Phoenix Rising

©Dwight Phoenix 2015

The Forgotten Flower

By DwightPhoenix

I would always peep over the wooden fence with the broken rooster; tilted like shrapnel’s from a discarded tool.

On a rugged boulder etched in the grass, I would sometimes get help from the outside stool. Till one day the fence grew under me, by then my new beard made me look cool.

Combing up and combing down my mouth would always foam. I forgot my homework and became a fool.

I wasn’t aware that she knew. Like a swindler she lured me every eve with her charming tunes

I never forgot the Saturday when we kissed until our lips were pruned.

Together forever we carved in the middle of her tree at the back of her yard.

Our names crannied in the clutches of a poorly drawn heart.

She talked and I listened; just like in the movies we would both play our parts.

Her scent impeccable, unforgettable, like her bagle always muddled with tart

She always brought me food but I preferred her caresses, playing with her hair always made a good start.

Her eyes were angelic; her skin so fair I constantly did back flips. Her contours deserved a tick.

She was abstract art. Until one day I was a target and her mouth a speeding dart.

I found myself living with a deflated heart.

Seasons came and went, like bandages to an ugly wound.

But before I knew it her parents moved. In my life school no longer played apart.

I was just another drone making keyboard tunes. A life of my own ‘scuff’ I felt like my empty room.

My memories drowned in times pool.

My life felt like an engine that wouldn’t start. My car literally broke down;

I remember I thought I saw you. Coffee by day and coffee by night;

I yearned for a kiss that would change my brew. These other girls simply brought nothing new.

Through the air I often heard the wind whistle your coo. That’s the only memory I had of you.

Like a river crashing into an endless ocean, my memories decanted out of time.

I forgot that when facing an almond tree I was not smile, but I couldn’t remember; not with my child.

Like a leaf forever waddling through space, unaware of the distant chime;

I had to move on I already did my time. Her name cut from the great divine.

I had a replacement heart. “Da da” I couldn’t control my smile. Life was sweet, I didn’t need a sign. This was a second start

My wife handed me a strawberry, next a faint memory pricked my heart.

The Fight

By DwightPhoenix

Bang! The door swung violently behind me. The driver yelled expletives. I would have yelled back but I was inexperience.

Wrath filled me with each step; father’s imagery flashed like an old film on a 60s set.

Yelling and shouting, his words still alive and livid like the old dog on our patio.

My face sour and dark like our next door widow. Mumblings! Mumblings! I forgot to fix up my school clothes.

Anger plus anger! I Stamped into the school yard, remembering that this was home to that fool.

Breathe in breathe out! I tried to keep my cool, but the atmosphere willed me on like a drilling tool.

Books, pencils, teachers! “Ahhhhh!” I yelled. scampering girls played spectators.

Past the staff rooms, past the bathrooms, a runaway car destined to go boom!

First one leg in then the other, I crawled into mechanics like a stubborn rudder.

My bag half hanged against the chair, the straps grazed the tiles; “Where is that ugly child!”

No preacher yet to bore me, I fiddled with the pencil while the anger gored me.

“Morning Stephen!” Stupid crush, I held my head down hoping she would stay hushed. Inside and outside, red everywhere I could almost hear my sanity tear. Through the creaking hinges the sun peered.

I jumped up, my bag fell off I couldn't believe our two paths crossed.

Silence stabbed the room, the others gagged by the imminent doom. We stood there a drift. I swore I saw a puff of eerie mist.

Like the movies the suspense sang with an orchestral jiff. We talked through the air; powerful telepathics with a juvenile twist.

Ooos and ahhhhs, prepped us for battle, but I wish they would shut up I couldn't take the tattle.

In my hand the pencil broke. That was it, the final stroke. Like a snake I launched my rattle.

“Good Morning Stephen!” Stupid crush, I held my head she hadn’t hushed. The door opened and I got up. “Move Cindy!” She didn’t make a fuss.

I already knew this scene. This time the pencil held firm like a tusk.

THE GIRL IN CLASS!

By Dwight Phoenix

I was the first one to find my seat. At the back there was a passage through the center of the class.

I was the first one to be attentive. My mouth played a river; decanting from it was a slippery stream.

I was the only in class who had a dream. Miss bell’s mouth moved but with one sense no sounds could encompass.

I was the only one in class but still we’re forty. They wouldn’t understand, my eyes had one task.

*

Like dew on a blade of grass my eyes welled; too much gaping. My hands sloshed the scene. From the window the sun careened, glaring my vision, Boom! She glowed like a rainbow blast.

My eyes fought the air; plopping the wet from my stares, I daggered my lids just to dry it fast.

Heavy breathing! I hoped she was still in class. Back to peering, my joints went back to their tasks; they were almost searing.

I couldn’t stop she was worth every glance. Heavy breathing; when will we dance?

*

Her hair arrayed delicately like contours of roses, plummeting from a mountains plateau.

At the bottom was a flurry of canopies. The hems of her red tresses pounced zigzag in the suns autumn queues.

Her skin shimmered like a diamond in the deep blue. Milk and honey; inside me felt sunny.

I could taste her kiss; my mouth got runny. I could smell her perfume; my nose it knew.

“Ahh!” Ten meters away and still brawny.

Because of her my hair ends flew. I love you. To her essence I would always play a pawn. By the way her name is Sue.

*

The light dimmed and the room became grim. I dropped my head; she got up to leave and killed my grin.

In the same way the desert felt deprived of life, my whole being felt starved. Lord have I sinned?

Don’t cry I mustered my eye. I’m still a man I won’t die. I tried but I couldn’t win. Her scent lingered like a hibiscus in the wind.

My fingers wrestled the pages whilst my sanity rattled loves cages. Soon I could hear the voice of the horrid goblin.

“Ahh!” My classmates were loud, I could feel my head spin.

*

“Hi David, do you like me?” The book fell from the desk. God was this a test?

My head sprung from its rest and I froze like an ant in a spider’s nest.

My lord this felt harder than chess!!!!!!