Drip...
Midnight showers cascade over rigid walls:

The four-faced bars
Transformed from

Cage 
to  
Cradle

With mere drops;

Life’s mundane prison
Transformed from

Routine
to  
Rhythm

By a tempest’s lullaby

Rocked from life’s worries by

Thunder Rumbles
Tinkling Rain
Wispy Leaves
and Hammering Acorns

The night is free, serene:

Tranquilly turbulent,
Orchestrating
in time with nature’s measure

I find bliss in the simplicity ——

The constant
Meter:  
Drip,  
Drip,  
Drip.  

—— and its tides abrade my
                    Cold, dry
                          Carcass

Cracking open the shell to my
                    Balmy, gushing
                                Heart

Thus out pours my essence,
               my being,
               my soul.

(a deluge    
to rival   
the storm)

Inundating, the depths wrap me in their waves,
Their spellbinding draw pulling me under
To the black, starry vortex
Of the cosmos and
Dreamland.
           .
             .


Welcome to my nirvana:

Where obligations vanish
Where anxieties fade  
Where terrors cease 
Where spirits mend

And where crystal tears fall
from
Solace, not Sorrow
from
Morning Skies, not Mourning Howls

The bright sunrise hues dance across my
Silhouette

Painted ruggedly
on the celestial canvas
with a toddler’s

Grasp and Gusto

Effervescent colors sweep the heavens,
Endowing gifts of awe:

Soothing Periwinkles —
Consolation      
Sunny Golds —
Warmth  

Fluorescent Pinks —
Euphoria!

I taste the rosy tones ——
        the succulent salmons,
        the luscious cherries,
        the savory blushes ——

Each with its distinct pitch:

The rich muddle of aged wine
The bubbling buzz of champagne
The slow delirium of espresso

Iridescence is my vehicle
As I take to the sky:

Soaring,

High 
And  
Free 

Floating,

As  
Clouds
Billow

Plunging,

My Gut
Left To
Glide As

Breeze                          
Rushes      
          By
                           Crash!

Leaves clatter like cymbals beneath me,
Abrasive razors against my skin:

Numbing like ice,
Shocking my senses,
Rattling my reverie.

The vines snake 
Across my body

(Claws rising up from a 
Glassy sea)

Tugging me — once more — on the
Magnetic journey
Beneath the
Murky
Deep
.
.
.

Welcome to my reality...

(Not quite enlightenment,
Not quite luminous,
Not quite pure)

Customary rains pound still
Against firm metal siding,
Prompting the doubt:

Am   
I   
Free? 
Or   
Drowned
By   
Fear? 

Yet my barren heart 
Remains like

Pumice

Only pleasured after
Soaking
Autumnal
Showers:

Like a thirsty             Sponge
     a panting             Canine
     a greedy              Infant

For through dank days
Moonlight dreams amassing,
Urged on by pure substance ——

Roars
Mists
Winds
Seeds

—— I come to cherish the innocence:

By only it may
I fulfill my

Lusty core.