Study in Blue

that blue sky
against white, bare
branches of slumbering trees
uncommon silence, except
squeaking footfall, marking
those before, the air, unsullied
carrying no scent, fresh
as glints, twinkling crystals
blind me, memory’s avalanche
of youth’s vigor, at play
in blanched fields
benumbed joy, ice-bound there
in the murk of memory, comes
comes, comes, warmly
pause

Photo and Poem © 2018 by DC Lessoway

Dauntless

so often we seek light
where better, grander ideas lay
where a bold Sol grants clarity

still, too, solicit shadowed corners
there, secluded riches await, affixed
mine trauma, release truths, cleanse

light or shadow, when confronted
will whither to your rooted power
bringing luminosity in night, shade in day

photo and poem © 2018 by DC Lessoway

Yeah, it Hurts, I’ll get Over it, Again

low ebb comes, again
my sword, shield against
dragging hurt, out of reach
comes cyclical thoughts
not good enough, not good enough
not good enough, not good enough

not good enough, not good enough

till comes a realization, late, so always late
like a dish accidentally pushed to the floor
you think, “why didn’t I see that?”
comes, comes, comes
this thought, this meditation, this intention

fuck you

fuck you this hurt
fuck you these tears
fuck you this insecurity
fuck you this deep-seated
self-anger of “I’m not good enough!”

fuck you, I’m going to do my best
if others don’t like it, not my business
fuck you, this hurt
fuck you

photo and poem © by DC Lessoway

Lest we forget (War, what is it good for?)

governments quarrel, bicker
to war, to war, comes a cry
not of you, or I, but of those
protected by cannon fodder
for pride of country!
sacrificing women, men
for the safety of our citizens
on the other side of the world!

as a blood spattered child, alone
weeps for his parents

© by DC Lessoway

Young Once

faintly in memory
I’ve retained this moment
of a child yet found

Shade

hidden, midst subdivision’s
sprawl, mingling stones
scoured by yammering brook
a peaceful place

photo and poem © DC Lessoway

Dance Hall

salt stained boards
long ago trod, in
joy, fused with music
laughter leading to love’s
caper in summer’s night
dream

photo and poem © DC Lessoway

Canada at 150

to speak of her, in this time
salts my eyes, with pride
sea to mountain, her
nature, her strength
her diverse peoples too

yet we must face vile truths
darkness of humanity
those who first walked
this magnificent land
First People’s tormented by:
John A Macdonald’s “extinguishing”
stripping their sacred land
their languages outlawed
sent to brutal, residential schools

my eyes salted more to see
finally, finally, finally
reconciliation, not yet perfect
bringing people’s together to
say this, all of our Canada
our home, on native land

photos and poem © DC Lessoway

Heaven’s Dance

of ice clinging to
winging dust, fleeting in
duration, immense in breadth
gaze gravitates upward
in repose
each eye deduces its own
horse, spider, swimmer
according to each state
of being
mine own mind alights
upon memories of ancient
cave paintings of people’s
long ago
perhaps, they too
saw in the sky
their own joy

poem and photo © DC Lessoway

Heaven/Hell

it’s been, always, there
an aspiration to fly, above
Earth’s curve
till azure, turns inky, till
am able to palm the spheroid, till
this ache, fear, isolation are but
remote notions of those
down there
down there
hell we’ve fashioned after
clawing at one another’s eyes
being better at being better than
the other, the other we’ve
become

photo and poem © DC Lessoway