Black Angel Wings

They come like an impending horror
Settle around you like death
Clench your heart
Suck your breath


They arrest your sanity
Steal you of speech
Leave you void
In an abyss far from reach

Black angel wings of disbelief
What you hear, what you see
Neither making sense, a felony
A dead spirit
Barren of sentiments
Mute in comprehension
Stripped of power
 As Black Angel Wings embrace me

A connoisseur of light and shadow

A connoisseur of light and shadow
Blowing golden winds upon the temple of pain
Finding your way through the throng of words
Picking out the spark of fire from the pouring rain

A strum of the harp, a chime of color
The glass between honestly and a facade
Blowing petals of hanging cherry blossoms
Telling tales of brittle ancient forests clad

In the sea of candles the one reflecting flame
Among the thousand blue clouds the one hiding the rays
Wearing a halo of aspirations in the presence of time
Revealing beauty locked in a bottle of May

Be the wave upon wave, Light reflecting light
The discerning line dividing the horizon, playing each part
Be the cook of each culture, flavor of each emotion
The veins of each petal, the history of each bark

A connoisseur of light and shadow
Playing each second, writing each name
Lighting the candles
Being the flame

Maria Yousuf

Dedicated to Stuck In Time

Uncertainty

Your ashes, my heart
Your memories I'd sought
I Wept and lived
I Sang and hid

From myself and you
From lies and truth
From the plank that led
To stark decisions and uncertainty

Will I sink, float?
Swim, reach the shore?
Will I survive, die?
Drown in misery yours or mine?

Stagnant waves
Smeared Ashes
A burnt picture
Scarred on my soul

Maria Yousuf