Christine E. Ray's Blog, page 10
February 24, 2024
Chasing Sandcastles
you feel
impossibly distant
elusive
the receding tide
I am left chasing sandcastles
before they are reclaimed
by rushing waters
our connection
has become reduced to
collisions in the dark
that throw us off balance
knees and
hearts left aching
I have been
studying the language
of oceans
gazing out
at the horizon
until the
sea blurs
before my eyes
I try to read
the omens
throw the bones
in the crashing waves
play of light
rippling on the water
the surf whispers
over and over
to me that
you are gone
the current has
carried you
far beyond my reach
© 2017 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All Rights Reserved
February 23, 2024
The Taste of Citrus
silken black blindfold
covers eyes
feel your thumb
tracing my bottom lip
‘open up’ you say
I hesitate only briefly
before i obey
tongue and teeth greeted
with sweet-tart taste of ripe
blood orange
juices running
down chin
collarbone
bare breasts
you feed me more segments unhurriedly
citrus dripping
skin sticky
your lips
long and lingering on mine
before trailing down to drink
sweet-tart juice
from my warm skin
© 2017 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All Rights Reserved
Revised © 2019 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All Rights Reserved
February 22, 2024
Black Roses and Moonlight
she brings black roses and moonlight
fireflies like stars in her sky
bare feet caress the dewy ground
night blooming jasmine
reaching up to brush her opal skin
she is a casualty of time
forgotten midnight goddess
slipped from her stem
name no long invoked reverently on
devout lips
her followers reduced to
the night creatures
who fly above
trail at her feet
she shakes her head sadly at
the sorry state of affairs
old ways replaced by
franchised faith
found on televisions
drive-up chapels where
Elvis impersonators
listen to sins
dole out penance
under neon lights
for just a small tithe
Visa, Mastercard and Discover accepted
they say you are
what you worship
bemused
she journeys on
wonders what humanity now prays for
in their concrete fortresses surrounded
by asphalt seas
something electronic perhaps
© 2017 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All rights Reserved
February 21, 2024
The Ache of My Bones
Inspired by Sarah Doughty’s A Way Out
I feel you in my bones
deep within the marrow
your name written
crimson and ivory
on platelets
and leukocytes
I reach out my hand
but still you slip away
so much crystalized
phosphorus
crushed calcium
leaving me brittle
hollow
bitter scars of ossification
only proof that you once
dwelled within me
Image courtesy of Pinterest
© 2018 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All Rights Reserved
February 20, 2024
What Little Girls Are Made Of
she had always been puzzled
by the idea that little girls
were made of sugar
and spice
and everything nice
in her experience
that’s not what
little girls
were made of at all
the mean girls smelled
like cruelty mixed with uncertainty
disdain peppered with insecurity
ravenous hunger and envy
some girls smelled like
saccharine sweetness
and copper wire
wound too tight
always trying to please
to be liked
to be popular
others just wanted
to fly under the radar
to escape the notice
of mean girls who torment
of chameleon girls who offered
friendship only to shun them
the moment the mean girls
or a boy
beckoned
she was a different
kind of girl
the quiet, watchful kind
she had ageless wisdom
in her heart
steel in her spine
fire in her blood
and patience
her time would come
there weren’t many
girls like her
but when they brushed
past each other
in school hallways
or crowded streets
the recognition
was like lightning
eyes would meet boldly
and they would smile
the secret smiles
of their kind
© 2017 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All rights Reserved
February 19, 2024
Drawing Down the Moon
bare alabaster arms raised to the heavens
I sing the ancient songs to the endless night
I draw down the moon from the velvet
cradle her in my arms like a babe
bathe in her icy luminescence
draw it deep into my body
until my skin is translucent
cool to the touch
I am filled with the light
of a thousand stars
and the wolves howl
to the empty sky
you contain the fire of the sun
golden and crimson
it slips through your veins
ripples beneath your skin
dances in your eyes
amber that holds my image fixed
we are holy, consecrated
equals worthy of each other
performing an ancient rite
that cleanses the earth
and ignites the night
© 2017 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All Rights Reserved
February 18, 2024
Rabbit Holes
rabbit holes
within
rabbit holes
I am always
tumbling
falling down
falling up
trying to find
my feet
as I somersault
in space
the disorientation
dizzying
no longer sure
of anything
what was my
original destination
when I stepped
into nothingness?
the looking glass
lays shattered
mirrored fragments
reflecting
my ungainly descent
from grace
©2024 Christine E. Ray – All Rights Reserved
