Second Skin

Tags

creative, loss, Love, poems, poetry, Regret, Relationships, Second skin, verse, writing

But does he hold you in the night

Like I held you in the night

With his body laying next to yours

Like a second skin?

And does he kiss away your tears

As if they were his own

To leave you feeling pure and whole

Like I tried to do?

And when the darkness falls so hard

Is the hand you reach for mine

Although the only one you find

Belongs to him not I?

And does he hold you in the night

Like I did once before

And does he tell you all the things

I used to say to you?

And does he mean the world to you

Like you still do to me

With silent words that speak so loud

Just like a second skin?

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2020

 

Grave Lands

Tags

creative, Grave lands, poems, poetry, Relationships, verse, writing

I’ll race you to the Grave Lands

And meet you by the stones

Count the markers where they stand

The flesh we never knew

Dance like the glass is empty

Sand all turned to dust

Wonder at the names that stuck

Like tar upon our shoe

I’ll see you in the shadows

Your touch upon the stone

Drink your thoughts before they fall

And be with you in dreams

I’ll race you to the Grave Lands

And lay with you in dirt

Count the markers where they stand

And know we’ll be again.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2020

 

Undone

Tags

Communication, creative, Depression, Insecurity, poems, poetry, Undone, verse, writing

I’ll carve marks into my skin

And hope that you can see

Trust the cold wind with my name

To show where I have been,

Throw my arms out open wide

Watch red skies turn to black

Cry lost flowers wilt and die

To show you what’s inside,

I’ll leave words upon the shelf

Beneath the dust they’ll die

Hear the voices on the breeze

Whisper someone else,

All the things I left undone

Freeze the hands as they spin

Then slip between the covers

And vanish with the sun.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2020

 

Some Days

Tags

creative, Darkness, Depression, pain, poems, poetry, Some days, verse, writing

Some days

It is difficult just to lift 

My head

From the pillow;

Impossible to raise

My thoughts from the depths

In which they lie.

Some days

The strain to place one foot in front

Of the

Other aches hard;

Pain that sears like fire

Pain that leaves no scar

That you can see.

Some days

Each breath is like the very last

In bursts

Not short nor sweet;

Sucked in without my will

Chest that rises still

Then falls once more.

Some days

There are no words justs sounds that bleed

Behind

My hollow eyes;

Some days.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2020

 

Raw

Tags

creative, Life, Love, Open, poems, poetry, Raw, Relationships, verse, writing

Never really wanted much

From the world,

Or anything from you

But your love,

Never tried to take those things

That I saw,

Or anything that I

Didn’t need.

A smile was all I wanted

To ever see,

A smile on every face

From the heart,

Some may never notice me

As I pass by,

But I was here behind

The mirror glass.

Never really wanted much

To belong,

Perhaps never truly meant

For this world,

But I was here awhile and

You’ll forget,

And the writing on the wall

Will always fade.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2020

 

Copper Sky

Tags

Communication, Copper sky, creative, faith, Love, poems, poetry, Relationships, verse, writing

Follow me,

I’ll follow you,

Follow you down

Through the leaf lattice lanes

The cold-pressed, silken steel streets

To the banks of the stream

That washed us down from

Our mother’s arms to the wailing sea,

From the copper sky

I’ll draw your scent

Etched by the march of blistered feet

And calloused hands that worked the soil

Tilled the earth like a worshipped wife

Wait for late summer’s heat-haze splendor

To draw the wheat from the chaff

And bask in your wonder,

Come with me,

I’ll come with you,

Come with you

Past the flowing fields of wheat

The fragrant factory towers whose breath

Like a fire pumps in and out

Resting our beating heart rhythm

With the solitude of its own,

From the verdant trees

I’ll catch your eye

Watch the silver scenes dance between

The gnarled bark faces of the ancients

And the heavy hung hands that drape

Hang low kissing the emerald glade

That washes like the ocean

To carry you home,

Follow me,

I’ll follow you,

Follow you down

Past the marble-cold faces

That press against the window panes

Their eyes imploring you to stay

Like the weeds between the pavement cracks

That fade with winter’s song,

From the copper sky

I’ll catch your glow

And feel its burn beneath my skin

Its warmth awakening the seeds

Which slumber safe in earthen beds

Their dreams contented like cot-held babies

But wanting always to bask

Once more in you.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2020

 

On Islands Lost

Tags

Communication, creative, Islands, poems, poetry, Relationships, Truth, verse, Words, writing

Into the air

The words that I

Wanted to say

To you,

Given their flight

But only when

The air was still

To you,

Into the space

Between the dreams

And what they mean

To you,

The things I said

But not out loud

The things I said

To you,

We stand alone

Our ships adrift

Won’t find their way

To you,

On islands lost

Our words will die

Can’t find a way

To you,

Into the air

All that I meant

Won’t mean the same

To you,

Into the space

The black hole void

The words that I

Could never say

To you.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2020

 

Winter Snow

Tags

creative, poems, poetry, verse, Winter snow, writing

When the lights go out

And there’s no-one around

I’ll come through the walls

And surprise you again,

When you hold your breath

And there’s nowhere to go

I’ll fall down on you

Like a winter snow.

 

We came alive when the music played

Danced in between every note we heard,

We kissed on the back stairs out of sight

Moved to the beat that ran in the night.

 

We took each word built a life around

The things we heard trying not to drown,

We held the hands of the dead we loved

Saw the fire smile and welcome us.

 

And love came by an uneasy cure

We broke our nails on the rugged shore,

Our blood ran hot as it led us home

And broke our backs in the joy we made.

 

We counted stars when the daylight came

Found the shadows where we stayed the same,

Took our chances in the city’s cold

And lived on moments we held so close.

 

When the lights go out

And there’s no-one around

I’ll come through the walls

And surprise you again,

When you hold your breath

And there’s nowhere to go

I’ll fall down on you

Like a winter snow.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2019

Viaticum (the complete series)

Tags

Complete, creative, Creative writing, faith, history, Humanity, inspiration, poems, poetry, politics, Series, Truth, verse, Viaticum, writing

For anyone who is interested (and has the patience) and for the sake of cohesion I have collated the previous nine pieces:

Mary

The sacrifice is on the table,

The gift I would lay down,

To dive into your ocean

Be swallowed by your swell.

But deep within your soul,

I feel rejection rise,

Taste the words from your mouth

Of unholy unworthiness.

Am I too pure, too perfect,

If only you knew,

How earth-held pleasures

Rise up within me.

I catch the tear as it slips,

Feel your touch at my feet,

But what words can I find

To unlock the truths?

What words can I find,

To show you the man,

Without the walls of your world

Coming crashing down?

 

 

Mother Ambition

Look at me now

Eyes blinded by pride

Stand tall amongst

Your allies

And shield yourself

From truth.

Your creation stands

Before the desperate fall

And voices cry

To feel the words

You could never

Form.

Does the image

Make the man so

Understated I stand

Arms asunder

Face so torn

From pleading.

And did I disappoint

From child to man

I fell

Drowned in expectation

Desire to do

Your will.

 Yet still they cry

Fuelled by your love

Your folly

The time I lost

I cannot set

Them free.

And look at me now

Eyes blinded by tears

Wept solely

For me

The failures of men

Your pride.

 

 

Wooden Hands

Knotted fingers work their skill

Sculpting nature’s giants,

As passion flows through hands

Designed to make things new.

Hematic flow from skin to grain

Rekindles life anew,

This touch like cryptesthesia

Animation from the dead.

And now you try to steal this love

To touch another’s flesh,

To breathe life within a kiss

And raise an amaranthine army.

These hands show dried and lifeless

Now splintered from mis-use,

Cut from weeping saplings

And drowned in blood of men.

 

Comatose

In catatonic catacombs you lay

As motionless as the temple,

Rising, monolithic, overshadowing,

Watching, guarding each mortal move.

Silent as the sermon’s words

Falling hollow from mouths,

Distorted by power, passionless,

Detached, unhinged, obsessed.

Led beyond the wailing

Imploring desperate eyes,

Hands as twisted as my psyche,

Grasping, indign, at flakes of faith.

Shallow chest, no sound no breath

Shroud pulled down from pallid lips,

My words, no meaning,

Crumble as they fall.

Moments crawl across the stone

I stretch a hand to leave,

A twitch, a blink; a rattled gasp,

In that misfortuned pause.

My feet fail as you stir

I have no place to go,

We walk as one, the jinx is broke,

Fate, it seems, is blind.

 

Sermon

If you would let your

Smothered ears listen,

And hear the words that spew

Like fire from my heart,

Wrenched like flesh from

Somewhere buried deep

Deep beneath the consciousness

That rises from the ground.

 

Let them settle

Grow within your mind,

At last to realise

That this curse that falls on you

Falls from another’s hand,

Take this severance

Permission to be, to leave

And not to cling to servitude.

 

 

In Love With You

This is the reason

That I came here

And suffered

At their hands.

The reason that

I stayed here

And followed

Scriptures road.

This is the passion

That flows in me

The blood and

Sweat and fear.

At times to see no

Other but you

My hope my

Life my fare.

And was I blinded

Eyes scarred to see

Eclipsed from truth

Meant for me?

Fell so far from grace

Another hand

Lost to me

In your eye.

This is the reason

I stayed for you

Impure

Love you knew.

The touch, your tear

The one I knew

A kiss of

Death from you.

 

 

A Final Feast

Take this bread

And break my bones

The suffering of a man.

Don’t drown yourself

As the wine is passed

But read me if you can.

I don’t want my

Words to touch you

Leaving inspiration.

Find your own path

There is no other

No promised nation.

In your heart

There is the spark

A door to make things new.

So take this bread

All I can give

And to your heart be true.

And you, my love

Will leave for me

And give to me my peace.

 

 

The Last Visit

And all of this is still to come,

You say with sharp and twisted tongue,

And set out scenes before the sky,

To bring salt water to dead eyes.

 

This hate, these lies, a swarming plague,

Reach out eternal in my sway,

Vitriolic fields of fire,

Single souls who walk the wire.

 

Reveal to me hopeless despair,

From those who chose too much to care,

And those who lay down in my name,

Wilful suffering for my shame.

 

And now you split the clouds with war,

Angelic host who keep the score,

And who will rise to heaven above,

And who will take the sacred cloth?

 

Then from another’s point of view,

You lift this faith with arms askew,

To shackle souls whose will will sink,

As from the sacred cup they drink.

 

Perception blurred, they walk again,

To find anomalies in men,

And raise the banner of belief,

A cut too deep to gain relief.

 

I search my voice and try to cry,

The road you show, it is not mine,

But what remains is your soft smile,

I cannot change this life must die.

 

And as you fade your arms are lost,

I cannot calculate this cost,

But you misunderstood my time,

Your name will bleed in time with mine.

 

Through My Eyes

Can you see how I’m pinned

Wear my heart on my sleeve

Bloodied and wearied

Down on my knees.

Can you sense this life wane

Feel the guilt in your core

Flow free like the wine

I’ll give no more.

Can you feel these tears burn

See the truth through my eye

Cold now as marble

Not asking why.

Can you see past this time

To dead futures to come

Reach out in regret

Know what you’ve done.

 

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viaticum 9 – Through My Eyes

Tags

creative, faith, Humanity, poems, poetry, politics, Relationships, Series, Through my eyes, Truth, verse, Viaticum, writing

This is the concluding piece in this series:

Can you see how I’m pinned

Wear my heart on my sleeve

Bloodied and wearied

Down on my knees.

Can you sense this life wane

Feel the guilt in your core

Flow free like the wine

I’ll give no more.

Can you feel these tears burn

See the truth through my eye

Cold now as marble

Not asking why.

Can you see past this time

To dead futures to come

Reach out in regret

Know what you’ve done.

 

© All original writing copyright Chris Nelson 2000-2019