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

Letting Go

Letting Go

On cool, Lilac scented mornings,
You ran behind me,
holding the back of my seat
while I pedaled,
Terrified, I screamed,
“DON’T LET GO!”
and you swore you never would.
But you did.

In warm summer’s drift,
we found
Indian arrowheads
and shards of cobalt sea glass
the color of your eyes.
By then I could ride alone.

In Indian Summer,
somehow,

you found a way
to let go of;
The Boston Red Sox; scotch on the rocks; salted peanuts;
and Jazz.

Lindsay Riggs Brown

Distanced

Distanced

i am never in my dreams
or of them
they flit away
like tiny silver minnows
slipping through
my netted fingers

i am never in my dreams
or of them
i simply dream
distanced
from
hope or fear

Lindsay Riggs Brown

Did You Think?

Did You Think?

Did you think

I wouldn’t notice,

or care,

that you disappeared

like a puff of smoke?

Did you think

you wouldn’t notice,

or care,

that you missed me?

Did you think?

Lindsay Riggs Brown

Side-Swiped

Side-Swiped

(For M.R.T.)

His story cuts me to the quick.

secrets told after

an intimacy shared,

perhaps too soon.

Voice breaking,

heart broken

but spirit strong

after six

very short, very long years

And I know exactly what he means

when he tells me

he lost everything that day.

Everything..

After he put down his weapon,

before he surrendered himself,

he found his straight edge.

The piece

of the puzzle of his life

that let him

begin again.

Lindsay Riggs Brown