Sanctuary
dead calm envelops me
moist morning fog
adrift on the water
wraps ’round me
like a cool blanket
it muffles the sounds
of daybreak’s industry
alone with my thoughts
in peaceful privacy
safe anonymity
the regrets of last night
dim and fade
this brief sanctuary
a soothing balm
so welcome
at the start of this heavy day
~ ~ ~
rob kistner © 2012
No Respite
relentless din of crawling prowling night
pours steaming through my window
midnight intrudes damp and searing
insistent
scalded air too hot and thick to breathe
a heat to suffocate
blades beat and drone overhead
promising relief
in vain
sweltered darkness lays heavy upon me
unbearable
I toss in labored half-sleep
gasping for cool relief
restless
I inhale deep to fill my lungs
seeking satisfying breath
only to bake them in cruel heat
no relief
salted droplets trace my spine
baste my neck
pool in the hollow of my fevered chest
bloom and seep
from beneath the smother
of matted soak atop my head
to weep their way ‘cross smoldering brow
into my eyes
and sting
in this nocturnal furnace
night clings and stifles
even dreams are scorched
simmering in August
~ ~ ~
rob kistner © 2012
free verse is my heart’s elation
stiff forms and rhyme make me depressed
my muse balks at forced creation
imagination dims repressed
I’m feeling empty null distressed
when bam a true epiphany
to meet this task I’ll do my best
to write my angst as poetry
~ ~ ~
rob kistner © 2012
_______
Cloistered
when another
tells you of yourself
you’re shown the dance they see
your outward choreography
but you hear not of the music
that rings true in your mind
that leads and drives the steps
to this inward dance they’re blind
you are shown the reflection
not the light that shines inside
that illuminates your soul
to guide your steps and stride
are we the I that we know
the self that we so treasure
or are we in fact the other
the one the others measure
for if the valid I
be the one that is most known
then we are in fact that I
the one to ourselves not shown
for surely when compared
the majority story shared
is of the outward other
the one seen by another
and so we live our life
cloistered in this other
and live this life alone
even when by many known
for the I that’s outward shown
is the I that’s not our own
~ ~ ~
rob kistner © 2012
Morphling
I will not be confined
always in motion
eternal ebb and flow
perpetual like the seas
my spirit an eternal liquid
in everlasting flux
expands unrestrained
seeking freedom
I will not be defined
my nature is fluid
my essence is turbulent
deep but ever changing
my heart in constant surge
challenges boundary
seeking balance that is mine
to change at will
reach not for me
I will not be held
do not name me
I will not be yours
~ ~ ~
rob kistner © 2012
Solitaire
immersed in pleasured chatter
bursts of heightened laughter
in the ringing clank of crystal
of silver on fine china
crisp bustle of starched service
lush rustle of satin’d lace
aglow in silken’d candlelight
caressed by gentle strains
wafts of sweet Bordeaux
heady fragrance of cut orchids
midst soft din and dance of mirth
I gaze upon your empty face
and see there in your hollow eyes
our game is solitaire
~ ~ ~
rob kistner © 2012