03 Jul 2015 4 Comments
in poetry Tags: cliff, depression, journey, path, self-esteem, self-loathing, stars, trail
My self-esteem is at an all-time high level of low
To return
is to strangle comfortably
To move forward
is to free fall over a cliff
To stand still
is to get swallowed up
by self-loathing.
And there is no place to go
but out
and in
and down
A trail of unfamiliar stars
highlighting unrecognizable paths
in rough waves.
21 Mar 2015 2 Comments
in love, poetry Tags: air, anxiety, breath, heartbreak, love, photography, rain, river stones, sadness, sea shells, stars, universe, water
Anxiety eats me up
Uncounseled
By the up-side-down moon,
Is not content with Venus,
Or Maui’s nets dragging the Universe
Of stars, plowing the planets in a surging sea.
A throw-net of river stones
Plunging me into blue skies,
Tears me apart with shark teeth
And sea shells,
Kills me with patience,
Ka-bobs me with sharp spikes
And holds me over a keawe wood fire
To burn hot, and clear, and bright.
Anxiety drives me into the soil
An O’o stick on stone lamenting
Where planting fingers linger near,
Binds me,
Ties me,
Strings me,
Stakes me,
And leaves me
Empty,
A fluttering Hawk’s feather falling free,
Without vibrant red flowers or the sound of rain
Or small ferns bursting with green
On muddy earth
And silent words unsaid in firelight
Lit only with eyes
And rain on skin
once caressed me
With a look.
And a touch,
A leaf on a current
Of air, of water, of breath, of sadness,
Of love with nowhere to go,
Blows me quietly away.
02 Jul 2014 2 Comments
in poetry Tags: alive, grass, love, milkweeds, photography, poetry, pulsating, rain, scent, stars, sunlight, universe, walking, wildflowers
She leads me through milkweeds and wildflowers
Into the curvature of distant stars,
Where fireflies dance
Like fires in my heart,
Pulsating, alive
With thunder
And lightening
And where the scent of tall grasses
Still warm from sunlight,
And damp from rain,
Catches between my toes.
01 Jun 2014 2 Comments
in poetry Tags: breath, compassion, drinking gourd, healing, hope, life, light, love, Maya Angelou, ocean, Ode, rising, river, sorrow, stars, strength, tree, voice, water
Maya,
I will always miss you.
A great tree is who You were,
Roots surging past jagged stones,
Steady, sure, sifting
Through the gravel in my bones,
Waking each cell,
Feeling each bruise,
Absorbing life’s
Battered branches sprouting with light,
And giving me strength,
And breath to breathe,
A beacon in a dark land,
Hope, when all seemed broken,
A free bird soaring,
Picking up the pieces of my heart
Where your cage fell apart,
Following the drinking gourd.
In your trail of living water
I live
In your promised land,
And though you didn’t know me
Your voice was familiar to me,
Comforting, warm like honey,
A resilient old negro spiritual,
Surging, throbbing beyond southern soil,
A thriving river soft like tear drops,
Yet strong,
Running deep where cuts lashed with sorrow
Tangled in veins, and skin, and memory.
Your words healed me with your passion,
Woke me with self-compassion.
You are the rising spirit on the backs of history,
You are the dark ocean moving,
Threading a journey into tomorrow.
Bright diamond,
In the star studded sky,
Lead the way to water,
And I will follow.
Karen K. L. Espaniola,
June 1, 2014
08 Apr 2014 5 Comments
in poetry Tags: anticipation, beauty, breathing, dawn, knowing, NaPoWriMo, stars, wanting, woman
Day 8
I swallow the stars as I breathe in,
Releasing them into the universe,
My heart beating rapidly with fire,
Knowing, anticipating, wanting,
Counting seconds of light before
She arrives, soft, beautiful, brilliant.
03 Mar 2014 2 Comments
in love, poetry Tags: 4th Ode, Aphrodite, birth, desire, Destiny, earth, Fate, goddess, passion, photography, rain, sophocles, stars
It’s raining,
A steady pattering, drumming, pounding, dripping,
An opulent message from the most divine,
Aphrodite’s heart-beat on the land,
Love’s Law binding an earthly exchange,
Earth and sky, fire and water,
Lips and tongues, soul and mind,
Her swelling heart welcoming the rain,
Those glittering eyes of desire,
Guided by the Goddess’ own hand,
To embers stoked in immortal power,
Sacred water at the lips of Earth’s warm embrace,
An insatiable heat, an unstoppable blood throb,
An impatient tongue’s taste for fire,
Fate reigning on tangled hearts,
A destiny set at birth,
Stars aligned for an eternity,
Love’s Law storming at the gates of love’s free will
In libation to her thirst.
11111 Kilometers Away
3/2/14
27 Feb 2014 2 Comments
in love, poetry Tags: heart, heat, love, night, photography, stars, sun, time
Somewhere the stars are out,
Sweet perfume of summer’s earth
Still warm from sky’s blazing eye
Envelops deepening shadows of the night,
And holds her close.
Somewhere hungry flames lap at her heart
A leaping fire once lost to
furious days spewing
Sleepless nights,
And tireless days tapping time
So far away,
And now the scent of wood,
And heat, and blossoms in the sun,
Gather under a starry dome.
06 Feb 2014 5 Comments
in love, poetry Tags: ancient fires, darkness, dawn, heart, love, night, photograph, poetry, stars
I
“You have stolen my stars”
And I don’t mind
Where torn patches in the night sky
Once gathered taut
To hold my universe in
Now billows
Frayed edges free
Unraveling
Like a winter scarf worn thin.
II
It’s raining.
Darkness still clings to my skin,
And stars, gleaming like a million
Ancient fires
Flicker in my heart,
Blinking
In that silent moment before dawn.
III
Let go your heavy heart,
embers of memories,
illusions of fire,
And take back your stars
Pulsating tenderly in my night sky,
Aching impatiently in these long winter hours,
Take back your stars and sit with me
In this divine night
Sipping tendrils of light
Until morning.
K.K.L.E
For You
hinarising 