Friday, December 23, 2011

The Long Hard Fall

With a gentle aire,
it comes,
seemingly sweet,
the breath of Fall;
deadly harsh,
a silent shove
over the precipice
of Spring.

Amidst a gale of falling leaves,
a tinge of Bitterness,
gray clouds wandering
swiftly across the Sky,
brightness dims
with each skirting swirl;
Winter is coming.

Darkness has descended,
I fall into the Void,
slowly at first,
then with the speed of Inevitability
forcing and pulling,
with nothing left
in my grasping hands,
simply
 
falling
 
slowly
 
down.


Or perhaps the Fall
is a Journey
through,
an unexpected Path
provided by
the Abyss:
downward
beyond the Darkness
to some perfect resting place
Unknown.



©ACG
23 December 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

In December

With red and green
and sparkling white,
Christmas comes around,
through Winter's chill
and darkest night,
a melody of sound;
bells a-ringing,
choirs singing,
yonder falls a star;
merrily meet
and happily greet,
loved ones from afar.

© ACG
01 December 2011

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Today
 
Today I heard
a mournful bird
sing a song
so sad and sweet
of love and loss
and loneliness;
a broken heart’s beat.

Out rang she
a melody
as Dawn so
boldly rose
with chill of air
and frosts beware;
a melancholy pose.

Today I heard
a mournful bird
as Summer’s sunlight faded
to shine no more,
with Winter’s song
she sings along;
bravest Troubadour.

© ACG
20 November 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

November Sun

November sun brightly shines,
echoing past warmth;
one yellow rose blooms.


© ACG
15 November 2011

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Sweep Past

Sweep past, Delights of Autumn,
as the Witch's Broom doth pass
over Air and Earth
and through Fire intense,
sweeping asunder
with a laugh Merry and Evil
all you ever held dear.


© ACG
29 October 2011

Saturday, October 01, 2011

First Frost

October falls with sudden force,
a swiftly swirling blast of dancing leaves,
taking every memory of Summer away
the last roses desperately blooming,
thick folds of velvets come out,
the first frost burns
with clear and cool fever,
a bite of Winter coming;
unavoidable.
© ACG
01 October 2011




Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Autumn Comes

Autumn comes in slowly
with the breath of love,
sweetness kindles
gentle passions, lingering
like a lover's first soft kiss;
tentative.

© ACG
30 August 2011

Friday, August 05, 2011

Coming Home

Within these walls of stillness,
sliding in and out of sleep,
through darkened rooms
of ancient nightmares,
my dreams carry me;

a gentle pressure deepens,
a mauve reverie,
with care enfolding me
in a slow caress,
softly calling my name.

Coming home.
Just a heartbeat away,
like a sigh of relief,
sinking into my own,
my paradise of you.




© ACG
05 August 2011

Sunday, July 03, 2011

There and Here

Sighing softly there,
a sweet kiss of salt sea spray,
just a hint in the air
of what’s to come,
when later great crashes
roll and tumble,
driven,
no longer kiss so sweetly.

Growling thunder rolls overhead
as screams of lightning
pierce the black sky here;
dawn breaks wet and tired,
storm’s aftermath a gentle wisp,
a softly falling ruse
according to the darkening sky.
© ACG
03 July 2011

Monday, June 27, 2011



The Swamp

Endless reaches
with entangled pockets
a thickened soup,
The Swamp
endures;
even the air
is overcome
by dankness,
moisture conquers
with humid insistence,
levitating heavily
dully suspended
into what once was oxygen,
like a magician’s trick
without applause;

the hell of life within
this grotesque environ,
bizarre and malformed
hideous and foul,
with strength overwhelming,
a devastating army
with their special
horrid stench
they rupture up,
roiling
roaring,
upward they stretch
densely,
adding to the airlessness,
as if to choke any life,
their murderous intent
a thickened growl,
upward they rumble,
as if to reach the hidden stars.

Barely visible,
through overburdened branches
creaking downward
with a glopping stickiness
that mocks the beauty
of Spanish Moss,
the secrets of life linger
in distant diamond stars;
out of reach,
beyond hope,
yet still just there,
the frailest edge
of a dream
or memory;

O my Soul!
sinking back,
into The Swamp
of my lungs.


© ACG
27 June 2011









Solstice Moon

Indiana moon
shines through
Summer's midnight haze,
she brightly illumines
her fallen diamonds
suspended thickly,
tears for a lost dream
or memory,
a longing breath,
a weary gasp
of desire.

© ACG
20 June 2011

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

One Word

Life
begins
with innocence and love,
yielding
later to a journey
fraught with joy, pain, and sorrow;
oftentimes with self-inflicted haunting
and regret.

Time
takes over;
behind
lie the ruins of yesterday,
burdens carried forward
~ the past stays with us ~
as obstacles flung ahead,
all scarring the path.

What chance have we to overcome?

We carry our pasts with heavy hearts,
we walk uncertainly forward;
as a delicate line
demarcates
old habits from new resolutions;
a fragile distinction,
an invisible thread
can hold you to it:

one word
for you,
one word
changes everything

~ “Daddy” ~

© ACG
15 June 2011
for Charlie
1st Father’s Day











Saturday, June 04, 2011

June

Swirling dizziness,
heat thickening,
stickening
sickening,

diamond morning dew momentary,
vanishing into heavy humidity
looming
consuming
dooming;

roses blooming.

© ACG
04 June 2011

Thursday, June 02, 2011


Embrace

With walls closing in and darkness
falling softly down upon me,
I hear
The End approaching,
I know he is near;

It becomes impossible
to breathe,
there seems nothing left
for me here,
but Dreaded Pain;

With everything that I am
or ever was or could be,
with every ounce of me,
I long for him
to hasten;

Take me into your Embrace,
let me succumb
and go under
forever into sweet Peace,
released;

Folded into the Embrace,
no longer will I struggle,
or battle for every breath,
O, how I long to lightly drift away
within the Embrace;

And yet some stubborn part
of my Gemini soul
says, “No”
~ not yet, not now, not ever ~
raggedly, I breathe in.

© ACG
02 June 2011

Sunday, May 22, 2011


For Jamine
 
In our youth,
you stood before me,
stronger wiser better,
flashing eyes and
bouncing step,
the fearless tread
of a goddess;

In our youth,
you were a Tyger
fiercely burning bright,
the personification
of every heroine
in my books
fact or fiction;

You were Scarlet,
to my Melanie,
you were Jo to my Beth,
you were Elizabeth
and Joan of Arc,
Athena and Aphrodite
and I a mere mortal,

In our youth,
twins inseparable,
I tagged behind,
as you forged ahead,
always first,
always fastest,
always free;

Time takes away
so much,
age dampens
the spirit of youth,
with aches and pains
and the haunting
mistakes that linger;

Little girls
grown and aging,
yet my heart sees us
standing together
wearing our colors
of purple and red,
cloaked in memories,

Time and age
seem the enemy
yet for me,
you will always be:
fierce
first
fast
and free.


© ACG
18 March 2011


Monday, May 02, 2011


Unfurled

Velvet petals yawn,
stretching finally,
unfurled by May sunshine.



© ACG
01 May 2011



Tuesday, April 05, 2011


Storm

Lightning danced across the night sky
shocking the stars,
pulse-pounding thunder like a heartbeat
drummed deeply,
resounding,
pounding,
moving the Earth;

Once-in-a-lifetime such a Storm
comes rolling in,
slowly and gently building,
pressure rising,
electricity tensing,
until it crashes wildly into us,
lifting us in a whirlwind
that seems beyond our control;

Like eternal Salvation,
that elusive miracle
after trial by fire,
overwhelms with its grace,
the Storm rages along,
embracing us,
we rise
into the starlit sky,
riding the Storm forever.

© ACG
05 April 2011

Saturday, April 02, 2011


The Quiet Man

Deliberately
and with care,
he stands,
watching us
or waiting,
usually with his hands
clasped behind his back,
a little smile
turning down his mouth;

As others seek the spotlight,
he stands back,
never putting himself forward,
although he deserves to shine
in the warming glow of
attention and praise,
he never seeks it,
never asks for acknowledgement
or even simple thanks;

He is a quiet man:
unlike the heroes of old,
his actions are not lauded,
his praises are not sung;
he does not see
that his day-to-day life
is an epic for the ages.

This quiet man
stands alone,
unparalleled,
incomparable;
an Atlas,
his shoulders bear the weight
of the world,
our world;
this quiet man
willingly stands
between us and despair,
he is our Great Wall,
ever protecting.

© ACG
02 April 2011

Friday, March 04, 2011


The March Sun

Just before Dawn comes a moment
as the frost yet crunches underfoot
and the breath freezes before you;
a moment disappearing
as the Sun rises in a purple and rose-colored second;

Daylight bathes you
in March's bitter swirl,
a strong wind from Winter's lungs fiercely expels
in the desperate roar of the Dying Lion;

No Winter can prevail:
beyond the brittle March Sun,
Spring is coming,
with a scent of thawed Earth
and delightful pinks and greens;
there is no resisting;

Despite the March Sun's cold stare,
in the sweet Spring air,
comes the taste of rosebuds.

© ACG
04 March 2011

Tuesday, February 01, 2011


Ice Storm

A midnight war rages
as it descends
without grace,
pinging with increasing abandon,
I hear it coming,
like the incessant ringing
in my ears,
an invisible barrage
against the walls and windows,
concentrated and cruel,
the ice comes
sharply slipping nearer
through the night,
sleekly coating winter’s landscape,
like a foul primeval shroud:
roads become death traps
as it lies sweetly with wicked intent,
a crushing weight snapping trees
as power lines succumb,
and every poor blade
of last summer’s grass
suffocates.

Thank God for the night,
for in the darkness,
no glorious diamond sparkle confuses
or distracts with the deadly beauty of Lucifer,
so hard to resist;
no, in the dark
the menace has no mask:
the smooth operator,
a slick knife’s edge,
exposed as malicious fury:
only in the darkness
where truth confounds lies,
where treacherous beauty is obscured
and nightmares become dreams,
can the malevolent revenge
of the Fallen One,
be withstood:

When the storm comes,
be silent,
“know that I am,”
and be free.
Turn away.

To defeat him, turn away.


© ACG
01 February 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011


Lured

From within a silent deadly tomb,
where echoes of life
ring hollow,
I hear it
calling;
so quietly
in the background,
a never-ending cry
becomes deafening,
irresistible;

as if some force
can overwhelm time,
as if his voice
overpowers everything;
I am lured.

© ACG
30 January 2011

Thursday, January 20, 2011


Reflection

Snowfall rudely buries
everything
under its proverbial blanket,
it slants coldly down,
razors through icy air,
borne within an evil wind,
a steady drowning snowfall
deeply disguising my world,
transforming today,
like a Death-Mask
from another life:

There, alone, wandering lost,
seeking him
in a daze of frozen time,
stung relentlessly
as the snow harshly blows,
borne within an evil wind,
into my very soul,
snowlight blurs my vision
as tears freeze
upon my cheeks,
yet I cannot stop
weeping;

Searching, yet
never finding,
a quest unfulfilled,
a loss excruciating;
yesterday blends into today:
same snow
same wind
same tears.

© ACG
20 January 2011

Monday, January 03, 2011


Rising

Soaring first
aloft with Winter's Breath,
to then fall into Spring,
a dream of peaceful sweetness,
pulsing through Wings of Flame
that burn relentless.


© ACG
03 January 2011