this day…

copyright cwmartin 2011

the night
has found
your dreams
and returned
them to you
you need not
wander alone
along the shore
of expectation
skipping stones of desire
into a murky sea
come lie with me
before the dawn
touches your lips
and before the sun
tolls the noon day bell
breathe in the beauty
of the gift
of a day
with love

conquistadors…

in the harbor
a black ship
sails toward shore
the new land
the americas
below the decks
crimson warriors
satan’s own
wearing crosses of white
we see them come ashore
so many men
with strange dress
metal arms and heads
weapons that flash
like thunder
killing without a single
blow of the axe
elders tell us to flee
but we the young eagles
say we shall fight
for our sacred ground
for freedom
for all that the gods
have given us
but
rocks burst open
the blood of our nation
pours from each stone
of the village
flames consume
the living
and the dead
waves of fear
cover all who stand
before these beasts
our gods
have forsaken us
our gold
our freedom
our land
raped
by
messengers
of a
foreign
god
who
came
to
save
our
souls

This poem represents my fourth response to  the third challenge series between Jade and I.  This challenge is somewhat different in that the prompt is now an audio prompt.  Each poet provides the other with five instrumental songs (so that the song’s words do not interefere with the poet’s) from which the poet is to write a poem.  Jade has written her first response which can be found here. 

suffering the vengeance eternal…

there was a man
i shall call him
everyman
since his name
is not important
nor shall i tell you
his religion
since all religions
would have led him
to the same fate
so it was that everyman
came to the sea of death
seeking the monster
that had destroyed
all that was sacred to him
the smell of rotting fish
and sulfur filled the air
and he could barely breathe
but his anger was so great
that he waded into the sea
seeking his revenge
his flesh burned
but he refused
to give up his quest
soon his skin became numb
like a heart that’s filled with hate
and he was able to dive
beneath the surface
into its depths
with each dive his skin
became more adapted
protected by an armor
that he felt was righteousness
and so it was
for years
and one day he came upon the beast
and slayed it without mercy
the waters around him filled with blood
and he swam towards
the shore
but as he approached
screams could be heard
that the beast had returned
and in the reflection of the moon
he could see
that he had
become
the
beast

I must replace my dream catcher…

while dreaming last night
i found myself swimming by the sea
in the warm waters of expectations
when the red ball appeared
so i pursued it
as i did in my youth
finding my body transformed
into a golden koi
struggling against the current
i saw the ball within my reach
but it dove beneath the waves
and i with no thought of tomorrow
followed it like a man possessed
lusting after its power
so willingly forfeiting my soul
in pursuit of this prize
but without warning
the sea became black
the blackness filled my lungs
each breath pierced them
like a razor’s edge
cutting deeper
and deeper
until i was the blackness
floating as a unified corpse
with others in the blackness
trapped in the tidal flow
consuming all in our path
bringing them into the darkness
grasping all that lived
and as we reached the shore
i awoke in a cold sweat
tears streaming down my face
for i knew the nightmare
had just
begun