MASKS

 

Faces in their simplest form,

Scrubbed clear of paint

          or wordless expressions,

Reduced to geometric shapes

          and digital bits,  

Abide by surface recognition as an intent.

 

But faces in their protean forms,

Hidden in night shadows,

Protected with masks to shield the breath,

Covered for transformation,

Disguised to conceal,

Veiled in secrecy,

Leave exposed the deep, blazing eyes

that are “the windows to our souls” and

harbors of fear and suspicion.   

 

©cmheuer, November, 2020

 

 

TUG OF WAR

Just a game, played with a long rope.

Two separate teams

Pulled in opposite directions

until a line is crossed.

Stamped in memory like wax seals,

badges of wins and losses.

Not beehive splitting swarms,

nor super organisms,

nor colonies.

just schoolyard competitions,

teams dragged back and forth,

for success or defeat,

their strength lost in a tug of war.

And they carry it forward,

the pattern copied and repeated,

pinned onto every endeavor.

Sacred, shabby archetype,

preserved in stone and paper,

lies beneath conflict and bones of contention.

© cmheuer, 7/2020

MONOLITHS

Giant, carved, walking stones 
     with their backs to the ocean,

Their large eyes filled 
     with white coral and black obsidian,

Standing, mute and still, 
     in the light of the moon or the sun,

Their sculptors’ remnant bones 
     lying along lava cave floors.

Vessels holding sacred spirits 
     toppled after centuries

Raised again with silent, aged faces

Born out of porous, fleeting volcanic tuff,

Weathered and disintegrating, 
     obscure and beguiling.

Ancestral vigilance walks over 
     each new generation,

Diligently follows each era’s stepping stones,

Rolls up narrow carpets that lead from

Ancient memories to prophecies

Set upon the quiet lips of sepia images

Framed and smiling

For they know what we cannot know. 

© cmheuer, 2020

TURMOIL

Some days disorder surfs the wind,

sifts through flaws in window frames,

infects every surface and breath,

tears apart wanton chatter,

and spells out gibberish upon the walls,

like a maniacal howl of laughter.

Discord dominates,

cacophony drowns out symphonies,

undergrowth rises from the earth

spinning around

stems, stalks, and broken sidewalks,

until passages are shut down

and light is dimmed. 

Illusions of uniformity fade.

Symmetry disappears.

Knowledge becomes a memory.

Angles shift and rearrange into

mosaics of sharp-eyed views askew,

like Picasso’s portraits.

© cmheuer, 2020