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CLASSIC CINQUAINS
by Denis M. Garrison
Empty Sea
Stony
Coast, surging sea
Is opaque, iron-grey.
Secretly swim whatever fish
There be.
Dream Chasing
Old dog
sleeps in my chair
his paws up in the air
twitch as he chases rabbits in
his dreams.
Friendly Fire
Her eyes
tell me to stop,
but what fool takes a cue?
Too late, I see the anguish in
her eyes.
The Homestead
It stands
in the clearing,
the house that Grandpa built,
its rooms alive with years of joys
and tears.
Untimely
She was
not shocked by death.
Turns out, she knew for months.
Could we have known, when lilacs were
in bloom?
When I Saw
"Keep her"
My heart tells me.
With her married sisters,
So like them, yet she's all her own.
Keeper!
Soliloquy
Sunshine
is golden good.
Don't blame your sick eye's pain
on light that shines for all to see…
give praise!
Instrumentality
The lost
tambourine left
behind in the clearing,
comes alive in my hands when I
touch it.
September 11th
What day
is this that starts
with birdsong and bright sun?
I'm deafened by hot rain - no end
of tears.
Brave Blood
Today
his daughter's born -
the fallen hero's child.
Brave blood lives on while cowards die
alone.
Blue Eyes
Cobalt
eyes unblinking
in ancient faded face,
the nameless temple guard's mere glance
repels.
Enroute
Powder
blue sky cobbled
with clouds all paper-white.
One albatross sails across in
silence.
Fox Fire
Flicker
along the lane,
slow frozen flames. Glimmer
in my memory forever.
Freeze frame!
Heat Lightning
Waking
in morning cool,
to find her hand in his,
the heat of the night returns to
his eyes.
Bright Constellation
Seven
new stars streak east -
they never fall to earth
but circle forever in blue
heaven.
When the Pain Stops
Warm day
after the snow …
cool damp breeze balmy on
my cheek as I try to forget
winter.
Wind Dancers
The wind
trembles the palms.
They sway in ancient time,
entwined softly in the waltz of
ages.
On Relativity
Passing
by the prison,
my boss bemoans his fate.
Work won't allow his summer cruise
this year.
Sunday with Friends
The pub,
late afternoon,
so many more voices.
The edges of everything fade
to gray.
Solitaire
Dark walk
breaks the silence.
Only my own footsteps
ring through the park. Again, tonight--
alone.
False Hopes
Wishing
well's black water
promises an answer
but it would be bone-dry if not
for tears.
Behold Her
Only
the finest art
fills this gallery where
we stand, gazing. But beauty's in
your eyes.
Flash Flood
A flood,
in sudden thaw,
flows down frozen hillsides -
sad thunder through this stormy vale
of tears.
Fire-Dancer
Bonfire
on the cliffside;
the calm blue sea below.
Plunge through the flames, breathless, into
cool waves.
Stubborn Rubble
Shattered
by the pressure
applied so steadily,
rock rumbles through the crusher's jaws—
then jams.
Perpetual Motion
Through war
and pestilence,
through famine and the plague,
sea tides ebb and flow, their rhythm
changeless.
Still Stone
Millstone
immobilized—
grit in the gears prevents
its slow rotation to the stream's
brisk flow.
The Anvil of Khronos
Hammer
head misshapen
by thousands of hard blows—
when it was new, such wear was not
foreseen.
Denis M. Garrison
Empty Sea was published in Templar Phoenix Literary Review (Summer 2000).
Copyright © 2000 by Denis M. Garrison.
Dream Chasing, Friendly Fire,
The Homestead, Untimely were first published in Ku Nouveau
- Summer 2001 and again in AMAZE: The Cinquain Journal - Spring & Summer 2002.
When I Saw was first published in World Haiku Review - August 2001 and again in AMAZE: The
Cinquain Journal - Spring & Summer 2002. Copyright © 2001 by Denis M. Garrison.
Soliloquy was published in Catholic Planet - February 2002 .
Instrumentality, September 11th, &
Brave Blood were published in AMAZE: The Cinquain Journal - Spring
& Summer 2002. Blue Eyes, Enroute, &
Fox Fire were published in WaterBlossoms - March 2002.
Heat Lightning was published in Poetic Voices - August 2002.
Copyright © 2002 by Denis Michel Garrison.
Bright Constellation in A Tribute to the Space Shuttle Columbia, and When the Pain Stops, Wind
Dancers, On Relativity, Sunday with Friends, and Solitaire were published in AMAZE: The Cinquain
Journal (Spring & Summer 2003).
False Hopes, Behold Her, and
Flash Flood were published in World Haiku Review - March 2003.
Fire-Dancer, Stubborn Rubble,
Perpetual Motion, Still Stone, and
The Anvil of Khronos were published in Haiku Harvest V4, N2
March-May 2003
Copyright © 2003 by Denis Michel Garrison.
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