96

Ninety-Six

Whim

Timeless suspension

Stand and drift by God's own whim

Dust floats to the ground

95

Ninety-Five

Air

Actions almost bound

Out of reach of grasping hands

Fingers clutch the air

94

Ninety-Four

Sewn

Watching for the snow

The sky is sewn together

Rising from below

93

Ninety-Three

Retreat

Dawn and dusk descend

Even stars retreat the sky

All at once, goodbye

92

Ninety-Two

Replace

Space between the lines

Empty thoughts replace the void

Take it all away

91

Ninety-One

Noose

Rope so cut and frayed

The noose holds itself in check

Tremors don't forget

90

Ninety

Die

White has since been raised

A thousand cries on the wind

This is where they die

89

Eighty-Nine

Price

Scarcity breeds wealth

High praise for the spoils of war

Ask your price in blood

88

Eighty-Eight

Hand

When I'm at your side

There's no place I'd rather be

Take your hand in mine

87

Eighty-Seven

Char

Boxed and well-restrained

Beasts of char and burning ash

Kindled by a spark

86

Eighty-Six

Close

Depths I cannot know

Follow close my beating heart

Home is where you are

85

Eighty-Five

Neglect

Shadows toll the mind

Reason fades with long neglect

Swarming brighter lights

84

Eighty-Four

Blossoms

Thunder claps at dusk

Blossoms brave the dying storm

Suffer what they must

83

Eighty-Three

Skin

Beckoned by a cloud

Rain on frozen city streets

Fog seeps through your skin

81

Eighty-One

Brevity

Never forgotten

Brevity is not the same

As unremembered

80

Eighty

Eclipse

Void of all that was

Watch and wait as time erodes

Praying for eclipse

79

Seventy-Nine

Rage

Willingly confined

Chains bespoke the cruel and cold

Roar in ancient rage

78

Seventy-Eight

Phantom

Phantom in the dark

Dreary lights exhaust the night

Embers cool and die

77

Seventy-Seven

Sludge

Draped and ever-torn

Chagrin lost and found again

Crawling through the sludge

76

Seventy-Six

Forever

Bound in unwept tears

Forever swelling outward

Pushing him to shame

75

Seventy-Five

Sea

A warm, sheltered laugh

Rolling with the waves to shore

Echoes in the sea

74

Seventy-Four

Quoted

Volcanic and cool

Sweeping low on barren fields

Quoted once, it comes

73

Seventy-Three

Walls

Messengers within

Pushing out these walls of steel

Hungry for a breath

72

Seventy-Two

Flesh

Hollowed out and worn

Flesh is the colour of cold

Front your darkest depths

71

Seventy-One

Wounds

Trembling hands and heart

Wounds haikus could never heal

Broken through and through

70

Seventy

Glow

Morning breaks the end

How long before the sun sets

On this waning glow

69

Sixty-Nine

Sing

Blamed for unknown truths

Holding tight to long-lost ways

Fallen angels sing

68

Sixty-Eight

Unmask

Skies aflame by night

Foreign stars unmask our fate

Fear deceives the world

67

Sixty-Seven

Dusk

Nature's violent reign

Her prowess known to those at dusk

Shadows hiding beasts

66

Sixty-Six

Slow

Droning past the hour

Juxtapose his last slow breath

Zealotry repressed

65

Sixty-Five

Exile

Ice berates my soul

Held in chains to soft bemoan

This winter exile

64

Sixty-Four

Ransom

Drummers chant the end

Lies held ransom for the truth

Finding ways to die

63

Sixty-Three

Counting

Counting up from none

Hearts grow fond as time goes on

So long gravity

62

Sixty-Two

Ripples

Ripples in a pond

Calmed by naught but greater waves

Throw a second stone

61

Sixty-One

Sand

Castles made of sand

Monuments raised up from earth

Crumble in the wind

60

Sixty

Haste

Poets in great haste

Dreams and horrors pressed by time

Soothing those who wait

59

Fifty-Nine

Enthralled

By tempest and blaze

Demons are angels enthralled

Stars are cloaked in dark

58

Fifty-Eight

Mirrors

Puddles in the mud

Mirrors show the truth once feared

Spend your whole life dazed

57

Fifty-Seven

Farewells

Abandoned again

Those superficial farewells

Left to wish on stars

56

Fifty-Six

Vague

Friends he never had

Brought to life in every way

Pale, vague illusions

55

Fifty-Five

Whistling

Winter lacking white

Desolate but not alone

Heed the whistling wind

54

Fifty-Four

Ash

Monuments of ash

Stone but dust in time's cruel clutch

Hearts can weather storms

53

Fifty-Three

Baby

Stung by his own hand

A baby cries into the wind

Cradled close, it stops

52

Fifty-Two

Veins

Winter chills the blood

Snow and hail permeate our veins

Hearts still burn like fire

51

Fifty-One

Wasting

On that self-same path

Open minds need open ears

Wasting breath on words

50

Fifty

Learn

Songbirds sing in vain

Well-intentioned notes unheard

Soon those birds will learn

49

Forty-Nine

Age

Youth avenged in age

Water trickles down the rocks

Stolen time replaced

48

Forty-Eight

Vipers

Traces of the past

Lie in old forgotten light

Vipers in the grass

47

Forty-Seven

Banners

Tackled by a wind

White flags raised against all will

Banners tear with time

46

Forty-Six

Razed

Flames are kept secret

Vision razed in mercy's jest

Stifled by the hand

45

Forty-Five

Place

Stark and barren hills

Convalesce in distant lands

Searching for a place

44

Forty-Four

Bequeathed

Morning melts the snow

Dawn forgives the night her sins

Stars bequeath the sky

43

Forty-Three

Silent

Darkened blood-shot eyes

Waging wars against myself

Scream in silent pain

42

Forty-Two

Ice

Dreams deprived of sleep

Wakeful eyes make reason blind

Bridges burned in ice

41

Forty-One

Salt

Poison for the weak

Thawed in full from unwept salt

Let the mighty fall

40

Forty

Genesis

Genesis of blue

Thunderclouds denied release

Lusting for the rain

39

Thirty-Nine

Offence

No break from offence

Deserted in hopeless words

Still so full of hope

38

Thirty-Eight

Tones

Words so often lost

Left to die on tone-deaf ears

No means of escape

37

Thirty-Seven

Smiles

Brighter than the sun

My heart defies gravity

Every time she smiles

36

Thirty-Six

Plague

Wasted from within

Plague wreaks havoc on the mind

Self-inflicted pain

35

Thirty-Five

Mystics

Cover to cover

Found and lost between the lines

Mystics dressed in black

34

Thirty-Four

Jest

Questions asked in haste

The truth revealed from under

Answer not in jest

33

Thirty-Three

Mute

Put the world on mute

Lose your way and find yourself

Music keeps my soul

32

Thirty-Two

Hearts

Fingers intertwine

A dream fulfilled in their hearts

Enemies of time

31

Thirty-One

Bramble

Insatiable fake

Leash your lust and reign it in

A bramble in chains

30

Thirty

Reason

Foolishly abridged

Reason never meant so much

Roaming free of chains

29

Twenty-Nine

Use

Hands, ears, heart and words

In one ear and out again

Stolen points from use

28

Twenty-Eight

Knives

The mind to the lips

Arduous and fraught with knives

Traverse without thought

27

Twenty-Seven

Fog

A thorn with no rose

Fog encroaches past his soul

Known to none but him

26

Twenty-Six

Moments

Time will bow to none

Ticking clocks cannot be tamed

Moments pass too soon

25

Twenty-Five

White

Thrones widowed from kings

Threadbare gowns and tarnished crowns

White will never fly

24

Twenty-Four

Flags

Exposed from within

Fallen flags depose themselves

Toast the two-faced clown

23

Twenty-Three

Words

Drafted in the dark

Enemies crafted with words

Theirs and those unsaid

22

Twenty-Two

Thorns

Weakness of the mind

Tangled in brambles and thorns

Traversed on dead feet

21

Twenty-One

Poets

Heaven's out of sight

Poets beg not for their rhymes

Nor the day for night

20

Twenty

Home

Follow where he leads

A hard-packed road paved with blood

Follow him from home

19

Nineteen

Trees

Mouths wage war with thirst

Hard-pressed hands grasp without truth

Quenched by men on trees

18

Eighteen

Spring

Spring feels no remorse

A suicide prone to haste

False hopes born to die

17

Seventeen

Canvas

Abstract green and red

Canvas stretched across my soul

Void of black and white

16

Sixteen

Delicate

Delicate thunder

Earthquakes fumble for a hold

Stumble like a drunk

15

Fifteen

Ignorance

Plead guilty just once

Tomorrow feigns ignorance

Ancient stone made new

14

Fourteen

Bushels

An apple a day

keeps the doctor away, but

Death is not so kind.

13

Thirteen

Neon

The stars disappear

Newfound limelight dims their glow

Neon burns brightest

12

Twelve

Stripped

Blanketed by dawn

Sailors make love to the shore

Stripped of every past

11

Eleven

Empty Pages

A whirlwind of thoughts

The empty page speaks volumes

No one stops to read

10

Ten

Resurgence

A clear shallow pool

Dim reflections from the past

Patiently waiting

9

Nine

Leftovers

Leftover Chinese

Flooded by the TV's glow

Her cheeks flood with tears

8

Eight

Past

Obscured by thin dust

One glare's enough to disturb

Do I dare to look?

7

Seven

Steps

Time and ticking clocks

Ascend the waiting staircase

Don't you dare look back

6

Six

Time

Crushed beneath a word

Dim and softly unraveled

He's misplaced his smile

5

Five

Dancing

A leaf on a tree

The poets make rhymes as it

Dances in the chill

4

Four

a Tune

An old worn-out tune

Plucked from the world on a whim

And thrust to the side

3

Three

Seduction

A night spent awake

Restless eyes and jaded heart

Seduced by the moon

2

Two

Us

The blossoming rose

Nor sunset's evening glow have

Beauty such as you

1

One

Masks

Hide behind sheer veils

We dance in frantic circles

Swaying in the storm