The Honey Bee & The Last Winter Rose

                    honey bee … sweet honeyed bee

           humming and bumbling
    titillatingly buzzing , drunken stumbling ,
wallowing insatiably in blossom's touch

intoxicated within velvety enchantment
impaired by sticky silken pearlessence
the sweet elixir of luscious petals waft

tantalizing little smitten honey bee kisses
brushed of intensely hued honeyed nectar
weighted by pollination's residues

woozy... grounded in an enraptured daze
ne’er desire to fly away again
drawn into mesmerizing hibernation

surrendering , heretofore only a simple wish
... to be held eternally
... lifted by the wings of love

petals enshroud forever wishes
total unconditional embrace imbibes delight
unabridged repose of slumber awaits

enslaved by one love's petaled cocoon
the sweetest rhapsody manifests
honey bee nuzzles the last winter rose ...

~ honeyed blissfulness forevermore ~

© Harlon Rivers ...the night before December, 2013

  If only I were a little honey bee 

        ... and , you the blossoming rose

               ... oh how sweet I'd be for to hold

                         ... enslaved by your hallowed petals' kiss

                                   

Unfolding Love's Resplendent Notes

Love evolves as if it were the morphosis
of fine music ; never asking it to go anywhere
                                or be anything , yet
                                  flow avowedly free

Allowing its melodious essence
to seek its own natural level
Free to expand in so many realms
                                beyond the bounds
                                of notes and words

It is within the stillness
of the conscious moment
the recognizable euphonic manifestation
                                          is revealed

unfolding love's aurora

                   of beautiful resplendent notes ...



Harlon Rivers © November ...2013

The Dark Star's Light

The Dark Star's Light

The bare blushing trees are full of secrets

mystic owls behold at night

Their whispers enchant the silenced stars

A dark star's bright twinkles linger in plain sight

Your spirit draws me in towards you

like the moon pulls at the tide

Our currents stir in deep eddy’s swirl

tempest undercurrents cannot be denied

I can feel you close in the far distance ,

but I can’t get there from here ;

heart beset by treasured memories

only seeing where you used to be

Owls hoot wisely from the gnarled Oaks atop the knoll

a moment lamenting someone I used to know

Fingers bleed like teardrops where the thorns pricked my palms ;

couldn't stop myself from groping for the thorny rose

Arms embrace nature , listen for the esoteric sighs ,

ear pressed firmly to the furrowed bark’s silence 

There are no hidden secrets to a pounding heart ,                                 

when naked mossy branches behold the weight

the lonely  dark star's light ...

Harlon Rivers … © October 2013

Enchanting Wilderness....republished from October 2012

Moonlight moves across the shadows of love born beneath the trees.
Two shadows emerge as one...a poem by Harlon Rivers

Wandering silently

though the wilderness woods,

far and away from the potholes

of well beaten pathways

The soft breeze slowly moves

the shadows of the moonlit night

past the thorny stems of time.

Wildlife paths illuminated by starlight

adorn the alluring wooded trail

Secluded pathways foraged by natural instinct,

Ancestral prudence and intuition

Each shadow drawn willingly

into a deeper enlightening journey

As if synchronicity united hearts

learning to speak minds

The depths of daunting transparency

are rendezvous with awakening breath

Looking back at life withdrawn in discontent

Exhaling newly found freedom without regret

Lost in perpetual motion, found in heart

Separate souls illuminated by the moon

stood alone yearning for healing connection

Ardor of hope shines an inward light

as moonlight slumbers while passion blushes

The night has a thousand eyes

Shining on practical mysticism

The laughing owls of midnight

Echo illusions of  crystal clear reverie

Moved by swirling tempest breezes

showering down from high endeavors

Wisps of the sleeping sky unfurl

teardrops drunk by earth’s sod

Nocturnal Cricket’s rhythmus acoustical wings

are very quietly chirping a bashful courting song

Laughter rings out blissfully

like the joy of a heavenly child

Nature sways with gentle motion

Her leafy arms groan and moan the silent toil

She holds up the weight of the celestial light

Moonlight moves across the shadows

of love born beneath the trees.

Two shadows emerge as one

from the wilderness of sleep

Reborn as naked children

enlightened by the enchanting forest...

© 2012 Harlon Rivers 

Let Your Bliss Find You

When you looked for it... and never found it... that does not mean it does not exist~

"Let Your Bliss Find You"

A warmth overcame the chill

in the softly lit room.

It was as if , in a subtle  and yet

breathless moment's pause ,

love triumphed over loneliness

The midnight oil flickered

dancing teasingly ~

while the playful flame drew life

from within the contents 
of its awakening sphere

near the drafty window sill

The rocking chair breaks the silence

as it creaks to the rhythm

of the unsteady flash of light ,

bequeathed  by the burning log's cinders

In the silence of the peaceful presence ,

one chunk of green maple sizzles ,

sputtering out into the timbre's pace ;

a short respite of thankful solitude ~

Embers smoldering…

as if they were trapped

in an arresting instant

of purposeful awakening

Just the bad timing of fate

in a human sense ...

In the right place

at the wrong time seeking purpose.

The glow of the fire’s luminosity,

tantalized the back-lit profile ,

painting it’s shadow

on the opposite wall

A dark silhouette exhaled a deep sigh

with the throb of the dark night’s tone

The chair’s bent oak runners groaned

while dove tailed joints squeaked

with an impatient restless tempo

The soul’s aura gave off a soothing ,

peaceful depth of reflection ;

expressions seldom understood

by those unwilling to look beyond

the seemingly obvious colour

Thoughts flashed * * * * *

with the pulse of a beating heart

Day dreams manifest like cinema

on the four walls imprisoning lonliness

Life is a magnificent puzzle

Even well into the long journey 
good things can happen ;

when you've looked for what seems missing ,

even though needed perspective was never found ,

it does not mean it does not exist ...

"Allow faith in the eternal dream never ending"...

Instead of finding your bliss ~

... let your bliss find you …

Harlon Rivers…

...and so it goes

...and so it goes

you're the only one that knows...

Spell words that bind together passing strangers

Spell words that bind together passing strangers
Assemble thoughts that fuse those whom are often found alone
Append the goodwill of poetry, bonding individual hearts and minds
Assemble letters to bespeak sincerely, a hope of enkindling some

Spell words that bind together passing strangers
How can you change your mind about what cries love?
Some say it’s not love when your love is unrequited
Spell it another way, so it cannot be dispelled, yet enlightened

Spell words that bind together passing strangers
Intertwine warp and weft fabric of understanding uttered phrase
Entwine the threads that weave a poetic tapestry
Unveil the lyrical essence of singular hearts and minds

Spell words that bind together passing strangers
Write eloquent sonnets that impassioned hopeful hearts
Betoken words that unite the lost and broken
Muse the alphabet to deliver an amazing grace

Spell words that bind together passing strangers

Sense an apocalypse of a beautiful understanding love

Manifest a vivid renaissance of random acts of kindness

Testify, uplifting bemused spirits, bear witness to the love from mountain high

Spell words that bind together passing strangers
Love is amity beyond the bounds of a four letter word
Assemble letters to embrace a sublime affection
The total sum, affinity is the fusion to become one love

Spell words that bind together passing strangers
How can words change your heart about singing love?
Inseparable musical notes fusion within the harmony of song
Spell words that won’t question, “will I ever spell love again?”

Spell it another way so it cannot be misspelled or lost again …



© 2013 ...Harlon Rivers

Notes:   It seems there are those constantly writing about how the word "love" is it over used?

that word means something epic to me ... congratulations to your life if you have found your love epic....

if the hope of love  is overused...it is time for me  away....
I want to be shamelessly in love with love~

Somehow it makes the world more manageable to feel its purpose

Photo by marek-mierzejewski 

The Whole Moon was Pining…

The Whole Moon was Pining...

I.

The full moon’s beams couldn't shine through the haze
when you mask your emotive sensibilities
cloaked behind your veiled penchants
The dappled moon’s gleam
illuminates thy nimbus view
beneath her muddled light,
where whispering moonbeams
illumine from behind and through
the shrouded luminescent night aglow

II.

When you wish a wish upon a twinkling star
ne’er revoke the wish, nary a dream denied undreamt,
after the coin was thrown beyond the mystical bounds
Exhaled from the umbrage of the silence,
a murmured sigh ricocheted from distant realms afar,
under befuddled breathe obscured by the notion;
ne’er a second thought of conscious opine
exhaled in this sullen moment of veiled aches,
yet unnoticed, the olive branches sip quietly from beside the ink well

III.

Disavowed dreams stealing away into befogged thought,
some kind of madness, like the tangerine sunset
recanted by the conflicted twilight azure
The cracks in broken hearts and dreams
are where the resplendent bursting moon’s fetter
enkindles a natural vernal verve
Oh! her magical incandescent waterfall of grandeur
washes over me, basking in this illuminating moment,
bathing in Luna’s enchanting healing balm...

© Harlon Rivers ...July. 2013    …Full Moon 16 day(s) old

authors notes: This was an experience (!)

Being a moon monger, "where there is a will there is a way"…

Written Tuesday night under full moon, with ink and paper
and brought to a red brick and mortar library world.
First time ever to a library for online access became a narrative of it own saved and published at "Word Whisperer" poetry blog, in another live library moment...

...totally unplanned and spontaneous but needed a spell check
from real ink words...to be entered into the digital box...

...but now is the needed time to requite the whole & full moon’s fetter.

...under the flight path

...perception...sitting in my red solo Adirondack chair at sunset,
watching the comings and the goings beyond the hummingbird's and dragon flies' whir.
...thinking about those first steps someone once said … lead to
them journeys of a thousand miles~ aka “sittin here on my ass in limbo”

...under the flight path

contrails float by at a snail's crawl

once carried the weight beyond afar

white cotton candy becoming unspun..

unwinding, unfolding, floating magically

like a butterfly’s bon voyage…

fluttering felicity glides with

sunhair dafts the fickle spindrift breeze

dandelion's drift seeds flight

to be sewn in distant horizons

my seed beneath up, up and away

disperse floating fluffy parachutes

delicate pink pearlescent textures awakened~

pink moon … oh! pink moon rise and shine

oh! pink moon come hither my heart

purr as soft as tufted intimate touch

whisper softly aneath

sky’s wispy pink cirrus azure

© 2013 ... harlon rivers

Oasis

Our precious moments together are an oasis

A place where new beginnings evolve into vivid life...

...a poem by Harlon Rivers

Oasis

Our moments together are an oasis

Respite from this journey’s rocky mile

Alone together in a deserted desert island’s secret garden

Where adoring affections

paint the depth of a picturesque

beheld warmth of sweetest tenderness

Hearts and minds impassioned harmony’s opus

Surrendering to love’s enchanting flows

Enlightened by conscious oneness

Yielding to the repose of a silent starlit bay’s twilight halo

Swirling Moon beams dance around like the falling stars ballet

As effervescent currents eddiy in a radiant sky’s afterglow

The blending of connected souls

kindle love’s shimmering light

Love’s tower of strength is euphoric refuge

Shelter from life’s perfect storms

Intimacy surrendered slowly is a soothing sanctuary

Unchained healing in two minds

Happenstance is not an illusion

Turning dark memories’ shadows into light

Illuminating compassionate understanding

Solitude’s allure can leave stars in one’s eyes

Our precious moments together are an oasis

A place were new beginnings evolve into vivid life...

© 2012 Harlon Rivers 

Summer solstice moon... 6. 21. 2013

'when you know there is more to life ... for awe sake' 

Waxing Gibbous 12 day(s) old

' in the beginning First Quarter Moon'

 6 day(s) old 

"for awe sake" ...

honeysuckle holistic essence

the mirror sees the colour caveat

through and beyond all it reflects

vivid visual sensation 

beyond light and shade

palettes to change hue

breadth in timbre changing tone

an intricate tapestry

entwined roots nuance

wrapped around aspect

bursting forth of awe...

verve in rapture

spills pigment into each dawn’s colour,

each bud blooming, each breath...

bursting forth essence...

spew, splatter, gush, ooze panache

we have a responsibility to awe...

Release spirit out for awe sake

© 2O13 ...Harlon Rivers

..".The Azure Violin"

...The Azure Violin

The violin’s azure strings wept softly

from inside of the mind made cell;

musical echoes lamenting

a whole too vast to fill

each and all silenced reverie,

leaving the philosopher’s stone unthrown

Blue guitar minor chord changes, 

bent notes phrasing sharps and flats ;

memories gently weeping confirmation 

repressed flow of soul silently leaks out 

The spirit's currents eddy ;

suffused within spoken verve ,

purging streams overflowing , 

an alchemist’s soul unfurled...

© Harlon Rivers

6.12.2013... journal entry:

"an unexpected perfect storm & bluebirds"

A musician with a wounded wing ...

trying to find the strength to fly.  

Nothing fills the void left behind 

when we lose an invisible, 

indivisible, irreplaceable thread 

that binds the tapestry of our lives...

I started playing a guitar when I was 5 and now I have been unable to play in 15 months…but one winged writing has finally turned into 2.   I am blessed to( feel/be) mostly whole.  Sometimes change can happen so quickly we don’t even notice ... and yet accepting change is a slow process…

"four walls are a prison somedays"…

Writing a poem, while pacing this emotional cage, has me thinking about a quote from one of my favorite movies

...from Shawshank Redemption;   Red: [narrating] "I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone."

Waxing Crescent Moon

Waxing Crescent Moon

There was a pause in the late night.
Coyote beckoned the moon's faint whispering beams
lamenting her light’s shine full and bright

Now waxing crescent afresh
winks with each passing cloud ,
as if to promise lightly
the shine of a new awaited dawn .

Rooster’s foreboding crow
echoes from the rolling vista ,
ricochets heard the awakening report ,
held breath does not stop a pounding heart

I watched the spider’s
tight wire walk a mile ,
cherry wood poster spanning cherry wood poster,
knowing it is possible to cross
an unknown distance between .

Silk thread drifts aneath the ceiling fan waft ...
floating, falling, tickling forgotten desires
feeling the whispers murmured ;
breathe out heavily
first touch sigh,

... dreaming of sleeping amidst
her fragrant petals
embracing a blossoming rose …

© 2013...Harlon Rivers

Where Teardrops Hit the Ground

Where Teardrops Hit the Ground

Each teardrop marks a forgotten pathway
Where the fading traces of the passing of love
stubbornly lingers
Memoirs of a whimsical serendipity circle back
through the overgrown, once well-trodden trail

Retracing the earlier steps taken from love’s higher ground;
ruminating the enraptured memories
flooding through the heart’s enchanting collage
Time is neither kind nor unkind,
when it’s misplaced somewhere between here and now

With the passage of time,
regret is her only companion
Missing pieces entangled with laments;
heartache entwined with unfulfilled needs

Wanting what was taken
far more than what is given
Searching for what is lost;
yet only discovering a hollow void too vast to fill
  
Compressed and preserved memories
once thrived within the pages
of love’s written reverie;
seeds sewn, budding genesis,
flourishing adore,
all nurtured in a garden of affection galore

A bouquet of pressed and dried rosebuds
has no memory
The sting of the prick from a thorny rose,
indelibly scars a yearning heart;
life trickles out with the pulse of each hidden sigh

Visible melancholy stains seep out

onto forgotten footprints,
evanescing like a piano’s notes decay,
mingling as the moment hesitates;
disappearing into the unkempt garden footpath
as if it were a dream that never happened

Fingertips delicately touch their tips in a quiet moment’s musing;
feeling for the vivid twinge of the dirt packed beneath my fingernails
Reflections of ever-present teardrops once hit the ground,
washing away your name scratched and carved  in dust
where the earth will ache forevermore...

©  2012~2013 … Harlon Rivers  …All Rights Reserved

Smell-a-vision

When you know for certain spring has sprung…

There is a fragrance in the air…

The texture of touch…

The beauty of the sight of the Bleeding Hearts…

The sounds of spring…

And taste the essence…

Here & Now again!   It is a time to share!

Awaken with the new dawning day... unfurl renewal

All heightened senses are overflowing 

Elegantly standing tall with a delicate lacy 

nakedness...Savoring honeysuckle kisses soon gone...

...all photos by Harlon Rivers  ©

There is a fragrance in the air…

When you know for certain

spring has sprung…

The sounds of spring

are buzzing 

with the sweetness of  honeysuckle…

The texture of tender touch sings…

Seeing believes the beauty of sight

All heightened senses are overflowing 

with the flavor of a blossoming desire,

exposed by the Birds and the Bees…

♪♫♫   ♪♪♫ 

Wild Flower Poesy

. . . a look into the realities of the inspirations of nature...there is such a place and it is happening right now !  Dreams are so much more than imagination coming to life ~

. . . a poem by Harlon Rivers © 2013

Wild Flower Poesy

The soothing warmth of the spring day

made the carpet of green grasses’ cool touch,

titillate impassioned moist flesh.

The afternoon sun filtered through the maple grove;

enchanting the beauty where the branches throw

their favorite shades into the shadows upon the earth’s bouquet.

A poesy of wild flowers paint

a peaceful watercolor palette;  

their tantalizing pastel ecstasy, infused a serene stillness.

Only the Sparrow’s yearning serenade, harmonized with the

blissful rapture of the moment’s whispered song.

The fragile Tiger Lilies hidden elegance

draws my breath of heart level

with the Wild Strawberry blossoms  coverlet.        

The ornately elegant Wild Irises, ballet above the delicate

dainty Violet Violas adorning the smiling grace

of a quintet of angels.

A poignant fragrance floated through the atmosphere

with an aura of rhapsody

permeating from the double periwinkle Lilac’s mystical elixir.

Intoxicating a woozy presence, chimera stealing away

into a moonstruck daydream, exhaling an inebriated sigh.

The air swirled, sending an inflamed ticklish chill over my body. 

In a gentle puff of the aromatic breeze, flora released her essence; 

I was awakened, as the dusting pollen left slightly scented traces

upon the aroused skin of a swollen appetite.

Knowing in this moment, in the euphoric shade of the shadows,

It's nature's way of telling me...were are one...

Distant Whispers Spark a Burning Light

Distant Whispers Spark a Burning Light

listening for whispered light;

hearing the wind's song

sing through the tall grass,

breathing cadence sways

moon flower's essence shines,

illumined spirit beckons,

across terrestrial fields

in the space between distant shorelines

the long and winding surrender,

moon up to sundown;

love ricochets

the faint reflection of the stars

setting fire to the flames 

roused spirit is drawn to life,

daylight through the night;

knowing essence of souls

enchant the spark turned fire ...

Wish Upon a Tossed Coin

Wish Upon a Tossed Coin

The blue moon’s shining essence

Ricochets off the twilight mirror pond

Fireflies dart and hover

Over her celestial

Looking glass mirage

~

A shadow pitches coins

Into Mother Nature’s soul

Each set free one by one

Wishing one single pining dream would come true

shining throughout forevermore

~

Hushed sighs exhale secret wishes

Heard from the hidden shoreline

A stone’s throw away

You can’t ever get back the wish

After the coin is thrown

~

The coin’s splash dimples

The still water surface

Echoing within the silence

With the verve 
of a subtle symphony
~

Driving the rippled rings

Across the mirror ponds still waters

Fading into the distant horizon 
further than beyond

~

If a star falls into vast still waters

Does anybody hear the sound?

We are only one starlit shining coin’s wish away from

Driving the rippled still water's hope on forever

Through the end of time . . .

© 2013. . . Harlon Rivers