Wreckage - Poem

Wreckage

I don’t know him

But one thing I do know;

He didn’t clean up his mess

When he left her -

Didn’t finish the job

Allowed her no closure

He leaves piss on the seat

At Starbucks

Cheats on his diet

Makes excuses for his temper

Steals pencils from work

Because in the faulty arithmetic of his wandering mind

They owe him.

He left her bereft

Changed his phone number

And found a rebound

While her heart bled into her socks

And her feet left bloody footprints

In thawing March snow…

Eric Marley

Autumn 2013

Temporary Savior - Poem

Temporary Savior

Death came again on one of those days

Portland January grey

When wet street was darkened sky

When gum sucked of flavor

Lay drowning, discarded in gutter

When there was no reflection in puddles

When there was no reflection in eyes

My heart was choking

On a slamming door

And the only sounds

Were gods hitting the floor

Every moth flew too close to the flame

Screaming they died cursing my name

And then you came.

With its dying breath

My heart begged aloud

“Look UP!”

My neck obeyed, and…

Your blue eyes

Your blue eyes

Your blue eyes

Met mine, and contained the only color in the world

Backlit from within
Your eyes betrayed
Your inner soul's search for the flower
Of soul manifesting through eyes

And unimaginably

Yours chose mine

You walked past

Too damned fast

And I strained to hear the music

That came from your hair:

Notes of owls

Wind in trees

Small brooks

And a cacophony of sun rays
That laughed in their summer azure

I missed most of it, I know

But what I heard lifted me a step higher

Made the rays stronger than the clouds
And I thanked the One for you

For although I don’t know you

And our physical distance increased

With each stride

Your beauty saved me
This one time.

--Eric Marley

October 2013

(To a pretty woman I once passed and, meeting her eyes, never saw again)

Old Summer, Old Age - Poem (in progress)

Old Summer, Old Age

Too many shadows

This late in the morning

And the shadows stay too far into the day

But the light comes in at angles that illuminate

In a less garish way

And bounces back

So the world looks new

Every morning

There are too many shadows

But the world looks new

Like light filtered through

Golden aspen leaves…

--Eric Marley

September 2013

My Little Boy - Poem

My Little Boy

Dark desert

Wet street

Recent rain

Bare feet

No light

Stars bright

He walks

Alone.

I see him now.

Hair tousled but not

With Sunday morning love

A child, maybe four

He runs out the door…

Because for this child

There’s more.

Swooping down from the omniscient sky above and behind him

I can see

On this dark road

Between Cheyenne and Laramie

A teddy bear

Vigilant button eye

Spies behind

Ready to warn

The road weary child

Of impending...

The bear feet

And bare feet

Are torn

Pebble worn

Soiled jeans and

T-shirt too light

Even in daylight

This boy keeps walking -

Walking the dark highway

Walking.

He doesn’t see the stars

Instead he sees the wet street

Tears leaving streaks

There are no cars.

Looking left

Then looking right

He is encircled by

Cavernous

Eternal

Emptiness

Oh the questions in this young soul’s eyes!

How did he get here?

Why did this loneliness happen?

This falling through all things…

What Being thinks this is ok?

He feels no support

Lost and bereft…

And then at that point

When all hope seems lost

The teddy bear in

His dirty right hand

Pulls him, gets heavy

The boy

The weary traveler

Looks down towards his only companion

And there in the ditch

He sees

An apple.

--Eric Marley

June 2013

Leaving You (for April) - Poem

Leaving You

I feel like I am considering suicide when I think of leaving you

Like I’ve betrayed the only person that would stand by me

Dooming me to my dreams and nightmares

Making my very own body my enemy

Melting me in my chair, spineless, sleepless

Holding my head so it doesn’t come apart all day

Prayer doesn’t work any more

Caffeine doesn’t work any more

Blue sky doesn’t work anymore

It has wandered away, bored

I can’t blame it

I can’t stay either.

If I am not sick, I am with us

I thought we could be well

But all I can see is me

My pain, my confusion, my time

My selfishness, my inability to capitulate

To you and your demands

That multiply and expand

That dictate to me the definition of

Your Man

There is no more us

Only you

Only me

And I want us to be

Happy

Like we were on that sunny summer afternoon

In head-high grass by the river

I think in some alternate universe we could be

We are
But I can’t keep going

I can’t stay with you while you heal

I can’t stay with you while I heal

But I feel like I am considering suicide when I think of leaving you

Except that suicide won’t hurt.

--Eric Marley

To/From/Because of... Fourth Month

Fourth month, 2013