The Death of Penny Lane

She came early with the rain

Her sunglasses hid the hecklers

She left early – just the same

You’ll feel her between the grooves of black records

She’s not in the crowd

She’s the music’s tortured sound

See how the Lady commands the starry room

See her spinning in the sky

They all knew her name –

She’s with the band they’d say

See her through puffed smoke

Reviving threads that frayed

Singing a tune that only she knows

The club had cleared

But she’s still here

Drinking in the echoes

Forgot to keep her “cool”

She fell in love with the moon

His eclipse – temporary

He lost sight of true exemplary

Tired of being used

Done with “cool”

She set off with a new name

& left her sunglasses for me

Far removed from the galaxy

She’s real – real cool

See her in a faraway city now

Humming her own tune

Down...Down...Drowned

How many tears

will be lost today—

If the ocean dried up

could it be refilled?

A salted downpour

spreads over the earth

drenching open space,

tilling terrain for aches.

Liquid seeds sprung

from memories grow

in the dark of night.

A weeping willow

crawls into our pillows,

drenching dreams

to format forebode.

As water rises

and sorrow overflows

we slip,

slide,

stumble,

further from dry land.

How many minds

will drop to deeper depths—

How many bodies will drown

in their lachrymose sea?

To My Lover, the Moon

I have always been likened to the Sun:

Big and bright,

Demanding attention.

Shining through gaps

In clouds

And curtains.

Painting the sky

With hues of pink and purple and orange,

An artist.

An optimist.

Looking for light in the darkness,

Which explains why I would fall for you,

My Love,

A pure white light

Nestled in a blanket of black.

To my Lover, the Moon,

Though the darkness may cover you

Do not be fooled,

You are still whole.

I see your curves

Silhouetted,

A faint ring of light

Around a Cheshire cat smile.

To my Lover, the Moon,

You have seen me laugh, cry, dance, sing.

You have watched me root, bloom, wilt, rot, and start again.

You have seen my patterns, my cycles, my phases.

Notice how they sync up with yours.

To my Lover, the Moon,

Who has never made me feel less-than

Or small.

My Lover, who has filled me with absolute certainty that we are equal.

My Lover, who rules the waves,

Who beacons the tides and watches them rise.

My Lover, without whom we would be left helpless, lost, and alone in the night.

To my Lover, the Moon,

I know things are dark right now.

I know that big black hole came and took all our shine.

I know things are lonely right now,

But know this:

We are no less whole,

And soon,

We will phase through our cycle of rebirth,

Swing back ‘round into position

And become a beautiful and full light to the world once more.