HJ

The rain is driving blindness While I'm driving to feel free The hammering on the windshield Makes it difficult to see

Between the deluge showers Flash silence deafens instantly And in my mind I see your eyes Looking through if not to me

When all is quiet what I know Comes through to clear my fear Knowing that this means you're safe When you wake, I'll still be here

The soul is driving kindness While I'm driving love that stays When hammering on the dashboard Makes it hard to feel OK

When soaking in the showers Feels more safe than hoping may And in my mind I dry your eyes Take your hand awhile and say

When all is quiet what I know Comes through, you're all I hear Knowing that I need to be brave When you wake, I'll still be here

The light is driving to find us While I'm driving you back home The hammering on the windshield Doesn't register at all Between the deluge showers No rain or silence can compete With music; turn to meet your eyes Smiling back from the front seat

When all is quiet what I know Comes through to show what's near I keep my promises; I stay When you wake, I will be here © May 9, 2025 By HJ Lewis, alchemicverse. Reposting on this platform is permitted with proper credit. Reposting on other platforms is not allowed. No edits. All rights reserved.

Earthly Starlight

Follow me from where it’s loud To silent lighthouse on the sound Blinking light between the eyes Signing shelter from the tide

The light is no low flying plane Nor ship that sails the other way Let earthly starlight pull your gaze Guide you safely through the waves

Through howling keen Let light be seen

Follow me from acrid tastes To sweeter shores and safest space Blinking tears that pain demands Clenching fists with empty hands

Thoughts that threaten weakened nerve Showing bitter end as sure Let earthly starlight kiss your face Hold you firm in hope’s embrace

Through every swell Let light be held

Follow me from shaking chill To cozy lighthouse where it’s still Blinking heat from amber lamp Rising from the soaking damp

The light is not a trap unseen Nor mirage or fleeting dream Let earthly starlight lift your chin Hold your will and warm your skin

Through sea-storm’s pelt Let light be felt

Follow me from tempest’s threat To safer shores where home is kept Blinking spray that stings your eyes Trailing salt that never dries

Rocks that promise deepest grave Hazards’ gate to land you crave Let earthly starlight show the path Guide you safely through their wrath

Through shoal of stone Let light be known

It's my 1 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

Live It Twice

Overflowing days of rain Grow the puddles into lakes Drown the ankles, rust the brakes Run dark circles over drains

Void is filled with storms of pain Thunder’s sobs and lightning’s shakes Leaving echoes in their wake Through my lips each form your name

Ride the storms in sky and brain Live it twice to learn the strain When it’s done the clouds remain Mind and sun both bound in chains

Mind’s narrator paints the scene False protection fear would seek Scripts the words you wouldn’t speak Writes responses in between

To the worst results careen Scaling outcomes to their peak Filling blanks, each choice more bleak Holding fast to most obscene

Dress rehearse the darkest dream Live it twice to train my scream When it’s done choose most extreme Variation on the theme

Overflowing tears of brine Run their course at midnight’s strike Puddles leak, my eyes alike Both storms nearing their decline

Racing clouds with moon entwine Pierced by last of lightning’s spike Rusty eyes behold the sight Darkness shattered by design

Let the light break cloud to shine Live it twice to redefine When it’s done leave storm behind Recognize fear’s voice as mine

Last my ears hear shifts in tone Downpour’s roar to shower’s strokes Bathe the senses, let them soak Slake the thirst down to the bone

Lower breeze from howl to moan Match my sighs that carry smoke Filling space where voice would choke Trusting what remains unknown

Suffering is pain fear honed Live it twice to be atoned When it’s done find peace to own Leave the storm to sky alone

Each

Excusing Deflect the blame with reasons varied Repeat to believe the tales that you sell

Refusing Deny the conscience that you carry Deceit that forms each new circle of hell

Each truth you bury deep Compounds the lie Avoid each consequence Outrun and hide The living that you fake Will break your pride When brought to light

Projecting Entwine the injury with insult Omit the details that paint your hands red

Deflecting Evoke more misery by default Acquit the duty you owe to who bled

Each word you twist aloud Compounds the blame Avoid each part you played Outrun your name The method that you take Will stake your claim When shown your shame

Appealing Entreat the forgiveness of your prey Display false regrets to buy borrowed time

Concealing Extort their compassion some new way Portray false pretense to repeat the crime

Each plea you contradict Compounds the last Avoid each ripple’s wave Outrun the past The impact of the wake You make will crash When die is cast

Each move you make in fear Compounds the weight Avoid sentence delayed Outrun the date Until you find the edge Of dirtied slate And meet your fate

Cheeky

Time to smile like you mean it Curl lips to show your teeth Blank your mind to how you’re living Fake it to make believe

Time to smile like you feel it Don’t forget to tell your eyes Mimicking what you see Zips up the heart’s perfect disguise

When you run out of cheeks to turn Well then, what then Time to smile like you mean it And play pretend

Time to laugh just like you mean it Hold hands to mouth or sides Not too hard or they’ll perceive that There’s something hurt you hide

Time to laugh like life’s a punchline One where you’re not the joke Acting like you’re in on it hides Where costume’s zipper broke

When you’ve run out of lines you learned Well then, what then Time to laugh just like you mean it To not offend

No one likes a downer And no one likes a fake Oscar-worthy acting Is what acceptance takes

Everyone’s got problems Think you’re the only one? Who would want to listen Best to keep it light and fun

‘Til you decide you’re done…

Pulling smiles you don’t mean by The puppet strings of face Coughing up some hollow laughter To keep your narrow place

At a table where your neighbor Won’t give you room to sit The dress code is mask only and The food served tastes like shit

When you’ve run out of cheeks to turn Well now, do this Hand out a map of your whole ass For all to kiss

Aheader

With my eyes on the horizon

I never see the flowers at my feet

With fingertips just brushing them

Yet still my mind would race beyond the beat

That my heart makes as the path curves

So gently through a verdant grove of trees

That searching for the opening

Blind to the birds alighting next to me

What if I miss it all

While moving for what’s next

A never ceasing search

And never finding rest

To be the best

With my thoughts accelerating

My feet freeze firmly planted where I stand

With a childlike resistance

My body says it’s getting out of hand

That my nervous system’s signals

Aren’t cutting through the mental marching band

That insists on playing faster

I stomp each feeling’s pavement into sand

What if I lose it all

Avoiding every fear

And always keeping love

That tries to find me here

From coming near

Until unstoppable force (of mind)

Meets immovable object (body)

Unavoidable crash course (run blind)

Too late to swerve or correct (or see)

With skinned knees I’m finally grounded

My face to earthen pillow where I fell

With sharp shallow breaths that cut through

The ringing in my ears that silence swells

That my fuller lungs will soften

So slowly I can rise up to my feet

That sway wide before they steady

Their tempo gives the mind and heart one beat

What if I find it all

By crashing to my knees

And always getting up

Relearning how to breathe

Childlike persistence

Reminds me just to be

Slow down to see

Feel to be free

Console or PC?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

Both.

Coax

Bend low and meet the eyes Extend hand held loosely closed Shift thoughts from fear’s demise Take it slow in the approach

Short breath brought through the nose Out the mouth locked tight with teeth Deep pain as anger shows And protection blocks relief

A wounded beast Fears what it needs Heal to release And take the lead

Tiptoe and bear the sound Deepen growl with every step That blends with heartbeat’s pound Know each an empty threat

Hold neither leash nor net Close last distance held apart Receive all that is met Face to face and heart to heart

A wounded soul Meets what it needs To become whole And to succeed

Bend low and reach to touch Rigid form that cowers low Believing it’s too much That caresses turn to blows

Deep breath to calm shared nerves Patient hand replace old lies Deep love is what’s observed When there’s seeing eye to eye

A wounded heart Finds what it needs When broken parts As one are freed

Bloom

Of clay and rock borne So crookedly grown Blown bare by the wind Roots shallow in stone

Reach limbs from seed sown Cut greedily back Low from the harvest Surviving in lack

Unable to bloom

Sharp shear and scythe hack Keen takers carve loose Shape weapon or fuel New growth to reduce

Sole value in use Sap soothing the sick Potent the poison From spindle thorn's prick

Unable to bloom

Yet nestled by sticks Grows lone bud within Held deep where hands miss Protected and pinned

Peek petals where thin Lone butterfly weaves Finds nectar so rare To drink and then leave

Before she could bloom

Departure she grieved Though brief was its call Lone butterfly thief Until foot did fall

And trampled it all Her sap, stem and thorn The burgeoning bud And flower unborn

Before she could bloom

Growth mangled and torn Stopped growing and dried Too many did take For granted; in stride

Above ground she died Last seed on the wind Held hope life would find Rich earth and kind kin

Somewhere she could bloom

That the earth has a ceiling

On the waiting room

Sun and Snow

Crystal blankets heavy Cold cover winter’s bones Both the dead and sleeping The living and the stone

Powder sharply shimmers Sleeves trees with crooked arms Clothing naked nature Concealing manmade harm

Ash and bone Hidden price Scourge of fire Shroud of ice

Cloud did layer deeply The filth of land below Beneath the purest veil Of leaden ice and snow

And where horizon meets The mirror glaze of white Sunfire burns the edges Before day dies to night

Sky and earth Virtue and vice Kiss of fire Lips of ice

Frozen footsteps heavy Their weight the drifts will bear Wanderer snowblinded Devoid of thought or prayer

Watches light departing Dull crystal to cut glass Cold and smooth as porcelain Yet strong and sharp as axe

Thrill to threat Shifting twice Forge of fire Steel of ice

Dunes in moon’s reflection Devoid of daylight’s sheen Hostile in the darkness Trip wanderer between

Quaking steps to shelter Warn loss of body’s heat Frostbite threatens fingers Life’s fire flirts defeat

Until dawn And sun’s rise Fist of fire Face of ice

Moonlit Mending

Curving needle shines on high

Rises with the fall of night

Pulls on bloodflow like the tide

Binding lifeforce far and wide

Spooling frozen breaths that rise

Atmospheric thread through eye

Planet rolls the ends to tie

Holes to make to mend torn time

Piercing through burnt velvet sky

Astral medic sutures where

Time left wounds both broad and bare

Edges spread by fate unfair

Closing distance with her care

Nocturne’s nurse must dawn be done

Ligates lovers day has shunned

Gazing at same moon as one

Closing distance long to none

Knitting souls once rent by runs

Lunar tailor sews sky’s seams

Stitches with her blue hued beams

Pierces sides of rips unseen

Tightens thread to bind torn dreams

Skyborne seamstress sticks the stars

Holds the gaze of wayward hearts

Pricks their pieces held apart

Merges neatly where she arcs

Hemming where ends frayed would start

Curving needle pulls string taut

Backstitch buries hidden knot

Ends her work at first light brought

Binding lifeforce felt and thought

Seaming sealed as sun does rise

Sky meets land and lovers’ eyes

With aurora ends are tied

Moonlit work awaits reprise

Weaving on through coldest night

Sanctuary

Push to start, stall raging heart Prayer of safety Get in gear, sleeve up the tears Drive to escape me Move to drown, in blaring sound Thoughts that would break me One more trip, white knuckle grip Night roads erase me From heavy home Strike out alone In sanctuary Find the dark, drive fast and far Prayer now screaming Back the din, four-minute hymns Beg intervening Unleash cry, shout at the sky Pleas for redeeming Path is lost, voice paid the cost Of broken dreaming

Pew driver's seat Pilgrim's retreat To sanctuary

Green light glows, stains glass window Prayer falls silent Churchbells call, with rise and fall Of distant sirens High beams shine, twin candles blind The asphalt altar Stone and mud, body and blood Where hope would falter

To edge of Earth Borne and rebirthed By sanctuary Turning back, replacing mask Prayer joins verses Dashboard songs, their sermons strong When route reverses Face again, where this road ends Dread eats warm lamplight Disembark, pull in and park Until the next night When heart requires I spin the tires Of sanctuary

Pillow Talk

Head down for a conversation Face wrapped tight to block the light Curled fists under chin in safety From or in what's shown tonight

What do you want to surface From beneath the din of day Where movement drowns the message And my masks keep you away

Darkest hell or tailored heaven So real I can taste the smoke So warm sweat beaded on my brow Still there when I awoke

Head down to take a journey Hidden scenes from far behind Perception of the senses In the backend of the mind

Where will you lead me off to A known scene or somewhere new What narrative plays out there Just what will you put me through

Memory old or fabled lesson So harsh I come to in tears So tender lingering touches That my skin still feels them here

Head down to understand you Find the cracks that need to heal Bones buried in the graveyard Of deep wisdom made surreal

Why have you chosen this time To exhume what memory lost To gift a poignant fiction That reminds me of life's cost

Closest friend or brutal teacher So familiar we agree So different from my waking thoughts That I forget you're me

Hold Music

The space between Before and after The distant laughter

The hate unseen The past in tatters Swings from the rafters

The interstice Between the timelines And different skylines

The smoke-made screen Taken for granted Each memory slanted

Hold hope and pain In either hand Honor them both To understand

The limbo long Hallway extended From where home ended

The right and wrong Forever blended In air suspended

The fading song Its pitches falling And tempo stalling

The power gone Traded for silence Both love and violence

Hold loss and gain In single mind Honor them both As intertwined

The hours short Their light is fading And warmth abating

The dark distorts Shadows persuading No future waiting

The work to thwart Freefall to nowhere Bedrock of despair

The soul’s retort Of deepest knowing I will keep going

Hold dark and light In steady eyes Honor them both To stay alive

In the space between