Three Poems by Myrtle Thomas

 

The Ocean Within

I often wonder how deep and wide
is the ocean of my heart the universe of stars
how rough are the waves that storm within?
or the soft ebb that waves with its crystal hand
where are these waves of love and grief found
behind a border of stone and storm!
or smoothed and polished with desire
from the darkest corners to moonlight
spilled from the universe of stars !
the skin of my heart weeps alone
while it seeps upon the page in stains
these pages shed their sorrows
and paint love upon the blank sheet
so much - so full and yet at times empty!
numb from withering and writing
my hand attached to my heart
this voice that lies sleeping and silent
awakens in the void of verses and works
this place of long deep poems that fill a page
drawn out speeches and voices of the midnight
who is there to listen to the dancing words?
whether I speak softly as a newborn-
or as a rainstorm beating against the wind !

 

 

The Unborn

I don't know where I've come from
a seed that took root blown by the wind!
I have no memory of roots nor soil
or image of what was before I was a sapling
no knowledge of life or eternity
I only know of the warm milk
from my mother's breast
and the eyes that were like the sky
I hadn't yet known the pain of valleys
nor the sharp terrain of a mountain
O'
but I felt the twisting pain of youth
the harsh road as I walked barefoot
the sound from rain on the tin roof
and the sound of tears falling
and the look from my mother's eyes
the look of heaven that still sits in my eyes
I still see the sun swim away like the river
leaving secretly during the night
O'
the pressure that rests on my head
and the weakness sitting on my shoulders
wandering through fields of flowers
there still remains the chill on my bare feet
from walking on a light spring snow
of also losing my mother's voice in the wind
now only strangeness remains in my depths
O'
even sleep takes me back to those blue oceans
with their quiet ebbs and silver fish jumping
life has taken me on a course of un-charted rivers
the changing direction of my river
the swift churn as it rages through my soul
there sometimes is no sleep upon its waves
my eyes search for where the river will empty
maybe the ocean of the atmosphere.
O'

Things I've Found in Dreams

night always takes me to the light of
a golden stone - held in warm hands
this stone I still hold with tight fingers
the grip turns it into a ruby.
silently I watch a bird sing of diamonds
and glass - of soft green grass - of opal skies
as dreams fall from the clouds like sunbeams
hanging on silver threads.
these things remind me of lost and found photographs
tears and joyous laughter spring from its depth
while the clouds wave as an ocean.

time reminds me of the whispers I cupped with my hand
maybe it was this that turned into the stone
or the silver silence sung by the mourning dove.
maybe the winters of ice and the cold breath of death
how swift are the days of life and the loss of love
the stones that crumble in the wind and burning sun
or the harsh pain of words that wound and bleed
I often walk away to bury this stone.

yesterday a cloud covered my eyes and rain fell from it
it was too wet to walk in life's puddles.
though I wished for a pathway of flowers it was not to be!
but I sit with my heart in my hand and watch its life's blood
turn my diamonds to blood rubies - there isn't a looking away
nor being mystified of the loss of stars on a stormy night
I realize that time is an element we can never change
but a precious stone not to be thrown away.

Myrtle Thomas lives in the United States and is retired from a large manufacturing company. She has been writing  poetry for over twenty years on ranging topics of love , loss and nature. . She has self published four poetry books and has been published in “ The Writers and Readers Magazine “  “ Otherwise Engaged Literary and Arts Journal “ , The Lothlorien Poetry Journal  “ and “ Masticadores Blog and Chewers Masticadores Blog She wrote rhyme poetry for years but decided to follow the path of Contemporary poetry. She has been a member of Allpoetry.com for several years and can be found under the Penn name Blue2U.