the sea of thwarted flights
breaks on shore, boldly throws
up spume for the sand
to absorb

war-weary, tempted 
to jettison all hope, we seek
solace of water, plod down dunes out 
of sight where the sky 
winks and clouds tangle above 
glittering waves as if that 
fertile abyss might be somehow 
more than a grave

in the limbs of
a wind-tortured thicket,
the strands that bind one branch to 
another hold no sway over death,
nor can they match our surly bond, 
more gasping than the
open sea

the destruction you carry
is carved in stone, binding you to 
me stronger than any love, 
and I cannot escape the tearing 
crash, scrape and rustle of your blind
gropings and janglings

they flare as a fueled pyre,
then recede again and again like the tides
only to ignite without warning,
as once when I, thinking you were
healed, saw you turn, sweep 
the unruly lock from your forehead, 
wave to me...and re-enter 
the dark

--Jo VonBargen 2011


"Beautifully written!" A time capsule for future generations. FROM THIS FAR TIME (The Human Saga) Fierce, taut poetry! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KJLCLC