Star

 Would you recommend me

Would you defend me

In the world that is now yours and

Not mine.

Could we say we're sorry

Return to some semblance of glory

When we were a mutual

Appreciation society?

The chasm between says no,

The hope that springs from this space

With love glows

Can you see it's dim light, beyond the brightness of the Stars around you?

Mary Kirkpatrick 2/23/23

the healing.

The healing.

A path, rocky, strewn with jagged stones

Forced to tip toe barefoot

Even though...I chose it.

Restless, bored, tip toe on.

A dappled ray of sunshine,

Mesmerizing, peaceful, briefly loving,

Suddenly shadows, spectres, solipsistic pity,

Stop.

Wait.

Breathe.

Another branch of the path,

Passing near the ocean, the bath of nature,

How the waves can wash away the day's fretfulness,

A drowning, salty, caress.

Back, back to the twisting road of soul,

Chosen, yes, a choice, the will that was given in spite of the wholeness in spirit.

Let it ride, let it wave, let it weave,

Knowing the going home

Is to heal.

Mary Kirkpatrick 2/23/23

Middle Life Love

I assume he cares for freedom

I assume he cares for light. 

With every breath I see him

And wonder if I am right. 

The dawning day folds back its wings,

I dare not hope for more,

While our love does languish

In this place of labored ways.

The memory of faster times,

Of richer hopes and loving dreams

Give way to stark reality ,

Like bare winter trees clearing a scene. 

But nestled in a chilled breast

Beat our hearts so strong and resilient,

Determined to find some kind of meaning,

And live long within it. 

Mary Kirkpatrick, 11-30-22

Photo credit: Miles Henderson 

Twisted Fate

Fickle fiend,
You find me once again
In need, in want,
Clinging to this world
Just barely with my sanity.

There is no cure
For the existence
The loneliness we all bear
In this adventure
We call life.

Yet I try so hard
To convince myself
This shred of free will
Of choice means something.
Indeed I feel like a pawn.

A toy for phantom forces
To bat across the Universe
With the will of a 2 year old
Playing with a ball
For two minutes then moving on.

Choice, I laugh and then sigh,
Because as Fate would have it,
Maybe it is my true destiny
To serve, to bow down, to pray
To play on the field of God's whim.

M. Kirkpatrick,  2019

This One Night

This One Night

Snow..falling..whitening the dark
Shadows that creep around
The skinny trees
Icy fingers of black grabbing
and cloying.

Warm fire,
Hope, connection, tingling toes,
Flame licked coals,
Wanting to stay in this one place
Forever, singing a song.

Bright stars in the moonlit sky,
Let us forget in what tomorrow lies,
Kiss, and hold each other tight,
Enjoy this moment. This one night.

Nightingale

Nightingale, please call to me,
Reach out through the darkness
With your clear, beautiful song,
Convince me there is truth in
your wooing words.

Let me know your purpose,
Find me with your most
Righteous intention.
Draw me to you
With praise, honor, and hope.

Sing to me oh Nightingale,
Let me dream of what once was,
And what is yet to come,
All in one precious moment.
Do not let me believe it is a dream.

Find me in my darkness,
Light up my heart
With your night music,
So I may believe again,
In You and In Love.

Mary

Lost Boys

Lost Boys

Why is it that
All the Lost Boys
Come to find me
In the corners of my dreams,
When all I want to do is fly.

Needing and empty,
Wanting and unloved
They come to me like Wendy,
Seeking care, seeking love
But never wanting to leave,
to come with me.

Like Lords of the Flies
They beg me to run with their pack
To try to live a lie
Forget the part of me
That yearns for Home.

I want to fly
To be a part of their world and mine
Not lost,
Not Wendy,
But free to be Me.

Second Chances

Finding you,

I am found,
Even though it may be
Our second time around.

Feeling like
We are woven
Together in the
Tapestry of Time.

Tight but comfortable,
Easy, familiar, like a dream
Your lips haunted me for decades
but now I am awake.

Nothing to miss
Nothing to fear
Our love is so true
So infinite and clear.

I thank you
With each breath
I love you... til death
Find me in the ether now
Where we are born forever.

Mary Kirkpatrick

The Itch

The Itch

That place on my back
I just can't scratch
The sensation that I sit with,
Reminds me of the price of freedom.

Sweet pain, unfortunate gift,
Tells me the truth
About the afterlife
Not the never ending pleasure or pain,
But the itch you can't scratch.

The after life
Of your control, of your rage,
The sliding down
From your gilded cage,

I'll take the itch
I cannot scratch
Over the wrath and your
Silent Pact.


Mary Kirkpatrick

Hungry Ghost

Hungry Ghost

I am aching inside,

Trapped in the realm of the hungry ghost,

Thrust upon this material plane,

Where that hunger persists,

Deepening into the hollow wonder

of a paucity of being.

Where do I deserve

Love, honor, worthiness

Not here.

Used, abused, erased, accused,

I race to find my blackened visage

Like Narcissus in the murky Water of Life.

The weight of now pulls me down,

What awaits this empty shell

Compassion cannot come from one direction,

Truly there must be a safer plane than this

A dimension free of the pain of your indifference.

Mary K. 2018