Writer. Photographer.
I never did
become bitter,
never let
my heart freeze,
but slowly,
I loosened
the grip
on the string
of my dream…
Not a death,
but last rites
respectfully
performed,
its helium
finally lost
just above
your shore…
My heart
descended
gently
into your hands;
I felt
that moment,
for inside me,
hope fluttered
again.
The way we make
our own magic,
dispel the spells
of cynicism,
leads me so easily
in complete belief
that our love will indeed
win.
So dance with me, my darling,
through all these ups and downs;
we’ll keep relighting our dreams
and color our own world.
Poem and image ©LauraDenise
I’ve loved before.
That’s what lovers do.
Never the problem,
just the flue.
My heat rising
and released,
but others
closed the vent.
I self-suffocated
each ember
of chance.
Again.
And again.
But my match,
finally met.
Impervious
to my intensity,
my molten form
held so tenderly.
I still love them all
for that’s what lovers do,
but so grateful each
closed that flue.
My fire is now
oxygenated,
a type of glow
that originated
when I was finally able
to feel being held,
and the way he made me
first love
myself.
We fell,
we rose,
along the way,
grew together,
blue and white
lovemaking
constellation
flame.
Oaths unspoken,
wordless vows,
our mutual love
could never be spelled,
no linguistic language
to transcribe these feelings
when souls communicate
in spiritual understandings,
silent exchanges
through touch and glances,
in light and irises,
we commune, begin
our dance.
Poem and image ©LauraDenise
If I offered you my hand,
would you walk with me,
leisurely toward dreams
sunsetting upon the sea?
If I shared what’s in my shell,
let you hear the whispers,
would you heart-preserve them
among your dearest treasures?
If I stopped and turned
and looked into your eyes,
would I find there
what I’ve been searching for
all of my life?
If I were brave enough
to let that gaze linger,
would you be brave enough
to close the distance
even further?
If you kissed me,
would you be able to surrender,
to allow me to turn the key
and make you mine
forever,
not by locking,
but by releasing,
freeing the love
you’ve been deep-freezing,
to feel directly
the flutter of mine,
the wings I have grounded
indefinitely from flying?
And if they combined,
these lights in our souls,
would you regret
not having the time
for closure with
your shadows?
If our union ends
up to be the origin
of love,
would this moment
be perfect enough
for the first page
of our album?
Would you fall
each day deeper
in love with me;
would our love grow
until it lifts us
into eternity?
I suppose if you don’t know
all of this now,
I’d still like to walk with you
awhile,
and if you already know
all of this now,
you should know
these feelings in me
I could never
disavow.
As you reach for my hand
even though none of this
I have said aloud,
I feel the universe shift
and know I have been
finally found.
Poem and image ©LauraDenise
Kiss me
like the dawn
blushes the petals’ soft pinks,
gradual illumination
that candle-flickers
inside of me.
Chill the red wine.
Don’t cut red roses.
Just be the soft drizzle
of rain upon love’s garden.
We can restore
the passion
when the moon rises,
but for now,
linger on me longer
in the slow romance of
the morning.
Poem and image ©LauraDenise
Between my fingers, I slowly twirl
the way I’ve done before,
white petals like the pinwheel
that may in turn propel my heart
and set in motion in the universe
the dreams I’ve protectively harbored,
but now I realize, those dreams have been
all granted by the stars,
so the only thing that fades
in the mist of heaven’s clouds
is my grip on hope
for I can release the hold
now that I have been delivered
to your arms.
Each moment
I gently hold
so tenderly,
each for a separate
still-life eternity,
seal in a crystal
tear of joy,
baubles of my heart
hung in the field,
suncatchers upon
the Tree of Life,
and I kneel and feel
the kiss on my bowed head
from the Light,
and my Father whispers,
“It is what I have always wanted
for you, my sweet child.”
I rise and return
to the heaven
of your love,
and just for today,
for us,
time slows down…
Cocooned in the soft
morning light of my love,
draped in the barely-pink
lip brushes of my touch,
comfortably cradled in
complete and mutual trust,
stay awhile longer
in the bliss of us…
Poem and (unedited) image ©LauraDenise
Beneath the Prunus avium Plena,
I walk with thee,
our souls the same
double bloom,
pure white,
light-laced,
bound tenderly.
Graceful and gracious
is this love;
we bow humbly.
The birds sing.
Eternal spring.
Hearts hatched;
finally, the Birthing.
My life began
when you reached
for my hand,
and we strolled
into our dreams leisurely,
intentionally losing
ourselves together
among the double white
cherry trees.
