Three Poems by Ann Christine Tabaka

 

Nothing Will Ever be the Same Again

 

We moved,

and life moved with us.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

 

Two shattered hearts,

strong in their convictions – fused.

Molten gold poured into cracks.

Glistening ribbons of truth sealed our love.

 

The music played past midnight,

a soft song of doves.

Rippled moonlight danced on the lake.

 

Time evaporated into mist,

tears into clouds, shutting out the stars.

 

Darkness fell,

sheltering all hope, silencing the rhapsody.

Who knew moving could be so hard?

Nothing will ever be the same again.

 

 

The End is in Sight

 

I watched the sky fall

one star at a time

while I sat plucking petals

from a moonflower.

I heard my mother’s voice

call to me from the past.

Needles exploded in my head.

I sheltered myself in darkness

seeking the refuge

only silence can bring.

Walking down a dirt path

I became the rain

turning everything to mud.

Years turn into lifetimes

and lifetimes into eternity.

The passing of life is swift

and sharp like a knife.

It cuts through words

and past memories.

Time does not exist.

How can I go on without you?

 

 

Learning to Climb the Mountain

 

I read a book once: The Fear of Flying.

It was not about flying at all.

I climbed a mountain,

spread my wings and tried to soar.

The cat thought I was crazy

as I tumbled to the ground.

I was twenty then.

I did not know my power yet.

 

Life lingered on the cusp,

the old man shed his beard.

Tides ran their rhythms with the moon.

I idled away my life in snips and dreads,

always going the wrong way,

then doubling back.

I was forty then,

still turning pages to discover who I was.

 

I visited a Greek Garden once.

It was not in Greece.

I rushed home

to plant my seeds among the thorns.

The sparrows were dismayed

that Doric columns did not grow.

I was too old then.

Too many years had crumbled beneath my feet.

 

*   Published by The Squawk Back Magazine, November 2021

Ann Christine Tabaka was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize in Poetry. She is the winner of Spillwords Press 2020 Publication of the Year, her bio is featured in the “Who’s Who of Emerging Writers 2020 and 2021,” published by Sweetycat Press. She is the author of 15 poetry books, and 1 short story book. She lives in Delaware, USA. She loves gardening and cooking.  Chris lives with her husband and four cats. Her most recent credits are: Eclipse Lit, Carolina Muse, Sparks of Calliope; The Closed Eye Open, North Dakota Quarterly, Tangled Locks Journal, Wild Roof Journal, The American Writers Review, Burningword Literary Journal, Muddy River Poetry Review, The Silver Blade, Pomona Valley Review, West Texas Literary Review, The Hungry Chimera, Sheila-Na-Gig, Fourth & Sycamore.

*(a complete list of publications is available upon request)