Poetry Series by Christine Tabaka

 Your Warmth

 

Twenty-six years together,

eight of them good,

none really bad.

 

So what if we sleep

in separate rooms?

 

Many of my friends

tell me they have

the same arrangement.

 

It’s not as if I should miss you

next to me after all these years -

but I do.

 

I know all the excuses.

We both snore,

I have a bad back,

the list goes on.

 

But still –

the warmth of you next to me

is what I miss the most.

 

*   Published by Academy of the Heart and Mind, July 2020

 

Behind Closed Eyes

 

There was a place

I used to hide.

A distant far off land.

 

Behind closed eyes,

soft colors swam among

sweet whispered scents.

 

Now, awake at three a.m.,

my heart begins to race.

Pulsating emotions fill my head.

 

Chaotic visions beyond

the realm of known truth

enter my weary mind. 

 

No sleep, no rest.

Mental exhaustion plays

dancing feedback loops.

 

My hiding place now vanquished.

Dreams that are worth dreaming

come at a dear price.

 

*   Published by The Write Connection, July 2019

 

 

Collection Site

 

Life,

once organized

in neat little compartments

now spills out of bounds.

Objects and ideas,

no longer carefully placed,

but tossed about

in a riotous mosaic.

 

Life,

has become a collection site,

a catchall for forgotten dreams,

as busyness takes its toll.

Little bits and pieces filling

all the vacant spaces,

like some enormous

junk drawer for the universe.

 

Life,

lost in the rubble,

searches for itself.

It is time to clear out

rusty ideas and objects,

to reassemble structure.

Discovering hidden treasures,

I bring order back to life.

 

*   Published by Peach Velvet Magazine, April 2019

 

Ann Christine Tabaka, Poet & Writer - Pushcart Prize in Poetry Nominee

Website: https://annchristinetabaka.com/