Cáscara Vacía (Empty Shell)

by Ken Allan Dronsfield / May 14th, 2017

Harsh or endearing reason
sidestep the seasonal gaiety
to hide within the poison oak
while wishing to journey home.
Much simpler and gentler times
covet those very sweet rhymes
whisper a lullaby to deaf ears
we take a crimson train there.
I know sometimes evil lurks
on the rim of a soft rose petal
and barbs impale the mind
leaving an icy hand to bleed.
A bleach blue sky, day by day
listing the ways of redemption
always the little things ripping,
squeezing, ceasing the hunger.
My skull is but an empty shell
cradle dreams in black and white
tomorrow’s nihilistic color fantasy
and the nightmares of yesterday.

Ken Allan Dronsfield is a disabled veteran and prize winning poet from New Hampshire, now residing in Oklahoma. A proud member of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire, he has five poetry collections to date: 'The Cellaring', 'A Taint of Pity', 'Zephyr's Whisper', ‘The Cellaring, Second Edition’ and ‘Sonnets and Scribbles’. Ken's been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize and six times for Best of the Net. He was First Prize Winner for the 2018 and 2019, Realistic Poetry International Nature Poetry Contests. He has most recently begun producing Creative Content on his YouTube channel and has had wonderful success sharing his poetry. Ken loves writing, hiking, thunderstorms, and spending time with his cats Willa and Yumpy. Ken Allan can be reached at kadfield@gmail.com. Read other articles by Ken Allan.

This article was posted on Sunday, May 14th, 2017 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.