Right or Left

What can be said about War and Peace

that has not been 

proposed

outside of either 

wedlock-

Or must we choose sides,

such as above or below,

better than, worse than

History-

Have we learned

details, science, faith-

what can be known

from ones experience-

Does wisdom teach 

or listen

or climb

circumstantial scaffolding-

Does unfolding end with

unraveling

undoing

chaos

and atrophy

is that peace-

or pieces 

of ashen passion-

And what we loved

universally

was the desire

for either 

or-

hanging by a thread

that became a noose-

And then, there were no words

after

death do us part

ways...

Artwork by Ilya Repin (1844-1930), 'Barge Haulers on the Volga' c 1870 Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. 

Drizzle

The muse has been muted

while we are both listening

for some reason-

we have both observed;

Profound is not discovery, 

Epiphany is no certain 

understanding-

A stumble or stall may not be accidental at all...

Just as falling drizzle drenches without a drop

so too does silence deafen without a note

left, 

in absence-

There is room for us both

to wonder, to ponder,

what comes next

reason or rhyme,

a poets musing

or the muse leaving a poem

somewhere

in this thin air...

Artwork by Richard Bergh (1858-1919), 'After the sitting' c. 1884 in Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.