Charley Powell Biography

I visited the graveyard one cold winter's day
To wander among the headstones and pray.
Two new additions this week had appeared
One, a young woman, much loved and revered
...

This world is breaking out, pulling loose
Snapping free the bonds of daily existence
Making way for the new to arrive and arise,
To burst upon us like the great foaming wave
...

She comes in at a quarter to one that night,
A stumbling shadow in the slumbering hallway.
Through to the kitchen, lights are flicked on
Blazing ferociously as she squints mascara-streaked eyes.
...

These aren't tears glistening on my eyelashes
No!
They're sequins, or Christmas lights sparkling.
My shoulders, shaking?
...

I lie in a pool of thoughts
That seep into my pillow
From the bullet-sized hole in my consciousness.
...