Silent Thunder

Silent Thunder

a deflated balloon

hangs captive

its limp dirty cord

flapping silver mylar

against barren tree limb

its captor

rainstorm within

rainstorm without

it is silent here

if you don’t count

the howling wind

screaming sirens

or my thoughts

Lindsay Riggs Brown

With Apologies to Poor Will

With Apologies to Poor Will

My eyes are nothing like the sun.
My lips are neither coral
nor are they red.
My breast is nowhere near as white as snow
and time has all but faded the roses from my cheek.

My feet tread heavily upon the ground.
And though you say you love my voice,
I cannot in truth, carry a tune.

And yet by Heaven,
this morning,
upon waking,
you kissed my morning breath,
ran your fingers through
the black wires that grow on my head,
and you called me Goddess.

Lindsay Riggs Brown

Keeping Time

Keeping Time

In one rare moment
Everything came together.
July Fourth
Exploded outside my shaking windows.
Time finally caught up with itself.

There was nothing new
In that one rare moment.
Until everything became
Brand new again.

Lindsay Riggs Brown