Tag Archives: determination

Fetal

Curled up in a ball
Wrapped up in a hammock
Swaying in the salty breeze
Saline stained cheeks turn salty red
Red ball dips below the water line

Or, buried in the sand
Naught but head
Protrudes from mock grave
Sand a bearable weight of being
Brings calm to anxious limbs
Deepens once shallow breaths

Huddled ’round a 55 gallon drum
Fire burning low
Fingerless gloves the compulsory style
Company sells tragedy cheap
But Rails sing a compelling song
To be part of the wave

Buried in thoughts of death
Unbidden
He seeks new life

©2021 H.K. Longmore

Melody and Counter

It was years ago,
But I wish it were only yesterday.
You were there,
Yes, you were there.

Melody to my counter melody,
And encouragement
For my improvement,
As my part I could not play.

Time and songs,
Performances, recitals passed.
I found a way to remember,
To improve:

I’d retreat to the river,
To the bridge;
Where I would be heard,
With none to harmonize.

At rehearsal last,
Familiar piece in folder found—
Dusted off for Christmastime;
Still I had the counter.

Remembering my old struggle,
I began to fret;
You still had the melody,
But you were absent yet.

And you still had
The encouragement,
If only in my mind;
Your words, your melody I recalled.

I played alone
And played it well;
Praise for impromptu solo
I received.

Where thanks for praise should have flowed,
My tongue instead remarked
How incomplete I, counter melody,
Was without you, melody.

How incomplete I was without you.

© 2018 H.K. Longmore

Determined

No rule or guideline will stop him,
He is determined to see it through.
Nerves are naught out on a limb,
He’ll see it through.

Should it require interruptions,
Or patiently waiting,
A hook now baiting,
He’ll see it through.

If it brings his flesh to incorruption
By this his last act,
It will happen, he made a pact.
He’ll see it through.

He’ll say hello—ahem—
But for one small problem,
He’d see it done:
The cubicle is an empty one.

©2015 H.K. Longmore